Tapped Out (2014) User Reviews

Unfortunate

[danjameswilson · 4/10 · 22 May 2014]

Bad to OK, but could have been good... there's hope for the plot.

Too many places in the film where you think, NOOO, stop being daft, develop a decent background and continue.

Example, skinny kid with little training is going to ever beat an established MMA fighter (this side of a barrel) nope, but serious HEAD damage to both, YES! The kid has SERIOUS anger against this guy, so he would be willing to break his body to win... so let's see it, full on impact, evasive action, ALL head shots (where there is F' all muscle development),.. but to overpower this guy, NO!! it would NEVER happen.

Would have been good, if the development of a VERY small chance of winning would have been explored fully. Othererwise, looks daft.

okay but had two huge flaws

[danielwriter37 · 5/10 · 21 November 2014]

The movie all and all is what is to be expected. It's the typical David (good guy) Goliath (bad guy)story that many fight movies seem to emulate. There is two HUGE things in my opinion that prevented me from given this at least a 7. 1. The antagonist is HUGE compared to the main character. I guess it is plausible after all the training the guy a third of his size could win but not in dragged out fight. Not in a million years. It honestly looked like a typical high school student versus a WWE wrestler. They could of had the same affect and made it more realistic by not having the size difference as drastic. It just seems to obvious to me (David versus Goliath on crack). I would of had the antagonist his size or maybe a few weight classes higher than him. A guy doesn't have to look like a WWE wrestler to be intimidating. My second major critique is the fact that he's bound and determined to beat up the guy who killed his parents. He barely even attempts to contact the police and in the end its all good because he won the fight yet the bad guys not in jail. Not that the antagonist knows that the protagonist knows he killed his parents wouldn't he later go after the main character. The plot was basically someone kills my parents when I'm 12 and seven years later I win the fight and all is forgiven. The acting wasn't too bad and some of the screen writing was a little dry. Overall it was decent but those two facts I pointed out really destroyed this movie for me.

"Dentists love this kick"

[The_Phantom_Projectionist · 6/10 · 14 July 2015]

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!

Terrible, don't believe the paid press

[thegameblender · 1/10 · 28 April 2014]

Tapped Out is just another case of a no budget B movie receiving early positive press from friends of the cast and crew. The film is worse than the trailers, which have already received a ton of heat, and contains some of the most cringe-worthy moments and performances I've ever seen. This isn't even a B movie, it's a D movie.

Let's look first to Hackman, the "star" who just happened to produce and write the film. Not only is his talent non-existent, but his portrayal of the character is entirely unbelievable. His writing gives us nothing more than a derivative story that you've seen many times before, except this time it looks like it was made for about 20 grand.

Appearances by "stars" Biehn and MMA fighters give us a glimpse of what this might have been with a real budget and if the content was in the hands of better filmmakers. Biehn was a disaster, plain and simple, but he's been that since the 90's so no surprise there. On the other hand, the MMA guys step in and do a fairly decent job in their limited time on screen. Unfortunately, the filmmakers are about two years too late as MMA is on the decline and the fighters won't offer enough of a draw to attract substantial audiences.

If you're looking for absolute garbage, this is the film to see... if not, don't waste your time. A film like SHARKNADO works because it's intentionally terrible. What makes TAPPED OUT so bad is that it takes itself seriously and fails horribly in its efforts. Unfortunately, it appears that the same team is back at their B movie ways with a new Biehn picture and one starring Cuba Gooding Jr... so their trend of hiring washed up 80's/90's talent continues, but at least this film offers us reason to never check out further work by this incompetent group.

