This is where it began for our friends director Isaac Florentine and perennial kicker Scott Adkins! Sadly, Scott is not the star of the movie! Somewhere out there is a first Undisputed film with Ving Rhames playing famous George "Iceman" Chambers boxer. Here, Michael Jai White replaces Rhames. Having not seen the first film ((also starring Wesley Snipes, and directed by famous guy Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hours, Red Heat)) I can't comment on any changes. Still, this has got to be a big step down budget-wise from that first Hollywood crew. Believe me it shows as here we are in the land of DTV Eastern-block blahs.
Chambers was fighting in Russian and gets framed for cocaine by some generic baddies who want to profit off of some hoosegow cage matches. Yuri Boyka is the best fighter in the clink, but a dull character with little back story. Scott generally comes across as a ham, especially as he strains for a plausible Russian accent. Thankfully Scott is not the center of attention as he would have sunk the production compared to the fairly charming Jai White, who delivers the silliness and a few clever lines, with aplomb. Anyways, Scott is not hear to act, but kick, and he does deliver the goods in a few fight scenes with Jai White. Boyka does seem angry, even if we don't know why, maybe it's being imprisoned?! It's obvious that Scott/Boyka as a MMA fighter would kick Iceman's butt, as Iceman only punches stuff and doesn't know how to use his legs. After an initial, tainted loss to Boyka, an oppressed and disabled inmate with military experience trains Iceman to kick, grapple, and hold. Iceman naturally comes out ahead, reaching liberation from lockup.
This could been the end of Sott's career trapped in the nick forever, but Hollywood noticed and he would soon face off in a gritty fight with Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Other than the novelty of an early Scott film, Undisputed II gets only one out of four kicks. Bad story, bad acting, and no memorable action scenes. I'd say skip it and let's pray that Undisputed III is the vehicle that allows Scott to deliver the full roundhouse!
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