The Challenger

I couldn't enjoy this film as the storyline was just too far fetched. A poor white guy decides to become a professional boxer to earn money to resolve a family issue. This same guy has no previous boxing experience but after a few months of what appears to be very ordinary training turns pro. Despite being only being a club fighter he can afford to give up his 9 to 5 job as a mechanic to focus full time on boxing. At no point is there ANY explanation as to why he is able to rise so fast in the pro ranks - no reference to having supernatural one punch power, no comments that the kid is a natural or even that he has been lucky enough to spar with some great pros to explain the development. 7 fights in fights the light heavy champ of the world - both fight like bums, take a beating, never hold and the fight is so poorly choreographed it is an embarrassment !

The film had potential overall, despite its flaws in lead character transformation. We needed to feel more engaged in the process as the story line developed. The Challenger may have missed the mark in accurately portraying the sport of boxing, but a story of 'the underdog overcoming the odds' never grows old. Novice writer/director, Kent Moran, may have a bright future ahead of him if he continues to hone his craft by taking more risks and researching subject matter with greater detail. As an actor, I would like to see more layers of emotion and facial expression invested in a lead character role as this one. Body language is a very powerful thing. It should reach out with more intensity, willing to reveal its vulnerable side. That is how an audience connects to integral characters and relates to the underlying story. You have to experience a certain amount of empathy it intends to project as the film progresses. I did enjoy the film's merit and prose, and in particular the presence of Michael Clarke Duncan in his final supporting role as an actor. He did add substance and warmth to this project. The personal tribute and clip of him supporting The Challenger, including its modest crew, spoke volumes about his character and dedication to the small budget film industry. R.I.P. Michael C. Duncan. Never to be forgotten. ~D~

A lot of shade was thrown on this film that's a bit over the top IMO. I'm not exactly sure who the target audience is for this film. Definitely not boxing aficionados who have already shared their lamentations. It's too gritty and violent for the Up! Family Network. The two main fighters are super good looking but neither of them were stalkers or were being stalked or lived a secret life or kidnapped anyone so Lifetime Movies is out. Here! would be interested if the two boxers were secret boyfriends but they weren't. If you're all about the Bronx, love S. Empathy Merkerson from Law and Order, and miss Michael Clarke Duncan then give this film a chance. As of today it can be viewed on Prime for free if you are a member. I personally wouldn't pay to see this but your money is your business. 6 stars from me.

I guess it's an Indy film. It didn't seem cheap. The acting, filming and all that seemed fine. The story was very very lame. A boy is in a pitiful sad life because of too much fighting at school even though he was destined for more. He apparently got into all these fight for good reasons because he has absolutely no rage issues whatever. He's just a sweet, kind, Mama's boy who only wants to take care of his sick mother. He starts boxing and for no reason and barely any time to practice, he's just an incredible boxer. A few motivational words from his new boxing coach whom has a much bigger back story relevant to his life and wow, he's a champion. Geez, I should just go off and be the next ultimate fighter champion. I just have to want it bad enough and no problem, I'll beat all those people for no apparent reason, it's just that easy.

This movie was pretty painful to watch. There is nothing innovative about it. I'm not a critic per say, I've just seen a lot of boxing movies. This is really a combination of every boxing movie all crammed into one poorly executed mess. If you know anything about boxing, you know that the movie doesn't even try to be believable. The boxing itself was pretty bad. The lines were predictable and trite. First of all, no one goes pro, and gets a title shot in 6 months. That's not even enough time to even have an amateur career. Guys train for years just to turn pro. I mean, I realize it's a movie, but give me break. Overall it was really quite bad, and not worthy of Michael Clarke Duncan. If you were trying to make a parody of all the boxing movies, this would be it.

I noticed Justin Hartley's name in the credits, so the first 5 minutes of the film I thought I was seeing Hartley on the screen. Then when there was more light in the next scene, I thought this actor "can't be" Justin Hartley, and I wondered why does he look so similar?! The film's protagonist is actually Kent Moran, who's several years younger than Hartley and has a similar hair color, hairline, hair style, eye color, face shape, chin cleft, and body type as Justin Hartley. It was like watching Sylvester Stallone fight Frank Stallone in a Rocky movie. Other than the film's main characters looking so similar, the movie was decent. It depicts a black woman who adopted a white son, and that's something you don't see every day.

