Fist Fight - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Fist Fight

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Who doesn’t miss the days of school fist fights? Well, I don’t for one, but they’re a fun fantasy to have when you think of popping that bully in the mouth a few times and getting your revenge (even though most people would be laid out with the first punch thanks to this little thing called reality). Fist Fight is exactly that. A ridiculous fantasy that has so many plot holes and stupid comedy clichés that it left me both rolling my eyes and giggling uncontrollably at the same time. Basically the perfect example of a guilty pleasure that has no other purpose than to allow you to waste a few hours before doing something useful with your life. I wasn’t expecting much out of the film, and came out pleasantly surprised. It won’t win the Oscars, or make for terribly interesting dinner conversation, but if you’re looking for a stupid comedy that is reasonably well put together and has enough jokes to have you crack a smile with your cold ones, then I think Fist Fight did a decent enough job.

Let’s get right to the punch (sorry, I had to). There’s not a whole lot of plot to Fist Fight. In fact, there’s really not much at all besides Ice Cube wants to fight Charlie Day. Really, that’s the gist of the situation. If you HAVE to expound on that it’s rather easy. It’s the last day of school at Roosevelt High and the kids are letting loose with prank after prank after prank. The teachers are being driven nuts, and the students are out of control. Milquetoast teacher Mr. Campbell (Charlie Day) is just trying to get through the day and get home to his pregnant wife, but the kids have other plans. When he’s sidelined into helping the hard-line teacher, Mr. Strickland (Ice Cube) things take a drastic turn for the worst. Needless to say, the kids get out of hand and Mr. Strickland snaps, using an axe on a student’s desk. Put up before the principal, Mr. Campbell rats out his fellow teacher and gets him fired.

Well, if you thought this was the brightest idea, you’d be wrong. Why would you think that ratting on your fellow teacher IN FRONT OF HIM, after chops a student’s desk in half is a good idea is beyond me. The unhinged Mr. Strickland is not about to let his firing go, and ends up challenging Campbell to a fist fight after school ends at 3:00 pm. Let’s get this straight. Big, beefy, Ice Cube wants to punch out Charlie Day. Yeah, that’s going to end well and Mr. Campbell knows it. Desperate to stay out of the middle of a ring from the punch happy teacher, he does everything in his power to put up roadblocks in the way of the mental monster.

I don’t have to tell you that most of the trailer was pretty dumb. Well, the rest of the film is pretty dumb too. The majority of the film is watching Charlie Day run around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to come up with inane ways of getting Ice Cube off of his back. Hi-jinks ensue, and you can pretty much guess the rest. Charlie Day does everything short of murder to make sure that he’s not pummeled by the hot-tempered Ice Cube acting like Ice Cube version of Mr. Strickland, and we laugh at his ineptness. While it’s not high comedy, and CERTAINLY not as funny as stuff like 21 Jump Street/22 Jump Street but there’s enough giggles and stupid lines that I was having a decent enough time (it took about 2 beers though).

Charlie Day and Ice Cube tend to play themselves, and this is no different. Charlie Day is annoying and shrieks like a little girl for 90 minutes, while Ice Cube scowls at the camera and the yells the whole time. Basically, every other character the two have ever played (although I still have a soft spot for Ice Cube in Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars). The rest of the cast tend to be the more annoying stand ins, especially Jillian Bell (who is one of the most unfunny female comedians alive) and Tracy Morgan (one of the most unfunny male comedians alive). The gorgeous Jessica Chastain shows up for WHO KNOWS what reason (I have no idea how her agent talked her into this) and makes for one of the most disturbing and funny cameos of the film.




Rating:

Rated R for language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug material




Video:

I couldn’t find out any information used on the cameras employed for Fist Fight, but I’m hazarding a guess that it’s a digital shoot (most low budget comedies these days are) and it’s clean and glossy looking image that is bound to please. Facial tones and skin textures look fine, and the image is fairly free of any color grading giving it a natural and clean look. Colors are a bit on the warm side, but well saturated with bright yellows of Jillian Bell’s dress, the green of the field, as well as the crazy colors of the paint and silly string that the students are employing for their pranks. Black levels are solid enough, although I saw some crush here and there. Fine detailing is excellent for the most part, as you can see every fiber of Ice Cube’s well-groomed bear, but the overall clarity CAN look a little bit soft on wide angle shots. It’s a good-looking picture for a comedy, and fits well into the genre as a more than capable encode by Warner.







Audio:

For a comedy, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track from Warner is a surprisingly robust one. Sure, there’s plenty of front heavy dialog centric scenes in the film, but there’s also a lot of craziness going on too. Horns blaring, horses running through the halls, a crowd screaming while Ice Cube and Charlie Day beat the ever-loving snot out of each other. The list goes on and on. Vocals are crisp and clean, locked up front in the center channel, and the surrounds get a hefty workout with said craziness. There’s nothing overly SPECIAL about the track, but Fist Fight does manage to muster a hefty kick in the teeth (again, sorry, but not sorry for the puns) when needed. LFE is strong and punchy, and the front soundstage is awash with activity. An all-around great sounding track for the genre.
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Extras:

• Georgia Film Commission
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

Is Fist Fight a good movie? Nooooooooooooooo, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I found it funny enough to be cracking a good old smile at least 50% of the way. It’s full of foul language, dirty jokes (most of the time perpetuated by Jillian Bell who has most of the, ”did she just say that?” lines), and, of course, a fist fight that never would have happened in today’s litigious society. As I said at the beginning of the film, it’s a fantasy flick about getting into a fist fight with the local bully and coming out ahead (even if you are totally insane). Audio and video are on par for modern comedies, but the extras are almost nonexistent (though I don’t think most people were screaming for an in depth commentary about the social intricacies of the conflict between two teachers). It’s a rental for sure, but one of those rentals where you just crack open a few beers when the wife is gone and relax, letting nothing enter your mind but the giggles and chuckles.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Charlie Day, Ice Cube, Tracy Morgan, Jessica Chastain
Directed by: Richie Keen
Written by: Van Robichaux, Evan Susser
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish, French, Portuguese, English DD 5.1 (English DD 5.1 is DVS)
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: R
Runtime: 91 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: Own Fist Fight on Blu-ray and DVD on May 30!

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Rental

 

[Todd Anderson]

Thankfully I can give my Amazon account a rest and confidently SKIP adding this one to my collection. This is saturday afternoon cable TV material.

Phew.

 

[Michael Scott]

yeah, that's exactly what it is... saturday afternnoon fun. nothing more, nothing less