0/10

Likable and watchable fight flick

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 16 August 2017]

When Michael Shaw (Hackman) was 12 years old, some carjackers shot and killed his parents. During the incident, the boy took note of a tattoo on the neck of one of the baddies. Now in high school, he's understandably moody and acts out by partying and neglecting his schoolwork. Caught by the cops for excessive "party rocking", Michael is on his last chance. Thanks to Principal Vanhorne (Kove), Michael gets a chance to do his community service hours at his old dojo. When he was a kid, he was a Karate champ, but after the murder he let it all slide. When Reggie (Biehn), the dojo master, first gets a hold of him, he has him do janitorial work. But Michael starts to see the value of training in Karate again. When taken by Reggie's niece Jen (Brown) to an illegal, underground MMA fight, Michael recognizes the tattoo he saw so long ago - it just so happens to belong to the reigning champ, a gigantic, unbeatable meathead named Dominic Gray (Soszynski). So, despite their vast weight differences, Michael goes into extreme training mode so he can beat Gray in the ring to avenge his parents' murder. But will it be Gray or Michael who will be...TAPPED OUT? Tapped Out is essentially No Retreat No Surrender (1986) for the Facebook generation. Elsewhere online it has been described as Batman (1989) meets The Karate Kid (1984), and it has a plot action fans have seen countless times before. Should we be applauding the fact that they're still making movies like this? We're truly not sure. We guess that's pretty cool. The movie has almost as many training sequences as Green Street 3 (2013), and because Michael has to work his way up the ranks of all the "boxcar" underground fighters, and squeeze in some plot and dialogue, the whole thing is a bit longer than it needs to be.  This Cody Hackman kid is likable enough, and it also stars fan favorites Martin Kove and Michael Biehn, so the DTV lineage is there, at least. Interestingly, in the movie it says that the murder of the parents occurred when Michael was 12 years old. Then someone later says "that was seven years ago." If our math is correct, that means Michael is a 19 or 20 year old high school student. Maybe things are different in Canada, but this struck us as odd. Maybe he stayed back a few times.

The whole outing is shot and edited well, and has a very professional look to it. It's clear the filmmakers, despite the derivative grounding of it all, tried to put in some emotion and quality to the overall proceedings, which we appreciated. It doesn't look or feel like crud, as so many of its MMA-based competitors do. The fact that "Karate Boy", as our hero is called, tries to take on these MMA guys in the ring may feel incorrect, but it's kind of a throwback to the underground Punchfighting movies of the 80's and the first part of the 90's. The ring announcer bellows "Let's go to waaaaaaaarrrrr!", which, it has to be said, won't be sending Michael Buffer into his panic room anytime soon.

For a decent and watchable - but nothing more - example of a modern-day DTV UFC/Underground Fighting movie, Tapped Out should fit the bill. But it seems the days of Karl Brezdin are long over, even if that spirit, in some new form, lives on.

World record for most clichés in one movie. WARNING: SARCASM OVERLOAD

[amillionmovies · 2/10 · 8 July 2014]

How many clichés can one possibly put into one movie? So his parents get killed during a robbery on his way home from a karate class (he is 12) then he sees a small piece of the guys tattoo. Fine. Then he is a 20 year old rebel still in high school, getting kids booze and stuff. Im like, 1. who the hell is even selling him booze? the dude is barely pushing 5' 5". As hard as his face is there is no way someone wouldn't ask him for ID. He gets being a janitor at a Dojo as community service but the Sensei takes pity on him and decides to let him practice his punching skills for an hour after the Dojo has closed. MIND YOU his uniform is the same uniform he was wearing at 12 years old and it still FITS PERFECTLY... WHAT?!? His love interest is the Sensei's niece, who is a secret rebel OOOOO BIG SHOKER THERE. She takes him to an underground fight club where SURPRISE SURPRISE the main dude fighting is one of the two guys who killed his parents. Fine if thats your storyline I'll let you have it, i've seen worse. The underground club decides to have a tournament... *really dude really??* to which he tries to enter but has to fight a next MMA guy to get in and OMFG HE WINS BY K.O *EYEROLL* His love interest is a criminology student *GASP* and starts looking for more info on him in which she finds out about his parents and stuff. The Sensei follows him to the club to see the match and gives him crap about it but says nothing to the niece he is oh so overprotective of and he is like "No young sir I shan't train you if you are going to fight in a club" BUT OH WAIT I was a friend of your parents' so yea of course I'll help. This movie could have cut down 45 minutes by not having so much useless slow motion scenes or even better the length of it would have been perfect if they actually focused more on quality over quantity. How in the hell is a short ass guy who is BARELY trained in KARATE going to beat a 6' 3" HEAVY WEIGHT SEMI-PRO MMA FIGHTER? and I know the natural response to that question is "but it's a movie" but even for a movie that is SO UNREALISTIC.

