White as Bone

Our beloved Black Dynamite had a "coming attraction" that looked pretty promising, so we decided to check out Blood and Bone.

Michael Jai White stars as Bone, just out of prison and looking to make it big in the underground fight scene in LA. He gets a hustler played by Dante Basco to back him against the meanest fighter in promoter Eamonn Walker's stable. When he wins that fight, he's on his way. Of course, he has an ulterior motive - revenge.

Eamonn Walker makes a pretty decent villain, one of those civilized, nicely dressed, killer types. I won't give away the plot (because there's no point), but it involves Walker's main squeeze, a junked out beauty played by Michelle Belegrin.

But who cares? How about the fights? In a word, brutal. MJW has a great physique and explosive style, doing especially well against multiple opponents. The guys he fights seem pretty good too - I think a lot of them are MMA fighters in real life.

So, lots of good action, a good looking, strong silent type hero, hissable villain, what's not to like? The violence is pretty raw, so stay away if that isn't your thing. My only other criticism is the soundtrack, which could have been a lot more inspiring. And I don't just mean Wang Chung.