Verdict
Summary
Overall, Fist Fight has a few humorous moments and it’s quite tense but a lot of the jokes are predictable and anyone over the age of 16 will have seen it many times before.
Plot: On the last day before summer vacation, high school teacher Andy Campbell tries his best to keep it together amid senior pranks, a dysfunctional administration and budget cuts that threaten his job. Things go from bad to worse when he crosses Ron Strickland, the school’s toughest and most feared teacher. When Strickland gets fired, he challenges Campbell to a fight after school. As news of the showdown spreads like wildfire, poor Andy desperately seeks any way out of his date with certain doom.
Review: I’ll be honest and say I’m not a big comedy person; I find most movies today are just low brow dick jokes with annoying characters and aside from a few funny moments Fist Fight is much the same. At least I knew what I was in for going in as it’s a High School movie and feels like the kind I used to watch in the 80’s growing up.
The main problem with Fist Fight is that nobody feels like a real person and it’s essentially a farce with obnoxious supporting characters and a weak (and quite annoying) lead in Charlie Day. His squealing voice just irks me so I couldn’t wait until Ice Cube potentially knocked his teeth out.
Day plays Andy Campbell who is a teacher that has never really stood up for himself, constantly allowing people to walk over him because he’s a “nice guy”. He’s pretty pathetic and I had trouble rooting for him and yet I still found the movie very tense. It’s essentially a tale about bullying and standing up for yourself but there’s this potential threat of violence throughout due to Ice Cube being utterly terrifying as Ron Strickland. He’s an intimidating presence and it’s no wonder Campbell does whatever he can to avoid the fist fight. Strickland is essentially unhinged but his real plan is to draw attention to the school in order for it to improve as things have gotten quite out of control with students pranking teachers in increasingly sadistic fashion.
It’s not hilarious but Fist Fight isn’t without its funny moments, especially the mariachi band that keeps following Principal Tyler (Dead Norris) around.
Jillian Bell’s Holly was just creepy though with her wanting to sleep with various students and it really wasn’t funny, it just made you feel uncomfortable; the same can be said about a few scenes with a student being caught masturbating by Campbell. So yeah, this lacks anything resembling sophistication and the only reason I stuck with it was to see how the fight would play out. It was surprisingly satisfying with Campbell giving Strickland a decent battle and standing up for himself.
Overall, Fist Fight has a few humorous moments and it’s quite tense but a lot of the jokes are predictable and anyone over the age of 16 will have seen it many times before.