GLADIATOR UNDERGROUND Review: Martial Club Redeems The Tournament Action Flick
Gladiator Underground arrives on digital beginning October 17 from Samuel Goldwyn Films.
In the fifteen years since Andy Le and Brian Le of Martial Club started their online journey into viral athletics and film fighting, the two have managed to create innumerable short film collaborations, and have successfully kicked and punched their way into TV and feature film fruition. Gladiator Underground, from Samuel Goldwyn Films, is only the latest mark in their progress, and to simply coin it as a martial arts movie best might be understating it just a little.
Indeed, the duo’s acting as a formative measure is still a work in progress. Nonetheless, they and fellow leading man, action star and producer D.Y. Sao are able to establish something of a baseline when it comes to drama. Additionally, Gladiator Underground reunites Sao and the Le brothers with Chaya Supannarat, who produced one of her late godbrother Pearry Teo’s final films, Shadow Master, before helming Well Go USA’s Bangkok Dogs, both with Sao in a leading capacity.
The film also brings in a bevy of hands in fight scene design in direction with the cast shepherding choreography under the supervision of Joseph Le, who serves as action director since sharing space on the sets of Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Together with Thailand’s stunt and action acting talent pool, and what you’re handed is an all-you-can-eat buffet of martial arts action madness, and I don’t use these terms lightly.
Penned by Ariel Bleiberg, Gladiator Underground sets the stage in Loklang City, a city under the stranglehold of one Mantis (Selina Wiesmann), femme fatal and the city’s foremost underworld boss who heads up what she so describes as the “beating heart” of the city, the deadly Naraka Tournament. It’s here where the city’s big bads come to galvanize their earnings and place bets in competing their best fighters for cash and clout, with the option to spend a little extra for a spin at the wheel to arm-up their champions.
The nefarious arena is also where Max Yen (Sao), and younger brother Wu (Andy Le), are forced to settle their differences, with one competing to show he’s the best, and the other to defend martial honor and bring the arena down once and for all. The stakes are further set when tragedy strikes, pitting the two against Sho-Jin (Brian Le), a formidable streetfighter whose… uh… unorthodox (?) methods make him an absolute terror, and whose motivations for fighting are more noble and desperate than he lets on.
The cast also lists Apasiri Kulthanan who plays Veena, one of several participating “sponsors” who finds herself reluctantly backing Max, in addition to Geoffrey Giuliano who plays mob boss Bohan Khan who has Sho-Jin in his corner to assure his riches. The film also brings in notable co-stars Bryon Bishop and Sahajak Boonthanakit from Bangkok Dogs who plays sponsors to their own fighters, with one of them getting the business end of Mantis’s bad side. Actor Elliott Allison reunites with Supannarat as well, this time as the tournament’s resident emcee and hype man lending his magnetic voice and persona to the arena’s rollicking ambience.
Fueling the primary arc of the story is co-star Craig Ng who steps up as the Sifu heading up the grand opening of his new kung fu school in Loklang City, a school, and subsequently, Wu’s sponsor. Their m.o. rests prominently in preserving the untained spirit of kung fu, underscoring a supposition of ideals Max no longer values; He’s the proverbial “Kenjiro Sanga” to this befitting tournament piece but without the similar homicidal tendencies portrayed by Mark Dacascos (if you know the film I’m referencing), although that doesn’t necessarily mean Max won’t take a life to come out on top if he needs to.
To this end, the two sibs are very much the opposites of each other with the only similarity being that they have a score to settle with someone. Where Veena comes in is something of a matter of opinion, whether her motivations involve money or love, or both. Ultimately one tops the other, and it’s a remarkable feat that Bleiberg was able to weave a romantic twist into the narrative which otherwise finds its use amid the wall-to-wall spectacle – another term I don’t use lightly here.
There are as many as about fifteen action sequences through the film’s duration, in a fight roster completed under stringent scheduling with limited time and resources. That the action team and the actors were able to bring forth the kind of exponential fight design and performance that were demanded of them, if nothing else, speaks to the massive possibilities there are with a production cushioned by all the required essentials.
The result is a slew of action scenes and beats that culminate all the seminal content the cast demonstrate on their respective social media platforms, and effectively amplify them by a THOUSAND. Sao and the Le brothers each get their shining moments throughput the film, maxing out some of the best screenfighting they’ve ever done. The arena sequences are anted-up even more with the inclusion of a choice of weapons at the behest of the sponsors, ranging from all assortments of blades and martial artillery, to a pink umbrella, to absurdities such as a fountain pen, and a revolver that appears in a later scene to make a point.
In sum, Gladiator Underground is a full-on, full-tilt showcase of just how innovative – and utterly fucking gonzo – the cast and crew can be in bringing top-notch action to the table, espcially under certain constraints. To add, I can only wonder whose idea it was (ahem!) to have Brian Le’s character pull some of the most unhinged levels NSFW action choreo that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I don’t know about the rest of you, but Brian is a different breed here, and if you think you’ve seen him at his most, you can just stop right the fuck there.
Surprisingly though, you’ll also be delighted at his performance not just in screenfighting, but as an actor who can actually emote on camera just a little more. I’ve seen far, FAR worse from folks who sadly can’t act their way out of a paper bag, which makes him a breath of fresh air, personally, and I can’t begin to wonder just what he’s got in store for future roles, let alone his upcoming role Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious. I’m inclined to ask but I’ll be patient nevertheless.
As it stands, the Le brothers, Sao, and all those tangential to Martial Club, are a boon to today’s generation of film-fighting fans, as well as a pool of talent that can carry the torch well into the new millenium. They’ve been bolstering and perfecting their craft long enough that they’ve earned their place in the feature film stratosphere among bigger names, wherein they all but continue to sharpen themselves for posterity. It especially helps that Supannarat’s own upkeep makes her a viable contender in the director’s chair alongside the likes of Jesse Johnson, Isaac Florentine, and even her own uncle, Prachya Pinkaew.
Gladiator Underground isn’t the only attempt in recent history to bring back the martial arts tournament genre either. Several notable attempts that I can recall are Tekken, Lady Bloodfight, Trigonal, Fight Valley, Lord Of The Streets and The System, all of which have their plusses but none of the really memorable components that come with leaving the desired impression. Even last year’s The Last Kumite, as hard as its producers tried to attribute it to an inherently “old school” audience, sadly, pales in comparison to what Supannarat accomplishes here, despite even its own imperfections.
Nonetheless, with Gladiator Underground, you’re handed a progressive, continuing career best by a crop of rising martial arts stars and stunt wunderkinds going the distance at every turn. It’s a total reward for any fan who’s been tracking them as long as anyone else has, and if you’re somehow new to their work, get your affairs in order, grab a seat and a snack and get your eyes on Gladiator Underground…and not for nothing, but hold onto your crotches while you’re at it.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
