Former Green Beret Louis Stevens returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off of the school property, Kerrigan, one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school.
The film is clumsily assembled and edited, heavy on the slow-mo, and its simplistic story plays like The Kids From Fame armed with very sharp knives.
– Joe Brown,
Washington Post,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
A movie that exists solely for its fight sequences and to show off its star's muscles and gymnastic grace.
– Stephen Holden,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
rotten:
A paean to the Brazilian martial art of capoeira harks back to those break-dancing quickies.
– Brian Case,
Time Out,
26 Jan 2006
rotten:
Only the simple-minded will find much to cheer in this martial arts actioner, which has the queasy feel of a movie slapped together by the marketing department.
– Brian Lowry,
Variety,
26 Mar 2009
rotten:
The cinematography is jarring and dizzying at times; the acting mediocre.