Spoiler so don't read if you've not seen the movie. The set up is well done and complicated. It involves betraying wife who chose sibling/family loyalty over her husband; a well known but mediocre movie star and his sleazy manager AND their wives and a large bunch of backroom people involved with a major fight competition. This would work if there was a big prize but there isn't. It seems the whole set up is to get a local martial artist who can't even pay his bills to be a mid or lower level fighter. Hell they would have got more ratings if they had the Tim Allen character go in the ring. So great setup but it makes no sense for the prize. Two other key plot flaws:
1) Timing. The whole plot line depends on the window being shot out. I think we can be clear that is spontaneous yet Mike goes to the bar that night and that sets things in motion: the magician, the movie star, the watch the next day. How do you get this type of complexity flowing from a spontaneous event the night before.
2) Shooting Police Officer. Does anyone believe that the lawyer figure would even be charged with attempted murder? Especially when we find out she is a lawyer and what happened to her? When I watched the scene my first reaction is the cop would get into trouble for laying his firearm down, safety off, so that a civilian could pick it up. He's the one that would get in trouble - not her.
And speaking of the cop, from my limited understanding of advanced martial arts - he was way too emotional to have reached the upper levels of any martial art let alone black belt. The guy wasn't stable and lost his temper quickly. Committing suicide over what he was facing made no sense at all. Everything that happened to him (window, not charging, the watch) were easily explained as pure accidents or happenstance. It would bring no disrespect to the dojo.
I liked the movie and it left us with some unanswered questions. But I don't think the latter was intentional.
1) Timing. The whole plot line depends on the window being shot out. I think we can be clear that is spontaneous yet Mike goes to the bar that night and that sets things in motion: the magician, the movie star, the watch the next day. How do you get this type of complexity flowing from a spontaneous event the night before.
2) Shooting Police Officer. Does anyone believe that the lawyer figure would even be charged with attempted murder? Especially when we find out she is a lawyer and what happened to her? When I watched the scene my first reaction is the cop would get into trouble for laying his firearm down, safety off, so that a civilian could pick it up. He's the one that would get in trouble - not her.
And speaking of the cop, from my limited understanding of advanced martial arts - he was way too emotional to have reached the upper levels of any martial art let alone black belt. The guy wasn't stable and lost his temper quickly. Committing suicide over what he was facing made no sense at all. Everything that happened to him (window, not charging, the watch) were easily explained as pure accidents or happenstance. It would bring no disrespect to the dojo.
I liked the movie and it left us with some unanswered questions. But I don't think the latter was intentional.