Halle Berry continues to evolve and demonstrate she is a movie franchise all on her own. Her acting in this is as good as ever. She now establishes herself as a serious Director of a complex film to curt her teeth on. While the UFC is the darling of the MMA fight world there are few who ever make it to the top and even fewer that ever stay there. This is, essentially, a Rocky story for the 21st Century. It is dark, in many ways-both in its story and in its look, but it is good. I did not love this one because it was a little long and very painful to watch on many levels. It has a lot of humanity and a lot of heart. The supporting cast, particularly Danny Boyd and Sheila Atim are outstanding. As a martial artist for more than 35 years it is hard to watch some fight films where the acting is good but the fighting is not realistic. Berry started on a path to real training with 87Eleven for the John Wick franchise and it obvious that she has a passion for the arts and a high skill level. What makes someone a martial artist? 3+ years of training, even for a film, qualifies in my opinion.
Review of Bruised
