Friday, July 20, 2018

PUSHED TO THE LIMIT (1992) **


Mimi Lesseos stars as Mimi, a spunky women’s wrestling champion.  Her cokehead brother insults a drug kingpin (Eidan Hanzai) during a drug deal and is promptly killed.  The kingpin just so happens to be the head of an illegal underground kumite fighting tournament.  Naturally, Mimi signs up to fight in order to get revenge. 

Pushed to the Limit is a below average underground fighting tournament movie in just about every way.  The shoddy production values are akin to an early Gary Daniels movie (I’m thinking specifically of American Streetfighter) and the staging of the various fight scenes are uninspired.  The choreography itself isn’t bad, but the bland way director Michael Mileham presents the brawls leaves something to be desired.

The film’s secret weapon is Mimi's energetic and vivacious screen presence.  Her effervescent performance helps elevate Pushed to the Limit from the usual low budget kickboxing dreck.  Lesseos’ earnest line readings of the corniest dialogue (which she wrote herself by the way) like "Vern, try me. I'm pushed to the limit!" is sure to leave a smile on your face.  Vern (Verrel Lester Reed, Jr.) is her manager by the way.  Reed is also likeable and plays his character like a cross between Morgan Freeman and Burgess Meredith in Rocky.  With the right director, this pair could’ve been a lot of fun to watch.  Too bad Mileham’s clunky handling of the action ultimately sinks it.

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