Boyka: Undisputed (2017)Directed by Todor ChapkanovThe third film in the "Undisputed" series, "Undisputed III: Redemption" became somewhat of a cult hit, because of the well-choreographed Mixed Martial Arts fight scenes in it. Scott Adkins made an impression as the lead character Yuri Boyka in it. So, fans were waiting for quite some time for a fourth film to be made. Part 3's director, Isaac Florentine (known for quality direct-to-video action movies) didn't return for the fourth installment, though he is on board as producer (I read that he couldn't direct this one because of a death in his family). "Boyka" was released in 2017 to video, and both it and Part III are on Netflix, where I watched it.The story begins with Yuri Boyka in Kiev, after escaping from the police in the previous movie. He has found religion – so he donates all his earnings from fighting underground matches to the church. He has a shot at going professional at a tournament in Budapest, so the organizers are invited to watch one of Boyka's fights. Unfortunately, Boyka's opponent Viktor dies after the fight, and Boyka regrets this so much that he travels to Drovny, Russia to make peace with Viktor's family. In Russia, he finds Viktor's wife Alma reluctantly working for gangster Zourab (Alon Aboutboul), to pay off her debt. Boyka agrees to fight for Zourab in exchange for Alma's freedom.The story is simple, and the execution is a mixed bag. The fight sequences are well done and the acting is pretty good. Scott Adkins in particular made the role of Boyka his own. However, I disagreed with some of the stylistic choices the director made – using zooms for example – which I felt made it look less cinematic and let on its DTV origins. Even the titles (though one may not consider that as important), felt a bit cheap, had they used a different font and size, it would have looked better.Overall though, I enjoyed the movie and would rate it a 7/10. From what I remember of Part III (should watch it again), that was a better film than this.I drew Boyka from the end of the movie where he tells Zourab "Bring me your fucking champion". Done in 2B pencil on paper and scanned. #317 / 20-Jan-18
Posted by Intagrate Lite