I got to an hour and I'm STRUGGLING to stick to my guns and watch till the end. This movie is rubbish. The one thing that I'll give them is the cage fighting looks quite natural so HOORAH FOR THAT. I don't know why I'm even going to try to watch it till the end when I already know it will follow the route of "He beats the bad guy, gets the girl and a new family". Oh and PS to the creators of this movie KARATE IS NOT MMA!!

2/10

Karate Kid meets Dark Knight meets Rocky

[rajivness · 6/10 · 19 May 2014]

Entertaining movie about a kid who witnesses the death of his parents in a carjacking gone bad - similar to the batman story. Only difference is that the killer doesn't know the kid witnesses it. The kid then trains for an MMA tournament to battle against his parent's murderer. That's the rocky part - the running, weights, boxing, mat wrestling, etc. The karate kid part if the one that endures from beginning through till the end.

Nothing original about the story since its a lot like Never Back Down and the 3 movie franchises just mentioned.

It also has a David vs Goliath appeal since that's extremely apparent in the climax of the movie.

Michael Biehn is the only known actor - not cast well imo. This is your typical 'happy ending' type movie. who cares whether it seems unrealistic to the point of being fantastic.

Stereotyped Out

[jimlacy2003 · 3/10 · 20 May 2014]

(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..

Horrible plot, horrible acting !! !

[cyrus-fazel · 1/10 · 7 July 2014]

This is my 1st review on IMDb and the reason is to save you two hours! Believe me if you do watch it you can only agree with this review.

Seriously this movie is horrible: Acting is miserable, the plot is very poor and you only see Anderson Silva & Lyoto Machida for a minute. On top of that fights are poorly choreographed and the kid which is really an amateur is pain to watch.

Perhaps one positive touch is the soundtrack but all the rest is rubbish.

So if you really have two hours to waste watch any other movie I am sure it could only be better.

Don't get fooled, if you want to watch a good MMA movie pick Warrior!

Way under-rated, look beyond the controversy...

[A_Different_Drummer · 9/10 · 7 February 2016]

This was a controversial production in 2014, an MMA film out of a country that specializes in bad sequels, Lifetime movies, and every bad X-Mas movie you have ever seen.

It was ambitious for its humble beginnings, casting the usual Canadian unknowns -- the sole exception being Michael Biehn, one of the Godfathers of the Canadian film industry -- and throwing in some cameos of top MMA fighters.

The controversy even spread to the IMDb where, at the time of release, it appeared that the first reviews were front-loaded by first-time-reviewers (reviewers with only 1 review to their name) who could only gape in wonder at the excellence of the film....?

So, on a second viewing, I say look beyond the controversy and, in spite of a few fails here and there, you will find one of the most satisfying MMA films in recent memory, an unusual but oddly comfortable mix of Karate Kid and Death Wish.

Way under-rated by the critics, props should be given for a script which (like my all-time fave, WARRIOR) knows how to build and build and build without ever getting in its own way.

Here is the unvarnished truth -- while everyone loves MMA - duh! -- there are very few films in that genre that this reviewer can recommend.

This is one of them. Catch it if you can.

Not worthy

[alexanderfester · 2/10 · 4 September 2014]

I really had high expectations for this film. Speaking is a truly big fan of the classic movie; "Never Back Down" - I just had to see this. For my dissatisfaction this was nothing true too the original. A well used crew combined with another "want to make it in Hollywood" -producer. The story screams predictable and I would be truly embarrassed to view this piece in front of my friends.

