Halle Berry kicks ass!
On the latest episode of This is CineMMA, the MMA Fighting movie review crew walk the long road back to redemption with the 2020 drama Bruised, written, directed, and starring Berry. The Academy Award-winning actress plays Jackie Justice, a one-time UFC star who gets a second chance to kickstart her cage-fighting career when she gets the offer to fight an Invicta FC champion, played by Valentina Shevchenko. But will Justice’s traumatic past derail her ambitions?
In our second crack at reviewing a female-led MMA drama (shout-out to Fight Valley!), Alexander K. Lee, Jed Meshew, and E. Casey Leydon pay respect to Berry and Shevchenko’s incredible work, while also pointing out what the film gets right and what it gets wrong about the world of fighting.
Is Berry vs. Shevchenko one of the best fight scenes ever? How much trauma can one character take? And what did they do with Invicta FC boss Shannon Knapp in this movie?
Mend your wounds and spend some time with us for the answers to these questions and more.
New episodes of the This is CineMMA show come out weekly and are available to watch on YouTube, and in podcast form on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. This week’s episode can be heard below.
