Stepping away from the Roger Corman flicks for now, the following review is for the French MMA flick SCORPION.
Back in the early to mid 90s when VHS was on it's way out, UFC was a taboo subject, the VHS were available they were like a bootleg copy of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, only a few of your friends had seen it, they're dad's would hide them on the top shelf out of the kid's reach. It's now 2010 and UFC and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) are household names. The once too violent for TV sport has become the fastest growing sport since WWE became a mainstay of Sky Sports, MMA fights are shown on television in Pay-Per view specials and on UK television channels such as BRAVO, allowing a new audience the chance to see two buff guys beat the living shit out of each other. And it's still Growing, with Hollywood cashing in on the sport with films such as NEVER BACK DOWN and the Channing Tatum flick FIGHTING, but these films seem to be style over substance so it's down to smaller independently produced films to really show the harsh brutality of Mixed Martial Arts. Taking inspiration form Hong Kong action Cinema and Tai action flicks like ONG BAK, these films don't seem to get the audience they should. And it's not just the USA producing these films, The UK also has a hand in making them film such as 12, even European's are getting in on the action which brings me to the film I'm about to review. The film in question is French flick
SCORPION...
In recent years, thanks to Luc Besson, the French have proved they are adapt and releasing some truly astonishing action films, off the top of my head I can think of TAXI 1,2 & 3, DISTRICT 13 1&2, THE NEST and the huge amount of France/US co-productions such as THE TRANSPORTER films, TAKEN and FROM PARIS WITH LOVE. So Scorpion comes as bit of a breather from all the Besson infused explosions and car chases as it not only has some pretty brutal fight scenes, it also has a rather emotional story to it.
The plot concerns a Boxer by the name of Angelo who, after training for years, is ready for a shot at a title, he's told by his trainers that he's not ready mentally and that they've chosen to go with a different fighter. After an altercation with the chosen fighter, Angelo proves the man isn't right for the title by knocking him out with one punch, on his way home, he's accosted by the fighter and two other men, they attack him but he's able to hold them off, in a fit of rage he get the man on the floor and hits him with such force he ends up killing the man, he doesn't run, he just stays by the body until the police turn up as he knows what he's done is wrong. We cut to six years later, Angelo has been out of jail for 6 months and has become a bum, an alcoholic who smokes more than is healty for him, he meets up with a friend by the name of Moises and they go to a night club, owned by gangster Marcus. Marcus knows how good a fighter Angelo is and offers him a deal, fight in underground unlicensed MMA fights and he'll earn a lot of money. He meets Virginie a waitress and hostess at the club, they start to flirt and she tells him to meet her for lunch. The next day everything changes as he's late for lunch and Virginie ends up rushing off. He then starts following her and find out that Moises paid her to flirt with him, he decided to fight for Marcus and soon finds himself climbing the fighters table. Marcus has a woman named Lea who is supposedly writing an article on Marcus about rise from rags to riches. Angelo strikes up a sexual relationship with Lea, who we discover is actually an undercover Police officer trying to take down Marcus and his business partner De Boers, a sick individual who uses Virginie as a whore whenever he's in town.
Angelo still hung up on Virginie follows her one night and discovers what she's doing with De Boers and decides that he wants to take care of her and he helps her out. Marcus arranges a big fight between a pro fighter by the name of Elias Kaminsky and Angelo. The night of the fight De Boers is back in town and wants Virginie, who is forced to meet him by Marcus who threatens her son. Moises takes her to the night club where De Boers is waiting as Angelo goes up against Elias, When Moises finds out that Virginie is in trouble He races to the fight to warn Angelo that she's in trouble. During the fight he leaves, leaving Marcus mad and he pulls a gun, then the police burst in. Marcus is shot in the leg by Lea as Angelo races with Moises to the club where he takes out De Boers men 1 by 1 until he gets to virginie, who covered in blood from a beating is standing over De Boers pointing a gun at him. Angelo is able to calm her down just as the police raid the club. Angelo and Virginie are arrested and Lea says to her commanding officer that she would not testify against Marcus and De Boers if they're not set free as they had nothing to do with the operation. We cut to six months later and Angelo and Virginie are playing happy families while the gangsters spend time in jail. A fitting end to a story of redemption, love and compassion.
A lot of people might dismiss the film due to the fact that it is French, therefore will have subtitles. Those people are idiots as this is a fantastic film, that not only kicks all kinds of ass fight wise but has an emotional story running through the 92 minutes.
The Cast
The cast all do very good, and Clovis Corniliac excels in his role of Angelo. He brings a whole range of emotions to a character that could have just been a Steven Segall esque character, but he delivers everything from hate, compassion, depression, love and understanding, which if you've
seen anything else he's been in like EDEN LOG or THE SERPENT, will see that he's an outstanding actor.
Francis Renaud who plays Marcus, is your typical low-level gangster, sure he owns some businesses but he still works for someone higher up. He's sleazy and quite desperate. He's Coniving and craves power, Renaud plays Marcus very well.
Karol Rocher who plays Virginie is fantastic, not only stunningly beautiful but a superb actress. Her portrayal of Virginie is fantastic and she also displays a wave of emotion. A single mother working for a seedy gangster and being used as a whore is gonna mess you up a bit. She's desperate to get out of the game, but Marcus won't let her.
Caroline Proust plays Lea/Elodie and is Clovis Cornilliac' real life wife. She plays her part as a confused but determined undercover detective and her interaction with Angelo shows that the real life relationship ship translates well to the screen as they have pretty good chemistry.
De Boers is played by Olivier Marchel who id better known for writing and directing the brilliant cop thriller 36, which was hailed as the french HEAT. His role as De Boers is tough, he's a brutal man and a major scum bag, Which I guess, being a former cop, Marchel has come into contagct with on many occasions. He plays this role incredibly well even though he's more of a secondary character.
The Fight scenes are very well choreographed by Alain Figlarz, who worked on french crime thriller PARIS LOCKDOWN and Vin Diesel Sci-fi curio BABYLON A.D, shows he has a huge grasp on MMA techniques as he employs leg locks, arm locks, take downs, punches and kicks, moulds them all together for some pretty good flowing action scenes.
So after all is said and done, is SCORPION a good film? Yes it is, but you may want to give a it a wide birth if all you're looking for is a fight film, this is an emotionally charged drama that just so happens to have the added bonus of MMA, it's kind of like ROCKY in a way, but if you enjoyed my review, I highly recommend seeking the film out as its a great way to pass 92 minutes...
FILM: 8/10
Here are some more stills from the film...
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