Diagonaldi Very well executed

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

NateWatchesCoolMovies The Tournament is just about as awesome as action movies can get, and just about as bloody too. I love films involving assassins, contests, games, violence and such. The Running Man was clearly a huge influence on this one, right down to the inclusion of a larger than life game show host, here played by Liam Cunningham. Liam plays a shadowy nut job named Powers, and every four years he arranges an elaborate and incredibly destructive Olympic games for contract killers and psychos alike. Every time he hosts it in a new city, using hidden cameras and explaining away the damage with disasters and attacks. If this sounds so very 80's, it is. We're in throwback city here, with a touch of modern tone not unlike Joe Carnahan's Smokin Aces. The reigning champion is Joshua Harlow (Ving Rhames), a brutal warrior who has been coaxed back into the game with revenge on his mind. Each assassin is fitted with a tracking device so they can track each other, an idea which goes haywire when a civilian accidentally gets stuck with one and ends up in the cross hairs. The civilian in question is a drunken priest (lol) played by Robert Carlyle, who has no idea what's going on and suddenly has a dwindling life expectancy. He catches a break when a lethal but sympathetic female competitor (beauty queen Kelly Hu is an angel of physicality) takes pity and decides to help him out. They've got quite an armada to cut through though, including a rowdy cockney whacko (Craig Conway) a parkour master (Sebastian Foucan), an ex Spetsnaz freak (Scott Adkins) with a habit of blowing stuff up left right and center, and lastly a Texan pretty boy lunatic played cheerfully by Ian Somerhalder. He's so evil they just had to include a bit where he shoots a stray dog in the face without batting a perfect eyelash (animal lovers, you've been forewarned). All this mayhem is taken in by Powers and his sickening audience of wealthy kingpins, who sit in a great big boardroom and bet on the outcome of the carnage. Cunningham is a blast of devilish charm as Powers, an amoral villain of dark showmanship and sociopathic class. Between exploding heads, grenades ripping through the streets of London, frenetic hand to hand combat, colorful personalities, over the top depictions of bad human behavior and a general sense of hedonistic, slash and burn glee, this is one for the books.

fred here really good cast and plot. suffice it to say that the hotness of Lia Lia or whatever her name is, is awesome. the fight scenes are great, the car crashes are fantastic, and the destruction and mayhem or spectacular! i think that says it all. i would like to add that ving rhames is awesome in this and another movie called "operation endgame". the priest, father mcavory, that accidentally gets drawn into the game is awesome. very well directed and cinematography and action scenes were great. enough said, go have fun watching this movie. it was right up my alley. they want me to write ten lines of review. why. . i wrote nine and only five lines showed up. and they wont let me write giberious so. copy paste really good cast and plot. suffice it to say that the hotness of Lia Lia or whatever her name is, is awesome. the fight scenes are great, the car crashes are fantastic, and the destruction and mayhem or spectacular! i think that says it all. i would like to add that ving rhames is awesome in this and another movie called "operation endgame". the priest, father mcavory, that accidentally gets drawn into the game is awesome. very well directed and cinematography and action scenes were great. enough said, go have fun watching this movie. it was right up my alley. well, i think that says it all.

cpt_guapo The film kinda get the reality shows essence, with a pinch of Predator script ("every seven years...") but with assassins as participants and very rich and influent people manipulating the situation. Not that original but, you know...Robert Carlyle and Ian Somerhalder are great in this movie and they are the highlight of acting on it. Robert pass us the humanity factor, being very convincing as always. What a such outstanding actor! I'm a huge fan of him. And Ian is really good as the mad man. He's really surprised me... The role of Ving Rhames was badly made, not appearing he is a great hit-man. It seemed something was missing... Well, thumbs down to the writers. Kelly Hu was so-so in her character but, I don't know, there are so many excellent Chinese actresses to play a role like that... Why her? Really good acting too of Liam Cunningham. His voice looks like those trailer movies' narrators and his presence was strong.One more time, Scott Adkins was underused in a film... When, when, when someone is going to give him a proper attention? He deserves it! His fight with Kelly is great, the best of the movie, but due to laziness (or whatever happened) of writers, he's like a Yuri Boyka's clone, as a Russian assassin... Anyone there remembered a certain Isaac Florentine's movies? Sebastien Foucan, although was good playing a parkour guy (again), they let him with more participation... What a sin! Another thing that made me really admired was the special effects of explosions, mainly body explosions! They surpassed themselves on that! Excellent indeed. The blood effects are awesome too.While not a blockbuster, I recommend "The Tournament" without hesitate. It is definitely a much better choice than many of so called "action movies" out there. With more money, and perhaps time, to writers, it would be an enormous hit.

Bene Cumb and - to a less extent - to Ving Rhames as well. The rest of actors are quite mediocre, just showing their skills not often understood if they are real or performed via stunts and computer technique.The plot is rather vague, at times bad and full of clichés and political correctness, many action scenes have their roots from hit films, e.g Speed, The Transporter. The director seems to like Luc Besson and Guy Ritchie, but direct influence is not always a good solution :) The Tournament is OK for killing shorter time, it is around 1,5 hours only, action scenes are enchanting, but often not realistic and over-acted. But it is still more than a B-film.