I saw the movie today and Redbelt is a solid and entertaining film. Despite the title of the film the movie is not all about martial arts. Some MMA fans who go watch the film and expect a nonstop cage action flick will be disappointed. The focus of the film revolves around Mike Terry, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who deals with money woes and relationship problems in his life. One recurring theme in Redbelt is why Mike Terry refuses to fight in MMA matches for money, he feels cage matches weaken fighters(because of rules) and MMA as a sport fighting business hurts the purity of the art form. Towards the climax, Terry reluctantly enters a MMA competition because of a major debt his wife owe to a loan shark.
Besides martial arts, the other side of the film deals with the multitudes of people Mike Terry faces or deals with in his life. This part of the film is more abstract. As a character analysis Mike Terry is the only person who is basically a good person and has his stuff together and for the most part is happy and in good spirit. Everyone else, including his wife(you can tell the marriage is crumbling), his cop student(who does something terrible to himself), Chet Frank, the movie star(played by Tim Allen) who befriends Mike Terry after an incident at a bar...all have personal issues that makes them unhappy and have trouble dealing with. Joe Mantegna's character, the fight promoters, and Augusto Silva represent what is wrong with the world because of there ugly nature.
In the end, Mike Terry unexpectedly gets two martial art belts, one from a fellow Japanese fighter as a sign of respect and a Redbelt from Joao Moro, played by Dan Inosanto, whose character is a revered martial figure for Mike Terry. The belts he is given symbolizes that Mike Terry is right in the way he lives his life the Redbelt reaffirms it.
Besides martial arts, the other side of the film deals with the multitudes of people Mike Terry faces or deals with in his life. This part of the film is more abstract. As a character analysis Mike Terry is the only person who is basically a good person and has his stuff together and for the most part is happy and in good spirit. Everyone else, including his wife(you can tell the marriage is crumbling), his cop student(who does something terrible to himself), Chet Frank, the movie star(played by Tim Allen) who befriends Mike Terry after an incident at a bar...all have personal issues that makes them unhappy and have trouble dealing with. Joe Mantegna's character, the fight promoters, and Augusto Silva represent what is wrong with the world because of there ugly nature.
In the end, Mike Terry unexpectedly gets two martial art belts, one from a fellow Japanese fighter as a sign of respect and a Redbelt from Joao Moro, played by Dan Inosanto, whose character is a revered martial figure for Mike Terry. The belts he is given symbolizes that Mike Terry is right in the way he lives his life the Redbelt reaffirms it.