Everything I expected from Fist Fight ended up being wrong.
Well, maybe not everything, but most of it.
First and foremost, I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. I really expected this to be a movie where all the funny parts were essentially in the trailer, but they weren’t. And it’s not like there were a lot of really funny moments, it was just an all-together funny movie.
The absurdity of what the students were getting away with in this movie was a big factor in the movie not being rated higher than it is. The students were completely out of control, and it seemed like Ice Cube was the only one willing to dish out the discipline.
The pranks that Charlie Day and Tracy Morgan fall prey to did make me laugh, as did the lengths to which Charlie Day went to try to avoid getting into a fight with Ice Cube… an altercation which (despite seeing the trailers) I never actually thought would occur. I thought the whole film was building up to Ice Cube teaching Charlie Day a lesson about standing up to the kids and having more of a backbone, and yet, by the end of the film, there was definitely a fight between the two.
Christina Hendricks’ character was definitely not what I was expecting from her, as they definitely had her play something of a psychotic, whereas I figured she was going to be a sympathetic teacher who is friends with Charlie Day’s character, trying to help keep the peace between he and Ice Cube to avoid the fight.
Jillian Bell seemed completely ridiculous from the scenes they showed in the trailer, but I ended up finding her character a lot more amusing than expected. Dean Norris hits the one or two notes I typically expect of him. Kumail Nanjiani was great, as usual, in yet another small part that deserved more screen time.
Dare I say it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up making a sequel for the film. It made about $41 million dollars in theaters, so depending how its sales go for home viewing, I could see it being a reality. If that’s the case, I’ll watch it.
My rating: 77 out of 100
Guys Film Quest 