20/27
Tale
The Last Kumite, one final battle – for his daughter’s life
David Yeung is the son of Bolo Yeung, who played the antagonist Chong Li in Blood Sport (1988), who was the main inspiration for The Last Kumite (2024). . Martial arts movies of the 80s / 90s may have been low budget movies with simple stories, but they also had a certain level of polish, an edge while being fun if that makes any sense. You won’t get that combo with 'The Last Kumite' which leaves him to rely on nostalgia. As is typical of dtv movies trying to stretch their dollar – the whole thing was shot in Europe – and the overall quality is lacking.
Vibration is off
There isn’t much real fun, one-note villains and while some fair effort is put into the hand-to-hand sequences, little is memorable. Michael Rivers (Mathis Landwehr) wins a karate tournament in NYC with his teenage daughter cheering him on under the watchful eye of Ron Hall (Matthias Hues) and his right-hand man Wolf (Michel Qissi). He wants him at a kumite tournament he’s organizing, and when Rivers says no, they kidnap his daughter to force his hand. The odds on favorite to win is Hall’s undefeated champion Dracko (Mike Derudder). In order to gather the necessary skills, he gains allies in fellow fighters (Kurt McKinney, Mounia Moula) and former opponents, Drago’s trainers (Billy Blanks, Cynthia Rothrock).
McKinney is game, but also too old to be here
With bribing the local law, the only option is to win. Blanks & Rothrock’s roles aren’t fancy, but they have their brisk moments. Hues enjoys being a villain, but the name 'Ron Hall' is far from menacing and doesn’t have much to do for much of the picture, other than spout dialogue. Ditto Qissi. Skilled stuntwoman Moula stands out as the only female fighter for good & bad.
Draco grunts as he bends menacingly
By now, you might have started to realize that the movie relies on all those vintage names, and you’re right. These are all clichés, obvious budget constraints that do no one any favors. A bald-headed hero, training montages and some Stan Bush music tracks teleport you back to the 80s. 'The Last Kumite' was partially a crowd-funded project and you can tell it’s fueled by a lot of love and passion for the films of yesteryear. That doesn’t make its short fight scenes and clunky story any better, though.
Handy help around every corner and even though you’re told he owns the police, you still go to them?
All right.