DVD Review: Blood and Bone

Here’s another flick that you’ve probably seen advertised on television, once. Seeing the preview, we didn’t know what to think of it. It stars Michael Jai White, the black martial arts dude that played Spawn many, many, many years ago, Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?, Trois 2: Pandora’s Box, and a slew of other movies. You’ve seen him before. The movie also stars the sexy Nona Gaye, daughter of soul and R&B legend, Marvin Gaye; Eamonn Walker, who played Minister Said from the old HBO show Oz, and a few recognizable names and faces from the MMA world.

The movie starts out with Bone (Michael Jai White) in prison and talking to another inmate; then a group of other inmates surround him with the option of joining their group or suffer. Bone turns around and tells the group “they have until the count of 5”, and they all think he’s joking as he starts the countdown. When he gets to 3, he proceeds to mash the entire group and wants the group’s leader to deliver a message, “I want you to tell every motherfucka behind these walls, if they get the notion to fuck with me……….don’t”. Now that’s some go-hard shit.

Once Bone is released from prison, he finds a place to stay. He takes up with an old man and a woman who take in children to keep them safe from the streets. The woman lays down the rules of the house and he humbly obliges. As Bone stays in the house, he befriends the old man by playing chess with him and taking an interest in why the children are in the house to make the woman feel easy about him being in the house. Bone befriends a small Asian dude named Pinball after going to an underground Fight Club. Pinball is a promoter and Bone takes an interest in fighting under Pinball’s management for money. From this point, Bone’s mission is about to take place.

Introduced during the first pit-fight, we have the villain, James, played by Eamonn Walker. He’s a well-suited individual with a look in his eye of a man who gets what he wants when he wants it. There is a moment where Bone and James make eye contact where you know something is up between the two. James leaves the event to take care of some other business and Bone convinces Pinball to get him a fight with the last $200 in his pocket. Bone wins the fight in quick and impressive fashion and goes on to become the craze of the underground circuit after winning several fights over time. Word gets back to James and he has a proposition for Bone to fight for him. Bone tells James he’d think about fighting for him and from this point, Bone becomes his own man and James has a problem with that.

There is a reason why Bone and James’ lives become intertwined. It’s a deep story of a man who sets out for revenge for all the right reasons. Bone is a man who keeps his word to a friend and unites those lost in the storm with those who are looking for guidance. He doesn’t lose his cool throughout the movie, even in dire situations, which we find pretty funny, but that’s cool. The fight scenes are pretty good, and the final battle is pretty entertaining to watch. The storyline is pretty solid and not too predictable, so it’s a movie you can sit through and not get bored with it.
We recommend this film for those who are interested in martial arts movies with a pretty solid storyline, good fighting, and OK acting.

Contact us if you’re interested in reviewing Blood and Bone for yourself.