06 January 2010

The Tournament (2009)

Every 7 years the greatest assassins on the planet come together in a competition where the winner walks away with a pile of cash. It’s unlikely the best assassins would risk their lives in such a pursuit, or that killers could so blatantly run around a city causing such destruction, but it’s best to ignore these negative thoughts. The Tournament is a variation on the last person standing movies like Enter the Dragon, but it has guns. Lots of guns.

The competition is orchestrated by Liam Cunningham (Blood The Last Vampire, Dog Soldiers) and the entrants include…

Ving Rhames (Day Of The Dead, The People Under The Stairs)

Kelly Hu (Stiletto, The Scorpion King)

Sebastien Foucan (the founder of Parkour with David Belle)

Scott Adkins (The Shepherd Border Patrol, X-Men Origins Wolverine)

Ian Somerhalder (Lost, Vampire Diaries)

...and a reluctant Robert Carlyle (28 Weeks Later, The World Is Not Enough).

Middlesborough, England is the scene for the battle and the town is shot up, buildings are destroyed, cars explode, and innocents are butchered as killers kill and the rich bet on the outcome.

There is a subplot involving previous winner Rhames and why he is back but that, thankfully, doesn’t hinder the action and violence. Rhames is a great heavy. Kelly gets to unleash her martial arts skills more than usual, and that is a good. Foucan is a very smooth mover as leaps from building to building. And Adkins is a wonderful, wonderful fighter. As hitman movies go, it’s up there with Shoot Em Up as a great example, unlike the awful Wanted.

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