Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Chick Fight Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf December 24, 2020

The physical brutality of “Fight Club” is handed a makeover for “Chick Fight,” which surveys the blood, sweat, and tears of an underground brawling club. A serious study of bare-knuckle liberation and cult formation is jettisoned for the new movie, which tends to play as more of a comedy, hoping to bring laughs to a chilling premise. Director Paul Leyen tries to bring some low-budget style to the endeavor, and screenwriter Joseph Downey labors to sustain character development between scenes of women beating the stuffing out of one another, yet “Chick Fight” has some wily energy to offer with a few sizable laughs. Downey can’t resist the comfort of cliché to complete the picture, but he has some fun along the way, and the cast’s enthusiasm for the material certainly helps the cause, especially when staleness sets in.

Life isn’t going well for Anna (Malin Akerman). She’s having trouble making something happen with her small café, only to see the place go up in flames without an insurance plan to protect her. As her problems pile up, Anna is pulled out of her funk by local cop Charleen (Dulce Sloan), who introduces her to an underground fight club she runs with Bear (Fortune Feimster), learning the battle zone was created by her late mother, Mary (Julie Michaels), as a way for women to express their frustrations and get tougher. Forced into participation, Anna learns the hard way that the fighters mean business. Accidentally challenging top brawler Olivia (Bella Thorne), Anna realizes she needs help, introduced to Jack (Alec Baldwin), a beach bar alcoholic who knows a thing or two about training fighters. Learning how to defend herself, Anna makes contact with her true spirit, finding the mission helping her to grow and deal with all the issues in her life.

Downey doesn’t take it easy on Anna in the first act of “Chick Fight,” arranging a series of frustrations for the woman, who’s trying to stay afloat on her own in Florida. She deals with the repossession of her car and the gradual failure of her business, and she makes time for her widower father, Ed (Kevin Nash), who has finally come out of the closet, taking a lover in lawyer Chuck (Alec Mapa). To top it all off, Anna decides to sample some evidence room marijuana with Charleen, accidentally burning her business to the ground. It’s enough to make the character want to give up on life, but she’s rescued by Charleen, who exposes her to the fight club, introducing an underworld of pain and release initially created by her mother. The weight of all this knowledge threatens to crush Anna, who’s soon sent in to fight, which she’s completely unprepared for. As introductions go, “Chick Fight” has a pretty decent one, pulling audiences into Anna’s misery and surprise, with Leyden striving to keep matters comedic, leaning on Feimster and Sloan to maintain funny business.

A plot emerges with Anna’s hesitation to commit to the club, blundering her way into a challenge with Olivia, a young fighter who’s the best around, happily destroying anyone daring to step into the ring with her. Anna needs a Mr. Miyagi, finding such leadership with Jack, a functioning alcoholic who’s tasked with turning Anna’s pudding ways into stone, discovering her strength: a thick skull that can take a beating. There’s nothing fresh about “Chick Fight,” with the production serving up training sequences and scenes of introspection as Anna reclaims her spirit while getting stronger. It’s enthusiasm that tends to hold the feature together, with Akerman offering her most engaged performance in some time, and Baldwin is amusing as Jack, enjoying the looseness of the part as he becomes De Niro for a day. Less interesting is Thorne, who’s oddly groggy as Olivia, offering no level of intimidation as the villain of the endeavor, weaking any suspense tied to Anna’s ultimate challenge with the ring queen.

Chick Fight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Chick Fight" is certainly alive with colors. Dealing with extreme lighting schemes and tropical locations, the brightness of the feature provides a vivid viewing experience. Hues are especially explosive on signage and fight club interiors, with washes of green and blue filling the warehouse space. Outdoor adventures enjoy rich blue skies and greenery. Costuming provides power as well, surveying deep reds and purples. Skintones are natural. Detail emerges with precision, surveying bruised and battered characters, securing subtle makeup efforts. Interiors are dimensional, with community movement and strange decoration. Exteriors retain beach and city distances. Delineation is satisfactory. Mild banding is detected, along with a few patches of blockiness.

Chick Fight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound mix for "Chick Fight" provides a compelling listening event, with dialogue exchanges remaining crisp and emotive. Soundtrack selections retain a larger electropop presence, offering deeper beats and heavier synth for low-end activity. Surrounds are active, highlighting echoed fight club commotion from the participants, and outdoor experiences retain the circular feel of rolling waves and wildlife. Sound effects are crisp, managing body blows. For a lossy track, the results aren't disappointing, delivering the essential sonic ideas the movie has to offer.

Chick Fight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material on this release.

Chick Fight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Messages of empowerment and family ties are welcome, giving Anna plenty of self to work on before her final battle. Downey doesn't trust the simplicity of the showdown, cooking up a romantic interest for Anna in Dr. Roy (Kevin Connolly, weirdly cast as a dreamboat), and a medical emergency for Ed. Screenwriting 101 guides the movie to a conclusion, which isn't nearly as enjoyable as its introduction. Still, "Chick Fight" has spunk and film school style provided by Leyden, who's in love with slo-mo to emphasize the physical crunch of the clashes. He doesn't create a cult classic here, but there's plenty of enjoyable aggression and some decent mischief to supply an entertaining sit.