Imagine living in a world where every movie plot is fashioned from the Karate Kid. In this movie it is boxing instead of karate. I must give kudos to the casting director for being able to find people whose acting ability were on par with Mr. Austin. At times the acting and script was so hokey I found myself laughing at the serious moments of the movie, such as when boy Matthew first tells his mom and step-dad he wants to box. The lines and acting were so bad, I thought this might be a comedy. This might be a good movie for tweens, but beyond that it's a bust. One bright spot was Emma Grabassky, the young girl who played Matthew's gf. I can't figure out how she slipped through the bad actors only screen.What I really want to know is how does one get funding for this type of tripe? You go the studio and say, "I have written a screen play stolen from the Karate Kid. I have substituted the word "boxing" for "karate." I got Steve Austin to play Mr. Miyagi and he promises never to smile and to only speak in truisms. We are going to find worse actors than Austin, so as not to upstage him. We won't have a decent soundtrack either and the director is blind." I think a movie about trying to sell this film would have been more entertaining.

Nothing new about this recent D-to-D starring Steve Austin as Mr. Miyagi, oops, Dan Barns, a former boxer turned janitor who puts a nerdy kid under his wing and teach him the noble art as a way of learning how to handle life itself.The good thing is that the flick has a heart, is well rounded and the characters are sympathetic enough to warrant some entertainment.Of course we movie gobblers have seen the same story done dozens of times, but who does not love to see an underdog get the prize?The highlight is that Steve Austin is charismatic enough and keeps it real most of the time, compensating the less than thrilling protagonist. The dialog is cross and direct from a bad self-help book; however, is said with some dignity and Austin shows he is not only a killing machine, he has potential to not embarrass himself in more meaty roles.A nice time waster, if you do not have anything else to do and likes to tackle this kind of movie.

Well this is a story told lots of times , the underdog that comes out alright in the end .And it feels a bit like the karate kid goes boxing . And I'm not really a Steve Austin fan .But strangely enough it works . The story while not original kept me , and that's saying a lot . The box-kid is an interesting character so is Steven Austin as coach . Austin is not a great actor , but he makes up to it with attitude and stature . And in my opinion keeping it real was smart .Not much else to say , I enjoyed it , but nothing to write home about . While I think it appeals mostly to teens , its not a bad movie for any age , and I for one like the "you can do it if u set your mind to it " message .

I'm almost certain that the people who are down rating this film initially thought they would be watching a Stone Cold Steve Austin action extravaganza instead of a family movie. Even though I'm not a professional movie critic, or a filmmaker, I do consider myself a movie buff who delves into every possible genre. And as far as this certain type of genre goes, it's pretty good. "Knockout" never tries to jump over itself. It clearly knows what it wants to be. In fact, at one point, it gives a shout out to the original "Karate Kid." Many plot lines feel familiar, but it's all handled with as much care as possible. The movie is successful at flowing down the middle without being overly heartwarming, or not heartwarming enough. Steve Austin isn't applying for greatness, but he feels completely right for this role. Despite his opposing figure, you can see the soft spot within his eyes. As for the main kid, he eases into the role by the end of the film. The kid who played Hector tackles the bully role with aplomb. The girl playing Ruby is also very charming. All in all, my two young kids enjoyed this and so did I. As far as these types of films go, this one is above most.