Final Impact (1991) Review

“Final Impact” UK DVD Cover

Director: Joseph Merhi
Cast: Lorenzo Lamas, Jeff Langton, Mimi Lesseos, Kathleen Kinmont, Michael Worth, Frank Rivera, Gary Daniels, Antoinette Steen, James M. Williams
Running Time: 101 min.

By Retter

The genre of kickboxing and punch fighting movies could easily fill an entire video store (or more). The post-Van Damme video era of the 80’s and 90’s coincided with an explosion in home video. This new market in home entertainment was the perfect environment for the modern B-picture to flourish. The quality and creative vision of these pictures varies greatly from the excellent Hong Kong inspired Seasonal Films (“No Retreat No Surrender” series) to the lesser pictures that are obviously directed by people who don’t understand the fundamentals of the genre.

PM Entertainment was an interesting production company in this mix. In many ways they understood the fundamentals of the action B-picture, which is getting the whole budget (no matter how small) up there on the screen for the audience to see. The explosions had impact (often flipping over cars) and the fisticuffs made you feel the knocks (stuntmen often taking spine crunching tumbles). Even in the early films from PM, they made sure to create an aesthetic with lighting and setting that struck a shady neon underworld. One of the two “brothers” of PM Entertainment was Richard Peppin and he was very often the cinematographer on the films; the other “brother” Joseph Merhi would direct. Both acted as producers of almost all the PM films.

In the case of this interesting PM gem, Final Impact, Steven Smoke came onboard as writer and co-director with Merhi. You can tell that he has some understanding of the fighting tournament genre and of drama more widely. It shows in the structure of the film and its dramatic scenes. PM films usually have structural or dramatic flaws with more emphasis on the 5-car-pile-up and squibs but I think this is far more solidly scripted.

Lorenzo Lamas plays a constantly drinking burnt-out former kickboxing champion who decides to train a young up-and-comer (Michael Worth) to take on an old rival for the championship. There are shades of the original Karate Kid and Rocky V here. What is quite gleeful to watch about this film is that Lamas is given such an interestingly flawed character to play instead of the usual role where he would just walk through and deliver his lines. Kathleen Kinmont plays the long-suffering girlfriend of Lamas and she isn’t just along for the usual “You did it Johnny, you won the championship!” role.

Now, if you watch these films on a regular basis you will want to know about the martial arts action and structure of the film. The fight sequences are mostly very good; they’re shot from various angles and include support players like a young Garry Daniels and other highly competent physical performers. There are moments of creative choreography, flips, a few “nice moves” and a generally high-impact display of foot to face violence. To compliment this are some pretty excellent training scenes. These are not Bloodsport-style montages of being suspended between palm trees and doing the splits to “learn something” (as much as I love those). They are more psychological and are about a well fleshed out trainer/student relationship between Lamas and Worth. If there was an acting award for B-movie beefcakes who occasionally punch above their weight dramatically, Lorenzo Lamas should win for this film. He does inhabit this jaded character much more so than anything else I have seen him in. He gets cheesy lines to deliver, nails them and also creates a sense of pathos as a fallen warrior.

Michael Worth is well cast as the young kid who wants to be champion. He could definitely play such a character quite easily at this age (he had several such roles in PM films) and no-doubt its just a variation on himself. You will be pleased to know the film has a nasty villain, played with over the top arrogance by Jeff Langton, who you really want to see have his face ripped-off. All the required genre elements are here.

Final Impact its part road-movie and I like this aspect to the structure. When you add elements like this, it can transcend its by-the-numbers fight-tournament template. It adds another level to the genre entry, which is essentially a journey to the championship. There are Freudian elements under the surface as Worth trains to defeat the man Lamas never could. The character development is a cut above the usual, Lamas situation and past has all kinds of demons and back-story. This genre is usually about revenge for someone who has been killed but the difference with Final Impact is that Lamas is still alive but dead inside. Kathleen Kinmont (who was married to Lamas in real life at the time) has a ring of truth in her portrayal of the tragically loyal girlfriend and their interaction is pretty naturalistic for the genre.

PM films are almost their own genre within a genre. The early PM pictures have a Film Noir quality within their craft. It is not that people walk around in stetson hats and trench coats but the lighting, seedy locations, cigarette smoke and high-risk situations the characters get themselves into are straight from Noir. Unlike most modern big-budget films that ape the Noir aesthetic, the PM films have a much more organic application of the cinematic techniques; because just like the genuine Noir films from 1940’s Hollywood, they are using the craft to create an atmosphere with a low budget. It’s what makes these PM kickboxing films (like Deadly Bet starring Jeff Wincott) different.

The problems I had with the film is that occasionally the music choices are not appropriate. I would much prefer a sleazy saxophone to accompany the drive to Sin City rather than the wacky upbeat trumpet number that keeps jumping in. It is probably a fault due to PM’s efficient production-line approach. They could also have chopped out about 8 minutes from the films duration to make it tighter and flow better but these are small things to forgive from such a standout of the cheaper-end martial arts tournament cinema. This is a film that has enough dramatic punch to make you interested in the characters fate (dare I say it has heart) and plenty of violent intensity to satisfy fans of the genre.

Retter’s Rating: 8/10