Premiering on video early in 1999, well into the worldwide MATRIX craze, the fourth and final installment of the martial arts series begun by Jean-Claude Van Damme had little chance of gaining prominence to begin with, even before viewers were exposed to its questionable plot line and production decisions. Since then, it's been collectively deemed the worst of the series, but I disagree. THE DARK KUMITE isn't about to outdo the original and the first sequel as a western martial arts opus, but it's more or less on-par with sequel number two, showing strength where that one was weak and vice-versa via some solid fight scenery and an unexpectedly interesting story.
The plot: Police agent John Keller (Daniel Bernhardt) goes undercover to follow a vicious serial killer (Stefanos Miltsakakis) to the dreaded Fuego Penal penitentiary so he can investigate the unexplained deaths and disappearances of several inmates. His investigation leads him to a deadly underground fighting circuit hosted by a sadistic mob boss (Ivan Ivanov).
It's pretty disappointing that Daniel Bernhardt isn't reprising the Alex Cardo character from the last two movies, and if given the choice, I'd prefer a straight-up tournament storyline like those had to this thriller stuff. Thankfully, this isn't as bleak, murky, or colorless of a thriller as its made-in-Bulgaria label suggests. The basic premise is pretty straight-arrow, but the story's filled with characters who range from colorful to absolutely crazy (e.g. Derek McGrath as the heavy-breathing, unstable warden with an inferiority complex), interesting set design (e.g. Ivan Ivanov decorates his interior with pretty, statuesque young women), and the setup of some scenes that (unintentionally) makes it unclear whether we're watching actual storyline progression or a character hallucination (e.g. John's sex scene). Aside from failing to convince us that the storyline *isn't* taking place in Europe, the production is generally strong, with a few occasional slip-ups in editing and filming, and the occasional strange decision on the director's part, like when he has Derek McGrath display anxiety by fogging up the camera lens with his breath. Bits like these are most likely what led to the film's initial poor ratings, but as a connoisseur of low-budget DTV junk, I can say without a doubt that this movie would've been very boring if it didn't have all these weird little things going for it.
Except, of course, when it comes to the fight scenes, which are mostly pretty good in any setting, if your standards aren't too lofty. As a cumulative whole, the fight content can't hold a candle to the first two films but I prefer the stalwart, if generic competence of these encounters to the overabundance of ten-second scraps in the third one. THE DARK KUMITE has nine fights, and of these, seven are of decent length and worth watching for the soundness of Daniel Bernhardt's kicks. They're unhampered by poor camera-work or over-editing, but if they have a problem, it's their lack of varied fighting styles and innovative choreography of their predecessors. With the exception of the ones wherein Stefanos Miltsakakis displays his grappling skills, all of them are straight-up karate/kickboxing matches, and none of the extra fighters are all that interesting. Still, I can't underplay my appreciation of their unwavering base quality, and I really liked the end scuffle between Bernhardt and Miltsakakis; it's not as long as I would've preferred, but I still think it's better than the one between Bernhardt and Nicholas Oleson from the last movie.
Regardless of how many folks would disagree with me, I'm glad that this series managed to end on a respectable note. It's come a heckuva long way from the Van Damme's stepping stone into the mainstream and lost some of its charm, but I declare it worth owning for fans of the previous films.
The plot: Police agent John Keller (Daniel Bernhardt) goes undercover to follow a vicious serial killer (Stefanos Miltsakakis) to the dreaded Fuego Penal penitentiary so he can investigate the unexplained deaths and disappearances of several inmates. His investigation leads him to a deadly underground fighting circuit hosted by a sadistic mob boss (Ivan Ivanov).
It's pretty disappointing that Daniel Bernhardt isn't reprising the Alex Cardo character from the last two movies, and if given the choice, I'd prefer a straight-up tournament storyline like those had to this thriller stuff. Thankfully, this isn't as bleak, murky, or colorless of a thriller as its made-in-Bulgaria label suggests. The basic premise is pretty straight-arrow, but the story's filled with characters who range from colorful to absolutely crazy (e.g. Derek McGrath as the heavy-breathing, unstable warden with an inferiority complex), interesting set design (e.g. Ivan Ivanov decorates his interior with pretty, statuesque young women), and the setup of some scenes that (unintentionally) makes it unclear whether we're watching actual storyline progression or a character hallucination (e.g. John's sex scene). Aside from failing to convince us that the storyline *isn't* taking place in Europe, the production is generally strong, with a few occasional slip-ups in editing and filming, and the occasional strange decision on the director's part, like when he has Derek McGrath display anxiety by fogging up the camera lens with his breath. Bits like these are most likely what led to the film's initial poor ratings, but as a connoisseur of low-budget DTV junk, I can say without a doubt that this movie would've been very boring if it didn't have all these weird little things going for it.
Except, of course, when it comes to the fight scenes, which are mostly pretty good in any setting, if your standards aren't too lofty. As a cumulative whole, the fight content can't hold a candle to the first two films but I prefer the stalwart, if generic competence of these encounters to the overabundance of ten-second scraps in the third one. THE DARK KUMITE has nine fights, and of these, seven are of decent length and worth watching for the soundness of Daniel Bernhardt's kicks. They're unhampered by poor camera-work or over-editing, but if they have a problem, it's their lack of varied fighting styles and innovative choreography of their predecessors. With the exception of the ones wherein Stefanos Miltsakakis displays his grappling skills, all of them are straight-up karate/kickboxing matches, and none of the extra fighters are all that interesting. Still, I can't underplay my appreciation of their unwavering base quality, and I really liked the end scuffle between Bernhardt and Miltsakakis; it's not as long as I would've preferred, but I still think it's better than the one between Bernhardt and Nicholas Oleson from the last movie.
Regardless of how many folks would disagree with me, I'm glad that this series managed to end on a respectable note. It's come a heckuva long way from the Van Damme's stepping stone into the mainstream and lost some of its charm, but I declare it worth owning for fans of the previous films.