Some things are never explained and not every character motivation has to be explained I reckon (whether it's a villain or our main hero doing stuff). The "story" itself is pretty straightforward though and it doesn't take a lot of guessing to know where this is heading and what will happen in the course of it.Michael Biehn somehow got involved in it and he does a decent job being guardian. Even when he doesn't seem consistent in what he's saying and what he's doing, he still pulls it off. But more important for anyone watching is, if the action is good. I would say it's OK/decent enough. It's not over the top or anything great, but it serves its purpose and will entertain enough if you're willing to oversee the flaws ...

Direct-to-video MMA films have always been an easy target. While MMA has long since captured the mainstream, more traditional karate and kickboxing flicks have metaphorically beaten the small screen cage fighter to the ground and kicked him as he lay. TAPPED OUT shows that the subgenre is finally getting to its feet, ready to be taken seriously. Despite the film's occasionally ridiculous narrative decisions and other shortcomings, I am genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. This is a serious coming-of-age story with a martial arts theme, and I definitely recommend it.The story: A maladjusted teenager (Cody Hackman) working off his community service at a local karate dojo embarks on a quest to confront the murderer of his parents (Krzysztof Soszynski).There are many reasons that this movie might have failed, not limited to its curious casting and status as a KARATE KID knockoff, but it perseveres. At first glance, Cody Hackman appears to be your average prettyboy but turns out to be a real-life competitor who delivers an strong performance as a steadily-improving martial artist. His sensei is played, of all people, by old Michael Biehn, and Biehn somehow manages to be 100% convincing as an instructor. The screenplay the two of them act out is also to its film's credit: the journey of the main character is refreshingly nuanced, with significant victories and setbacks throughout that are not directly tied to the buildup of the ending. Different forces pull him in different directions in a lifelike manner, and even when the movie resorts to moments of clichéd stupidity, these are at least grounded in logic. Stupid decisions are addressed in an almost self-aware manner by the script, and traditional martial arts are not downplayed.Like most movies marketed as MMA flicks, there is some disappointment in the false advertising of TAPPED OUT: UFC megastars Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida are prominently featured on the DVD cover, but are in the film for only ten minutes. Additionally, the ground & pound fight scenes are not about to outdo the likes of NINJA II's. With that said, the brawls are still a solid highlight of the film. Admirably foregoing slow motion and featuring decent editing, the dozen fights are at worst bearable and at best downright exciting. The choreography is far from ground-breaking – there's some intricate grappling, but that's it – yet the pace and dramatic components of the fights are admirable. I found myself actually holding my breath during some of the later matches simply because the filmmakers did such a good job of making them such close contests between characters I had invested in.There is no guarantee that traditional fight fans will enjoy this as much as me, and even I teetered on whether to give this a lower rating simply because it wouldn't matter to me if I never saw Cody Hackman in a martial arts movie again. While it may not have rewatch value, this action-drama is worth at least a single viewing and will probably do the trick for general martial arts devotees and MMA nuts alike. Rent it!

This movie clearly highlights the vast number of people who still don't understand MMA. Even Never back down was better than this garbage. The MMA fighters that sold out to lend their names to this garbage really should ask themselves if they had better options. The directors of this crap clearly think very little of MMA fighters.All in all, this movie irritated me to no end to watch it.. I kept thinking this was a joke, but it was one cliché after another... Worst MMA movie in existence.There's no point to watching this drivel. I would like to post spoilers, but what's the point?

(Not much of a spoiler here, it's safe to read, I don't give any of the finer elements out. Incidentally, it's kind of comical, if not synonymous to use the word "spoil" in relation to this movie..)First off it's pretty bad when a movie review is filled with obvious shills. Don't have to be Sherlock Homes to figure that out. Still don't believe me? Look at the author(s) of those 10 star reviews and you will see this is the one and only movie they/he ever reviewed (although after reading this they might add more, but then they will be dated after). As if that wasn't obvious enough, really how many movies (especially the low budget) do you know get a 10 star review? Answer: very few, those reviews are obviously fake.It's appalling that the publicist or whom ever had to sink so low to make fake reviews to try to spin it into something it's not. There are those that easily sell out and try to grab a quick buck out of you from every corner. But they don't last very long.Now on to the review.. Over all if you've seen the original Karate kid this is a lot of the same. But then throw in some stereotypical revenge elements. Makes sense that Martin Kove (the bad sensei from the "Karate Kid") is in this movie, maybe intended as some sort of homage.This movie is frankly just horrible! The plot is extremely predictable; you've seen it all before. Most of it is extremely cheesy and the rest makes little sense (not believable) at all.Whom ever(s) wrote this movie, decided to go with the quick and dirty copy and paste route, not daring to do anything different nor be original. It's as if they reached into a mixed bag of stereotypes and clichés and spilled them out onto a game of scrabble. But there is no triple word score here, it's a mess.The main "actor" Cody Hackman couldn't hold the lead role at all. Apparently he's a real sport Karate Champion but that doesn't make him anything less then a big blah on the screen. Doesn't seem real, shows little emotion or drive; just not at all compelling. Now with "Karate Kid", Ralph Macchio had this spark where you felt for him and really wanted to watch it through to the end.Now I love the actor Michael Biehn (that we all know from Terminator, Tombstone, Aliens, etc.) but he wasn't much of a fit in this movie either. He might be a martial artist in real life but he didn't seem at all real here. Not very believable in his role as some sort of troubled, altruistic, Karate teacher.You know when a movie has a problem when it's promoted for something it's not. In the movie poster for example you see Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida out in front when in actuality their involvement (I.E. screen time) was very little. Somewhat ironically, yet fitting, the main/lead actor is shoved off in the background. He is supposed to be the center of the movie!Seems like there was so much potential with this movie but it was wasted on poor execution, bad story, bad casting, and bad..you name it.Don't fall for the bait and switch tactic, phony 10 star reviews, etc. You don't need to step into the ring to see this movie was a TKO dud from the starting bell. You'll be "Tapping out" for mercy before the end of round #1, trust me..