FIRST FORUM REVIEW
Blazing Fists felt like a live action anime - a teen tale with caricature complicated related backstories and cartoonish villains. Turns out it was based on Street Legend, the autobiography of Mikuru Asakura, a real-life MMA fighter who faced Floyd Mayweather in a publicity fight, and who founded the very real amatuer kickboxing tournament depicted in the film - Breaking Down. Mikuru was the producer of Blazing Fists, and plays himself in the film.
I’m a fan of Miike’s work, as disturbing as it can be. This felt like a softball for him. There was a Miike moment of torture punishment, but beyond that, this was a fairly wholesome film for him, akin to some of his kid films. The ending was almost like a French film, which I generally disdain.