The actors doesn't show any credibility... Yes, the hero figure is skinny fat (as we say in Norway), and does to an extent capture the audiences credibility. But please get some new material. Or, if you really want to make this an bad ass flick.. put some steroids up the kids ass like the other producers and get this kid some flesh on his bones... its painful to watch how this skinny mfg is supposedly about to kick the 250(xx) pounds champion of MMA's ass... seriously?

David vs Goliath

[sasa-vujanic · 5/10 · 30 May 2014]

Again and again... David vs Goliath stuff! I remember Karate Kid trilogy - Ralph was such a lamer... Real "Karate guys" were taking him apart (spanking his ass) but some lucky punch, disqualifications via illegal punches made him a hero/winner, even thou he was a pitiful wax-in, was-out guy (LAMER)...

I am an UFC fan, and I (think) I know (watched every UFC spectacle + TUF 01-19 steel going) if there is any chance for a guy weighing (i don't know for the fact)... like 135 pounds to take over that BEAST.. The Polish Experiment - 205 (when fit) - Krzysztof Soszynski! That one arm choke near the end... guys... get real... Someone should talk to Cody and tell him to use "telephone move" to protect... Look at the UFC 173!... Btw... he was 99% off due to choke, but he was able to move out of going asleep!... Get real! Btw... he had just 6 week to train... In a real world - even his temp coaches - Anderson Silva & Lyoto Machida could'n help him. The difference in muscle mass and experience is just enormous! Watchable, but not real - Cody... do not co-produce movies you're in! (as Stallone, Schwarzenegger... etc!)

Not that bad

[miguelcorreia93 · 4/10 · 3 June 2014]

Alright, I was bored and I was in for a fighting movie. This one caught my eye and it could have been worse.

In the beginning I was almost forced to turn off the movie, because of the cheesy storyline and the bad acting. It is just a non original story. I think you could see it more as a bad Never Back Down rip off. It is just a simple storyline were the main character meets his enemy and wants revenge. In the end he makes the right choice by letting the enemy live and so on and on.

The reason I kept watching were the question marks the movie was giving me. The fight scenes were pretty good and that helped a lot. Let's say that the fight scenes are the reason to watch this movie. It keeps the tension high.

Watch this movie when you're bored. If you can't handle bad acting, then it's probably not a good idea to watch this one.

starsCLUBBER LANG VS. KARATE KID

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 27 August 2018]

As a child, karate kid Michael Shaw (Cody Hackman) witnesses the brutal murder of his parents, barely escaping with his life. Seven years later, Michael is a troubled teen who starts up karate again and develops a love interest in Jen (Jess Brown) the niece of the karate instructor (Michael Biehn).

Jen takes Michael to a fight club where he sees the enormous man, Dominic Gray (Krzysztof Soszynski) who killed his parents. From here you can pen the rest yourself. Clubber Lang vs. the chicken armed Karate Kid with dead parents.

This is an adult film using a child's movie plot. It was on the order of a made for TV type film. It was watchable,predictable, just not exciting unless you really really love fight movies.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. Brief sex. Brief Poster nudity. Jess Brown bra/panties.

Four start because its an MMA movie.

[zipsnork67 · 4/10 · 3 July 2014]

I like MMA movies. It gives people a view in the world off MMA and that is always good.

This is a movie that might give teenager a Wooo effect. But for everyone over 25 it gives the exact opposite of the deeper message MMA movies normally have.

I am a big fan off MMA and MMA is ever growing. It grows because it provides the audience a learning curve. It tells them more about the athletic part of the process and the skill part of the process.

This movie does not do that. One of the first fighting scenes shows the "typically" evil actor beating some people up. Normally in every professional sporting event it would have stopped after the first knockout punch. I understand that the movie needs to build the "evil" story but there are other ways to do that.

