Rating: B-
Dir: Oliver Kienle
Star: Emilio Sakraya, Dennis Mojen, Paul Wollin, Marie Mouroum
Not sure I’ve ever seen a German martial arts movie before. So that’s nice. Though this has some elements in common with another classic Berlin-set film, Run Lola Run – both in its frantic pace, and techno soundtrack. MMA fighter Octavio Bergmann (Sakraya) is getting ready for an important fight, but his mind isn’t focused on the bout. It’s his young daughter’s birthday, and he was supposed to have been at his ex-wife’s house hours ago, until the match was delayed. It’s the final straw for his former missus, and she tells him she’s filing for sole custody, if he’s not there in one hour. He blows off the match, and starts heading across the city to her house.
This doesn’t go down well with his opponent, or a number of other people. For it turns out the match was fixed, without Octa’s knowledge. A lot of illegal bets have now been lost, and a number of unhappy people are now after him – initially to make him go back to the venue, and then simply to take out their losses on his body. Octa is determined that none of this will stop him from showing up for his daughter’s birthday, bringing the surprise present he promised her. On the way, he will receive help or hindrance from manager Paul (Mojen), evil enforcer Chino (Wollin) and his long suffering gym employee, Cosima (Mouroum), who really wants that pay-rise.
This doesn’t have the playful wit of Lola, literally going from Point A to Point B over its duration. But it does have the same concept of an unstoppable protagonist, who is prepared to do anything to achieve their goal. Sakraya is surprisingly sympathetic in a role which could easily have been “Meathead #1”, and his likeable nature helps push the film over some stretches where the plot ice becomes a little thin (such as in regard to daylight). He cares about his daughter, and you care that he cares: it’s simple, yet this goes a long way towards powering the movie’s emotional heart. The action is solid, with Octa having a grounded style appropriate to his background, and this also gives him credibility when going up against larger, but perhaps less well-trained, opposition.
I will admit to being slightly disappointed with the ending. I was expecting a full-blown action climax, and it does deliver a final battle. But there wasn’t very much to distinguish this from much of what had gone before, and the timer, which had been running for the past hour, didn’t particularly play into things either. All told though, this did an admirable job of keeping my interest throughout its running-time – admittedly, in part by dropping a totes adorbs kitten into the mix. I also want to know what brand of earbuds Octa favours, because they do a remarkably good job of staying in his ears, through car-crashes, fisticuffs and everything else he endures. Might fall out if I shake my head too energetically…