It’s very easy to go back a decade or more and start picking out fight scenes that either don’t make that much sense today or haven’t withstood the test of time, but in 2020 things are getting so messed up any longer that picking out fight scenes in movies has become less of a priority and, to top it off, fights are getting a little more technical so it feels a lot like nitpicking. But there are a few common mistakes that somehow still get made for the sake of Hollywood being able to sell something that looks cool and doesn’t follow the necessary guidelines of reality. That’s when pointing out the inaccuracies is kind of amusing even if a lot of people react by saying ‘let it go’. It’s easy enough of course to do just that and enjoy a movie, but if the movie ends up being kind of a waste of time then it’s even easier to pick it apart and see where things went off the rails. Now keep in mind that a lot of people did enjoy these movies and that it’s not a running commentary on how good or bad they were. It’s just a desire to see fight scenes that are a little more honest and not so glammed up.
Here are a few of the worst fight scenes of 2020, so far.
5. Birds of Prey
Okay, a lot of people love Harley Quinn and for good reason. She’s awesome, she kicks some serious ass, and she’s just plain crazy. But somehow this just wasn’t her movie to really come out and shine in as it’s been noted. Plus, and this is a big pet peeve for me and likely for many gun owners that know a little bit to a lot about the function of said weapons. Reaction time when facing down a gun is an argument that a lot of people would get into, but proximity is something altogether different. In other words, when you have a firearm in hand that can operate at a fair to moderate distance, running up on someone to put a bullet in them isn’t quite as important as just hosing down the general area and hoping that a few of the bullets find their mark. Obviously the thugs aren’t marksmen, but even a thug should be smart enough to keep their distance and just start plugging away.
4. The Hunt
I’ll admit to liking this movie largely because of the stereotypes it presents and the fact that Crystal is a no-nonsense individual that doesn’t suffer fools gladly and is just trying to survive with minimal issues. But one woman taking on a bunch of trigger-happy, liberal-minded individuals in a bunker has a very small chance of walking out no matter how skilled she is. Plus, Liberty missing at such close range is insane since out in the field she placed a couple of shots that were absolutely spot-on by comparison. Maybe those were just lucky shots? But this is where little, technical details are really what kind of unravel the fight scenes. Plus, how many blows to the head can a guy take from a steel pipe before his face is mush?
3. Fantasy Island
STOP TALKING and do something, right? You’ve got a grenade in one hand and a knife in the other, stop talking, start cutting, pull the pin and run like hell. Nope, not going to happen in a movie that’s based off of an old TV show and is basically a horror movie that people are complaining about since the little guy shouting “Ze plane, ze plane!” isn’t there any longer. This one felt like a non-starter from the get no matter how many articles, including my own, were trying to be hopeful, and scene after scene it proved that it was the right call to state that it didn’t know what was going on with its own premise.
2. Guns Akimbo
This movie was crazy enough to be enjoyable but it also made Nix feel as though she was an unstoppable force when in reality that proximity issue with guns rears its ugly head again since an average handgun is able to shoot with some accuracy from 50 to 100 yards in the hands of a skilled shooter. Even in the hands of untrained thugs though, twenty yards should be enough time to take aim from cover and fire, not just go running up to try and make it personal by putting the bullet in her skull. This is one of the things we tend to let go in a lot of movies since from a cinematic standpoint it just looks cooler, but it’s about as impractical as it can get.
1. Bloodshot
If that’s flour that’s been spilled in mass quantities in the tunnel then this whole scene goes to hell the first time a spark is lit in the tunnel since the powder would be insanely flammable and would ignite a hellstorm that Bloodshot might walk out of, or not, but would roast everyone else. One would think that someone who has combat training would understand how to pick his spots a little better, but hey, revenge is kind of funny that way, it shuts down a lot of rational thought.
These days technicalities in fight scenes are what gets noticed most, especially since some of them are a lot of fun to watch otherwise.
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