So some people say they enjoy the fight scenes but if you know a bit about MMA you know that the fights scenes are really bad.

To go back to the beginning. Teenagers might find this extremely cool and want to go and train for themselves. But every parent out there will think MMA is a brutal sport conducted by animals and this movie empowers that vision. This movie should have been more about skills and the characters should have been produced more powerful.

Top 3 MMA Movies yet!

[signaturelimousines · 9/10 · 20 May 2014]

I was expecting less, however, I'm glad I took the Chance on watching Tapped Out! I thought for sure it was going to be a corny Hector Echavarria movie but this film proved me wrong. Acting was decent, cameos were great and fight scenes were shot very well! I can see how MMA fans might want more fighting in the movie, the major action does not start until half way in. However the lack of action is made up for an intriguing story (Batman meets Karate Kid). I appreciated the references to the original karate kid. Michael Biehn who plays Reggie did a great job portraying the Miyagi element, and he was pretty comical at times. Anderson Silva seemed to be comfortable on screen and was not over the top. I wish we got to see more of him!' Overall I think this movie has what it takes to offer all audiences entertainment.

9/10 Stars

For me of GOAT MMA movies

#1.Warrior #2.Tapped Out #3.Red Belt

By the numbers

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 24 February 2016]

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 ...

Wait, so this movie wasn't a satire?

[nharan81 · 1/10 · 7 July 2014]

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?

Another Ungar/Hackman hack job

[barbapapa-2 · 1/10 · 27 November 2023]

After watching - and despising - 2015's Gridlocked, which brought director Allan Ungar and wannabe C-lister Cody Hackman together *again*, I thought I'd give them a second chance and watch their previous work together to see if Gridlocked was just a cinematic misstep or if they were genuinely a terrible combination.

Unfortunately or the moviegoing public, it is the latter.

Tapped Out is a movie that fails to deliver on its promise. The film follows the story of Michael Shaw, a former martial arts prodigy who seeks revenge against the man who killed his parents. The movie is a perfect example of a poorly executed action-drama.

The film's screenplay is riddled with cliches and predictable plot twists. The movie's director, Allan Ungar, has done a poor job of bringing the story to life on the big screen. The film's cast is also subpar, with Cody Hackman delivering a particularly weak performance as Michael Shaw.

The movie's fight scenes are poorly choreographed and lack any real excitement. The film's climax is also underwhelming and fails to deliver the emotional payoff that the audience deserves.

Overall, Tapped Out is a movie that is not worth your time. The film's cliched screenplay, poor direction, and weak performances make it a forgettable experience. I would not recommend it to anyone. Actually, yes, I would recommend it to Cody Hackman and Allan Ungar - if they force this garbage onto others, they should at least have to suffer through it themselves! Please, please, Cody Hackman - for the love of all things holy, stop doing this to us. I used to love cinema until I saw this effluent you call a film, now I think I'm going back to books until my stomach settles.

Pleasantly surprised

[ardeans118 · 9/10 · 25 April 2014]

I scored tickets last night to the Toronto premiere and I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much. It looked like another crappy MMA movie, but it was anything but that. After watching the trailer I expected there to be a lot more action, but I wasn't disappointed by it. I'd also consider the film more of a drama, as most of the fighting is left for the final act. When there is action, though, it's extremely violent and realistic. People seemed to be on the edge of their seats and I felt every punch.

The film had a lot of funny moments, and the acting was pretty solid throughout. The biggest surprise was UFC Fighter Krzysztof Soszynsy as the villain, Dominic. He stole every scene he was in, and he played the part well. He really came off as a menacing bad guy that you just wanted to see die. It was great to see Michael Biehn playing a Mr. Miyagi and I really bought into the fact that he knew how to kick serious ass as a Karate Instructor. There's also a few references to the original Karate Kid, and it definitely helps that Martin Kove made an appearance.

