The Last Kumite attempts to emulate the success of "Bloodsport" but falls flat with its amateurish acting and predictable storyline. The performances are cringe-worthy, lacking depth and authenticity, making it difficult to connect with any of the characters. The fight scenes, meant to be the film's highlight, come across as clumsy and uninspired, failing to capture the intensity and skill seen in similar martial arts films. Overall, this Bloodsport rip off disappoints as a cheap imitation that struggles to rise above its low-budget origins, offering little more than a forgettable viewing experience.

80's / 90's martial arts flicks might have been low budget affairs with simple stories, but they also held a certain level of polish, grit whilst entertaining if that makes any sense. You don't get that mix with 'The Last Kumite' which leaves it to get by on nostalgia. As is it typical of dtv movies trying to stretch their dollar - the whole thing is shot in Europe - and the overall quality is lacking. The vibe is off. Not much real fun, one note villains and though some honest effort is put into it's hand to hand sequences little is memorable.

Michael Rivers (Mathis Landwehr) wins a karate tournament in NYC with his teen daughter cheering him on under the eye of Ron Hall (Matthias Hues) and his right hand Wolf (Michel Qissi). He wants him in a Kumite tourney he hosts and when Rivers says no they kidnap his daughter to force his hand. The odds on favorite to win is Hall's champ Dracko (Mike Derudder) who's never been beaten. To muster the skills needed he gains allies in fellow fighters (Kurt McKinney, Mounia Moula) and former opponents, trainers (Billy Blanks, Cynthia Rothrock) of Drago. With the local law bought off, the only option is to win.

Blanks & Rothrock's roles aren't fancy, but they get quick moments of their own. Hues relishes being the baddie, but the name 'Ron Hall' is far from menacing and he isn't given much to do for most of the pic other than spout dialog. Ditto Qissi. Skilled stuntwoman Moula stands out as the sole female fighter for both good & bad. McKinney is game, but also too old to be here. By now you might be starting to get the idea the flick is banking on all these vintage names and you're right. It's all the cliches, obvious budget limitations not doing anyone favors.

Dracko grunts while he menacingly flexes. A bare bones hero, training montages and some Stan Bush music tracks teleport you back to the 80's. 'The Last Kumite' was partially a crowdfunded project and you can tell there's a lot of love, passion for movies of yesterday fueling it. That doesn't make it's short fight scenes, clunky story any better though. Convenient help around every corner and though you're told he owns the police yet go to them anyhow? Okay.

Let me start by saying that there are many plot holes in the movie.

The kidnapped girl is at at least 14. Shown on the phone. The lead star. Michael doesn't seem to be much older then mid 20's. So do your math on how old he was since he got her.

The janitor is also a trainer. And Cynthia's character also seems to be in the exact same place. Seems a bit weird they can just go everywhere and Matthias' character doesn't bother that at all.

I liked the scenes with Kurt, mostly. But it felt he almost leant towards a love relationship with Lea. They got very close together.

The fighting characters and scenes is pretty much Bloodsport all over again. We got the Muay Thai, Cowboy Billy, Caproeira, Kung Fu, etc. We just lack the Sumo guy.

The fights were done quite alright. But it did took a lot of time, and training, and drama, to actually get there. And went over in a flas.

The Dracko guy was really over the top. Too much drama. The fights also seem pretty hasty. And over the top with all the blood spewing about. Dracko was weird, it felt at first like he was some untamed monster. Creeping about in the gym, intimidating people. And even to Matthias' character he wasn't really friendly.

At some point in the fights we get the thumb up thumb down parts. And he actually listened to not kill someone. Which seems out of character.

The fate of the survivors seem pretty weird too. Would be silly not to just kill them off by gunshot. Matthias didn't have problems killing people.

Also, when you're told that the police is in on everything. You don't go there asking for help. You don't know the concequences. Most 'good' guys made lots of mistakes. I liked they actually hired actors who know their way of fighitng. Not just some random blokes who just give a punch.

I would've liked to see more of Cynthia's fighting and ofcourse Michel "Tong Po" Qissi.

I give it a 5 out of 5. Because of the fights, the acting, and storyline overall.