With the title of this movie being “Fighting,” you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this movie. However, this movie offers much more than just good fight scenes.

The movie kicks-off on the streets of New York. We are immediately introduced to Shawn MacArthur, a homeless youth played by Channing Tatum, doing whatever he can to make ends meet. After Terrance Howard’s character, a street hustler named Harvey Boarden, sees Shawn’s fighting abilities, he recruits him into a world of underground fighting, where high paid executives bet top dollar to see good match-ups.

This movie really offers a great cast. Personally, I believe Tatum is a great actor. He has so many different skills and all his roles are so diverse that he’s never really type cast. In this movie he does a great job of portraying a humble confidence. Through his acting technique, his character shows that he doesn’t really look for trouble, yet when it finds him he will not back down.

Throwing Howard into the mix only makes this movie that much better. As I said before, Howard plays a street hustler but makes it very obvious that his character lacks confidence. Looked down upon by all his peers, played by Luis Guzman and Roger Smith, Harvey tends to doubt himself but always goes with his gut feeling. Howard even softens his character’s voice to show this lack of confidence.

The fight scenes in the movie are awesome. I really liked that they weren’t over the top at all. That’s not to say you don’t see cool moves, they are just realistic. When watching the fight scenes you just know some of their attacks would hurt bad.

Besides the fighting, this movie also has a really great plot. I’ll admit I was a little thrown off by the drama in the movie at first, especially when the movie is titled “Fighting.” However, by the middle of the movie I couldn’t help but really like the plot. There is a lot of character development and it really works well.

Once we are introduced to Shawn’s rival, Evan Hailey, Shawn really starts to unfold. We begin to learn about his past and why he is where he is. It’s also really cool to learn about Harvey’s history. With both characters, the director does a really great job revealing their past and things about them while still moving the plot forward.

Another big part of the movie involves Shawn’s love interest, Zulay Valez, and the relationship they begin to develop. Her character is introduced at the beginning of the movie and makes her way back in towards the middle. She really becomes Shawn’s anchor and an essential part of the movie’s resolve.

This movie is great for a lot of reasons. Still, there is one reason in particular that I really like this movie. Everything about this movie is believable. The excellent acting really brings the characters to life. Also, as I said before, the fight scenes are all realistic. If you haven’t seen “Fighting” yet, I suggest you make your way to the movie theatre and catch this flick while it’s still in theatres.