MMA Fans may be a bit disappointed that Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida don't have a lot of screen time, but I'll tell you their scenes were hands down the best part of the film. I don't want to give it away, but the entire audience loved it and it was actually quiet comedic.

I will say there were weak elements with some of the editing and some of the acting was shoddy at times, but it didn't take you out of it too much. The movie starts off a bit slow, but it really ramps up in the third act when the main character starts training for the tournament.

Overall, I think people will be pretty surprised that there's a lot more depth to this film than your typical fight movie. Also considering this was done on a small budget, they really made it look sharp. It's definitely worth seeing when it comes out.

Enjoyable well done film that was just a little long,but over all a good story and characters!

[CarlSquare · 10/10 · 24 April 2014]

Tapped Out has said to been to be a new take on the Karate Kid type story but with a MMA twist. And Tapped Out was actually pretty enjoyable. Tapped Out has good acting from Cody Hackman, Michael Biehn, and Krzysztof Soszynski. The film was just a little long even though it was quite fun with its awesome and gripping action but also had good characters. The story follows Michael Shaw from when his parents getting carjacked and murdered until he seeks revenge and wants to fight the man that killed his parents. Tapped Out also had some beautiful action and landscape shots. Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida also have a very cool cameo.The characters where well developed and main character Michael has an interesting love interest. The film also has some hilarious jokes here and there. unlike lots of recent films Tapped Out uses practical effects which are always awesome. The film has a great amount of action, and good dialog. The movie has many different genres romance, drama, action and comedy! I would definitely recommend Tapped out!

A disgruntled teenager, sent to do community service at a rundown Karate school, enters an MMA tournament to face the man who killed his parents.

[eoin-500-822329 · 8/10 · 28 April 2014]

Review: Story-wise 'Tapped Out' is 'The Karate Kid' meets 'Rocky'; our protagonist Michael Shaw (Cody Hackman) witnesses the murder of his parents as a young boy and becomes (unsurprisingly) a troubled youth. Unlike the Never Back Down films though, Michael is a likable character and although he is angry at the world, it's entirely understandable as he is well fleshed out.

He starts off the movie hanging around with a bad crowd at school and having crazy parties, but then becomes the underdog and rather than being someone you don't care about, he is at heart a man of honour.

One of the little things I noticed was him bowing before a fight and someone says "young people don't want to see karate anymore, they want to see this" *pointing to the cage fighting*.

Cody comes from a martial arts background so when we see him fight, it doesn't look overly-choreographed but believable.

One thing to be prepared for is that it's not constant action, with the first half of the movie focusing on character development, drama and story. The second half of the movie is tournament time and that's when the action really kicks in.

Michael Biehn plays Reggie, the Mr. Miyagi-type mentor of the tale who has his own back-story which I won't go into here. Biehn is always phenomenal on screen and never seems like he's acting; he just has a truth to every character and when watching this, you're not watching an actor, you're watching Reggie.

Martin Kove plays against type as the inspirational Principal Vanhorne who wants to straighten out Michael and send him to Reggie; he doesn't have a very big role but it's great to see him in this type of movie as a good guy.

UFC Fighter Krzysztof Soszynski is the villain of the movie Dominic and he REALLY looks the part; when he's on screen he's pretty damn scary looking and is threatening as Hell. He brings real authenticity to the role and his fight scenes are vicious… and usually short. He's a very memorable villain and may end up being seen as a classic bad guy.

Speaking of the fight scenes, I'm pleased to say that they are shaky cam free with fluid camera work but also not afraid to get up close to the action. We get to see every punch and kick and it isn't watered down; when we see Dominic fighting, he pounds his opponent's faces in and usually leaves them out cold.

There is one reference to 'The Karate Kid' in the movie but nothing cheesy and that's one of the main things I enjoyed about 'Tapped Out'. It manages to be an inspirational tale without being cheesy or having any clunky dialogue. The characters are believable and although the story isn't anything all that new, I found myself enjoying every moment.