As a big boxing fan, I find myself more attracted to fight films than I really should be. Please, please leave my favorite sport alone. I'm too much of a loser not to watch. Did he not think to get someone on board who knew something about boxing when he made this (and hired himself as the protagonist). By the way, you are nowhere near 175 pound Light Heavyweight size, you could have made it about a 154 pound fighter and that's still a great division. Why's your opponent sitting in the corner before the fight starts? That doesn't happen. You don't touch gloves then sit in your corner and get a pep talk. You don't get to sit until the end of round 1! Why doesn't your build/ size change when you go from being a non- athlete to a full time boxer? Why did you go from 0 bouts as an amateur straight into the pros? Why was the number 7 spot in the WBC fighting in a bout against a novice from the club circuit? Why do you throw straight arm punches with a really bent arm like a hook? You do know they're different punches right? How is this the fight of the 21st century? It's almost like you really hate boxing so you made a really flawed film to get your own back on the boxing community.

Why would you cast the champion to look like a bigger version of the skinny young boxer? They looked so much alike I didn't know who was who unless they were together and you saw the 2 foot difference in height

Jaden Miller (Kent Moran) is a mechanic who lives in the Bronxs with his mother Jada (S. Epatha Merkerson). Both Jaden and his mother have little money and are faced with the threat of eviction, but Jaden sees an opportunity to rid his family of their financial woes and decides to take up boxing. Jaden strikes up a friendship with Duane (Michael Clarke Duncan) a boxing coach who refuses to train 'rookies'. Duane is initially cynical of Jaden, but when he witnesses Jaden's dedication and determination he continues coaching him all the way up to the top where Jaden eventually faces off against the world champion. With The Challenger what you're basically seeing is another reworking of Rocky with Jaden going through the same basic motions; a rookie boxer working his way to the top and defying the odds by getting that elusive title shot. Anyone who has seen the Rocky films (or practically any boxing film) will have seen this all before and the picture really does offer no real surprises. Despite this though, I have to admit that I still found the film watchable and despite the predictable plot turns I still found the story to be fairly engaging. Moran's writing & directing is pretty good and the film is fairly balanced and well-paced. One problem I did have with this film is that it is lacking in intensity; I quite liked this film, but it didn't stir up the same emotion in me as Rocky did or many other boxing themed films. I just didn't feel much passion for Jaden and his cause and for that reason I just couldn't get behind him and his cause as much as I should have done. In fact, when the film ended it's a film that I respected and admired, but could never really grow to love. As Jaden's mother, Jada behaves in typical 'motherly fashion'. She's mortified about Jaden's new career choice and does her best to talk him out of it, but then when he's at the top she couldn't be more proud. This is nice to see (even if her sudden acceptance of him being a boxer seems a bit contrived). This is all OK, but Moran overdoes things in this respect by giving Duane and Jaden's mother a past - which is just manipulative and unnecessary and also the flashbacks when Jaden hits the canvas in his title match are examples of Moran trying too hard to force emotion onto his audience. I've been quite harsh on this film, but in all honesty it really isn't that bad. The pacing is good and Moran's story is serviceable - the only part that I thought was a bit silly was when the crew were following Jaden around 'documentary style'. I can only assume that Moran introduced this into the story to inject some originality - it also seemed terribly convenient how quickly this aspect of the story was dropped as well. Moran's directing and writing are OK, but his acting wasn't great and he really should have given more of a heart to the picture. The Challenger is notable for being Michael Clarke Duncan's last film and in typical fashion the big man doesn't disgrace himself and puts in another solid performance. RIP Michael Clarke Duncan.

I don't watch movies where they take the Lord's name in vein. Didn't even get through 5 minutes of the movie and they said "GD" so off it went.