![]() ![]() ![]() After two heavy dramatic roles under Lam, Cheung proves himself to be an actor who can strike the precarious balance between humor and drama when the material calls for it. Given the tricky task of playing a dramatic character with comedic beats, Cheung gives one of the best performances of his career as Fai. While it’s the drama and the characters that lift Unbeatable beyond an average action film, action fans should be pleased by the film’s brutal MMA fights. Noses and shoulders are dislocated, and the script constantly reminds us that people can die in MMA matches. The liberal use of kicks and holds make the fight scenes more intense than the average boxing film, especially in the bouts featuring Andy On as an arrogant fighter. Nevertheless, the MMA serves as one of the other main attractions of the film. The two share some genuinely funny moments, and the film is weaker when the MMA tournament keeps them apart in the second half. Though the media has been focusing on their physical training for the fight scenes, their camaraderie in the film is really the key to the film’s success. That theme and the mentor-student story are nothing new for the genre, but Unbeatable shines when it relies on the chemistry between Nick Cheung and Eddie Peng. Unbeatable’s Chinese title roughly translates to “Fierce War,” echoing the story’s theme of conquering life’s hardships as a battle. After he discovers Fai’s past as a boxer, he asks Fai to become his trainer. With only two months to go, he starts training in Ching Fai’s gym. Meanwhile, Si-Qi decides to join a high-profile MMA tournament to encourage his father to stand up again. Thanks to old friend Tai-Sui (Philip Keung), Ching Fai finds a job as an assistant trainer at a local gym and sublets a room in the same apartment as Ming-Jun and her ten-year-old daughter Pui-Dan (Crystal Lee, also in Lam’s The Viral Factor). Ching Fai flees Hong Kong when his debtors start closing in, Si-Qi is forced to work as a day laborer after his father (Jack Kao) loses the family fortune on real estate speculation and Ming-Jun become mentally unstable after a serious family tragedy. Former boxer Ching Fai (Nick Cheung), downtrodden young man Lin Si-Qi (Eddie Peng) and single mother Ming-Jun (Mei Ting). Unbeatable’s selling point is mixed martial arts, but it’s really a character-driven drama about three troubled souls in Macau. Words like “inspiring” and “uplifting” are not commonly used to describe Lam’s films, but they certainly apply to Unbeatable, the action auteur’s best film since Beast and possibly his most purely enjoyable film to date. ![]() Lam’s formula has never been better applied than in sport drama Unbeatable. Starting with 2008’s The Beast Stalker, Dante Lam kicked off a career comeback with a string of action films that emphasized drama over brainless action. Unbeatable offers nothing new, but it’s solid genre entertainment. With a career-best performance by Nick Cheung, a script infused with great humor and MMA scenes that will please action fanboys, this sports drama is Dante Lam’s best film since The Beast Stalker and easily his most purely enjoyable to date. Michelle Loo, Wang Baoqiang, Stephen Au Kam-Tong Nick Cheung Ka-Fai, Eddie Peng Yu-Yan, Mei Ting, Crystal Lee, Li Feier, Jack Kao, Philip Keung Lam Chiu-Yin, Jack Ng Wai-Lun, Fung Chi-Fung ![]()
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