There is plenty of humour too in the form of Lou (Daniel Faraldo) who arranges the fights and has some choice lines; when he sees what Michael can do in the ring he turns from cynical to a fan very quickly.

We also get a few awesome training montages which are essential for films like this but in this movie we get to see UFC legend Anderson Silva teach Michael how to properly cage fight and mix up his fighting style. He's only in a few scenes but he has a great career ahead of him as an action star as he has a very likable face and plenty of fighting skills… obviously.

'Tapped Out' is director Allan Ungar's feature début and from this evidence it looks like he is going to have a great career. With a new action movie called 'Gridlocked' on the way, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Overall, 'Tapped Out' is 'The Karate Kid' for a new generation with a great cast, nicely choreographed fights and an inspirational and entertaining story.

Batman Meets The Karate Kid

[mtnbloggeer · 9/10 · 27 April 2014]

This film is an MMA lover's wet dream. There are plenty of great fights, badass action sequences, and some cool cinematography to make it look even better. It was great to see Michael Biehn in this too, as it's been a while since he's been in anything. He plays a washed up Karate coach who has to train the main character. It was a lot of fun to see him on screen.

Personally I'm not a fan UFC, but I still enjoyed it. I found it to actually be a lot better than it should have been. The script may have been basically written entirely in clichés, and it was predictable beyond belief, however, I couldn't help but enjoy the hell out of it. It's simply a badass film, and for that it's really enjoyable. The action scenes were exciting and tense, the sappy scenes never felt overly sappy, basically I just found it to be a perfectly enjoyable movie. It's basically Batman meets The Karate Kid in story line. The performances are pretty meh, but forgivable, as most of the actors aren't really actors. The editing and camera work are awesome, they compliment the movie perfectly. For a film like this, I actually enjoyed watching it, and for this film's target audience, that's all that's really needed. It's really fun, and has a lot of cool visuals and editing. Just don't go into it overthinking anything. If you love MMA, you'll love this movie.

Pleasantly Surprised

[chrisjo65 · 9/10 · 30 April 2014]

Upon attending the Premiere of Tapped Out I was pleasantly surprised as to the level of intensity the movie provided and the story line behind it. I wasn't sure what to expect but came away with a smile on my face. At times during the movie I was on the edge of my seat others times laughing along with the whole audience at some of the comedic overtones. It was a great mix. The fight scenes were hard hitting and all the MMA stars in the movie did a fantastic job. Krzysztof and Hackman excelled in there roles. After talking with folks after the movie it was apparent that this team has what it takes to make an offering to a World wide audience

I am sure this movie will be well received and I recommend it to all

Very pleasantly surprised !!!

[destroyerwod · 8/10 · 24 May 2014]

I was also expecting a movie like those Hector Echavarria MMA movies from a couple years back. They where OK, but had predictable stories, decent fighting yet nothing especially crazy, they also had a bunch of MMA fighters doing cameo to market the project like this one.

But the comparing stop there. The story in this one is really well written and i could really feel for the hero trough the movie. Some people mention there is not much action til later in the movie, i didn't even really notice it, the story really kept me on the edge and i loved how the hero trained. Although it does take some references from a couple known movies(like Karate Kid) i really like how it mix so well a good old Karate setting that remind older movies with todays MMA.

The villain really play his part well, he is truly believable. He does have very little lines but he did a pretty good job when he had ones. The fighting also has an authentic feel to it and the fight choreographers really mixed well a more realistic set-up with some "movie moves".

Of course if you expect Anderson Silva or Lytto Machida to have big roles in this, don't. They seem like the lead on the covers but they have very little screen time, more like an extended cameo, but again what you expected really? They can't really act, there just there to promote the movie.

Really Tapped Out is really one of 2014 best surprise for me. I wasn't expecting much yet i got a strong martial art movie that i enjoy from beginning to end. The hero, the love interest, the villain, the sensei/trainer, they where all memorable characters that i felt for.

Give this a chance you won't regret it.