User Reviews

I didn't like the last review of this movie as it was a little harsh.

I feel the movie wasn't all about martial arts and feel there was far too much hype with this film i have heard many comments like "bring mma to mainstream" which i feel this film didn't accomplish.

The acting by Clovis Cornillac was quality and i feel he played angelo well,he also had a very natural look fighting especially when doing ground work (grappling) and it seemed like he has been doing mma for years.

I read somewhere that he wanted to be a boxer when he was a child?well maybe you should have taken it up as you look like you picked up the technique quickly when training for the movie.

Overall i feel the film is a good watch i gave it 6/10 as it could have been a lot better than it was maybe a bit more fighting,more of him training for the fighting and him showing a great love for martial arts.

I remember seeing the trailer on a DVD about a year ago, and I had forgotten all about it until I was browsing through our TV movie rentals. The trailer showed very little so I looked up the film on IMDb and found an average review of 5.1. Nonetheless, I watched it anyway and I must say I was not disappointed.

Perhaps my expectations were low given the reviews, but I also think that with the type of 'Martial Art' films coming out nowadays, it seems a fight scene that has been adulterated with showoff moves is coming hard to find. Scorpion does not do this. It shows not just the sport, but the powers behind it, as brutal and unforgiving, in and outside the ring.

The film opens up a well for the main protagonist to deal with his personal flaws, which we see head on in an early scene. It really allows us to see a flawed fighter, lacking discipline due to inexplicable rage, despite his love, dedication and respect for the sport.

Fight scenes are not as extravagant as something cooked up in a current Jet Li film. They are raw and closer to something seen on UFC. If anything, I respected the film for this. The scenes made more sense, and they weren't about declaring a winner, or making our protagonist look like a superhero. What was there was pure and a lot more believable that what is seen in movies today.

By the end of the film, the was a real sense of accomplishment for the major characters. Loyalties shifted to where they were of genuine importance, and there was a learnt understanding for the key characters of why those of us need strength through violence to survive through difficult circumstances, whereas others find that violence itself is no substitute for things in life that are more important.

I would urge those who prefer classic fighting movies to watch this, but that wanting another over the top, severely choreographed Jackie Chan show-off ride, should look the other way.

Angelo (Cornillac) was born to fight. Or so he thinks. After a bad break, Angelo hits the skids, becomes semi-homeless and all but loses the will to live. When a shady promoter named Marcus (Renaud) approaches him to revitalize his career, because he recognizes him as an up and coming boxer from years past, Angelo sees that Marcus wants the newest, hottest style in underground fighting - MMA. So Angelo duly shakes off his slovenly ways, does his push-ups and crunches, and trains to get back in the ring. After fighting his way through the standard Boxcar Guillaumes, he is ready to beat the snot out of the heavy hitters.

As you might expect, there are a couple of problems. One involves a woman named Virginie (Rocher). Even though she leads a miserable life as both a prostitute and a bartender under Marcus, Angelo sees her and her young son Milan as a chance for redemption and a new life away from the grueling rigors of underground fighting. At first, Virginie rebuffs him and he's back in his rage-filled ways. But can that change?

The other involves a woman named Lea (Proust), who appears to be a reporter doing a story on underground fighting but, as fate would have it, is a police officer trying to get dirt on Marcus. It doesn't help that underground fighting is illegal in Paris. Naturally, it all comes down to "One Last Fight" - but it's going to be a doozy, with Angelo having to square off against a mighty mountain of meathead named Elias (Le Banner). Will Angelo be able to turn his life around? Will Marcus be held to account for his illegal wheelings and dealings? And what about Virginie and Lea? Will a powerful female influence calm the raging waters of the SCORPION?

"FINISH HIM!!"...is not said in this film, and anyone expecting a biopic on the beloved Mortal Kombat character will be sorely disappointed. However, Scorpion - this Scorpion - is a quality film, and a rare example of an underground fighting movie that's so good, it really doesn't need most of the underground fighting we see on display. Paradoxically, all the fight scenes tend to bring the movie down. Seeing as the film is an unnecessary 98 minutes, they could have cut a lot of the MMA fights because the storyline stands on its own.

Scorpion is an improvement over director Seri's previous film, The Great Challenge (2004), and it shows that he's a true filmmaker in the time-honored French tradition. It seemed that he wanted to temper that "Frenchness" a bit by having an MMA-based storyline, but we say that wasn't needed. We say go with your gut and your traditions - and clearly where Scorpion shines is in its gritty drama, its serious-minded tone, and its high-tier cinematography.

In that sense, Scorpion is a lot like Redbelt (2008) - a high-caliber film all-around that not only doesn't need to lean on extended fight scenes to pad out the running time, but barely needs the fight scenes at all. The plot follows a standard Punchfighting formula we've seen countless times, but the actors carry it off in a way that's much better than usual.

Scorpion is a good film, and it shows that French guys can be tough. Fans of Punchfighters in the MMA vein with an open mind will get the most out of Scorpion.

This film is brilliant. The acting is good and i believe that the story line although simple it does the job. The fighting in it will please martial artists because people who have trained in thai boxing, mixed martial arts or a form of ground fighting such as Brazilian ju jitsu will recognise some of the moves.

The moves that are real techniques will please martial artists who are sick of karate kid style martial arts techniques in movies.

The plot uses emotions that many of us have felt at one time or another.

All in all a brilliant film with good acting, simple but effective plot and good fights