Search - Circle of Pain on DVD

Mediocre, but not Terrible

Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 06/16/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, the cover art is deceptive. Kimbo Slice is not the main character. He only appears twice and his first scene happened 25 minutes into the film. The guy with the cool cleft chin is the main character.



The plot is very simple. The actors are amateurish. Things get resolved too quickly. Still, this was not gawd-awful as most low-budget films. It's far from Oscar material, but it didn't make me want to hurl.



The work borrows some themes of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and "He Got Game." It deals with the man with no shoes versus the man with no feet paradigm. The focus is not on the fight, but on the path to the fight. For all I know, "Rocky (I)" may have been the same way.



Recent photos of Governor Ahnuld reveal that he has chest hair. In watching his films and golden-age photos, I never would have known that. I think bodybuilders shave their chest hair in order to get the viewer to focus on their musculature. The opponent in this film keeps his chest hair. Fur lovers will enjoy seeing it. This film, like many, has lots of tee-and-ay, but no male nudity despite the wonderful bodies of the male characters.



Bai Ling gives a gratuitous girl-on-girl kiss that many viewers will enjoy. I like Bai Ling; I'm rooting for her in Hollywood. I didn't mind watching her play a villain here either. However, I thought her body looked wrinkly at times. If you like curves on a woman, you will not like seeing Bai's twiggy figure. Many viewers may think of Dean Cain in "Broken Hearts' Club." We are used to seeing him as a main character and being a person that others worshipped. It may shock some to see him as a character to the side, particularly one playing a differently-abled gentleman.



Again, this work is not fight-intensive. The story doesn't stretch itself to have fights every two seconds. I can think of other ways to kill time, but this film was okay. It won't upset you or anything."