Underdog Kids (2015)

Inner city kids from a poor neighborhood go up against the undefeated Beverly Hills Junior National Karate Team.

Director:

Phillip Rhee

Writer:

Phillip Rhee

Stars:

Phillip Rhee, Mirelly Taylor, Max Gail

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Phillip Rhee	...	Jimmy 'The Lightning Bolt'
Mirelly Taylor	...	Valerie Cruz
Max Gail	...	Charlie
Adam Irigoyen	...	Wyatt
Ryan Potter	...	Eric
Ted McGinley	...	Mr. Hershfeld
Lauren Bowles	...	Mrs. Jones
Ellia English	...	Big Mama
Cade Sutton	...	Raymond
Nicolas Bechtel	...	Sean
Rayna Vallandingham	...	Leticia
Lorenz Arnell	...	Rasheed
Aidan Considine	...	Alex
Andrew Franklin	...	Ricky
Sebastian Saraceno	...	Big Guy

Storyline

Jimmy "The Lightning Bolt" Lee is a former mixed martial arts champion who returns home and is asked by his father figure, Charlie, to teach a group of inner city kids martial arts in preparation for a tournament. The reigning junior national champions, the Beverly Hills Scorpions, are coached by the very cocky and arrogant Ted Barret, who is a former rival of Jimmy's. With help from local food truck vendor Big Mama, Jimmy's team becomes the Underdogs. As the Underdogs prepare for the big tournament, both the kids and Jimmy learn some lessons from each other that will make their bond stronger as they prepare for a showdown with the Scorpions.

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Taglines:

Never give up!

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Genres:

Action | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some violence and sports action, thematic elements and rude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Underdogs the movie official Facebook Page

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 July 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Underdogs

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Group Hug Productions,Itsy Bitsy Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The pictures of Jimmy on the website are from Phiilip Rhee's best of the best movies

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Quotes

Jimmy 'The Lightning Bolt' Lee: Now, who are we?
Sean Michaels: Weenies!
Wyatt Jones: See?
Alex Michaels: [to Sean] That's Underdogs!
Sean Michaels: Aw, pickles!

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Soundtracks

Lyrical Sobriety
By Tim McMorris

User Reviews

"I hate to say it, but your kids really suck"

Imagine my delight when I found out that taekwondo maestro Phillip Rhee was returning to movies after a 17-year hiatus. The fact that it was for a family film only lightly dampened my enthusiasm, but that thudding noise you heard earlier today was the sound of my crest falling when I saw just how stinky of a picture this turned out to be. UNDERDOG KIDS is clearly Rhee's passion project, and while I like the idea of a positive coming-of-age karate flick, it does far too many things wrong to endear anyone but very tolerant viewers.

The story: An ex-MMA champ (Rhee) coaches troubled inner-city youths en-route to a tournament which will pit them against the nefarious Beverly Hills Junior National Team.

Other reviewers have called it before me, and I concur that this a pretty obvious melding of THE KARATE KID and Rhee's own BEST OF THE BEST. I don't mind the mix, but the filmmakers have disappointingly decided to go the sappiest and most juvenile route with it that they could have. Whatever the movie has to offer in the way of inspirational life lessons has been dipped in schmaltz and covered in cheese, because one of the few things that can halt the pitiful sob stories of the kids and the hammy character-building of Captain Rhee is the asinine comedy, the highlight of which involves the designated fat kid of the group winning a match by farting in an opponent's face.

To their credit, almost all of the featured children have some serious moves, and if placed in the hands of more ambitious directors, they could probably make one heck of an action movie. Most of the fights here aren't bad, but aside from the overuse of slow motion and occasionally choppy editing, the tone of the movie ensures that the importance of these scenes never rises above that of a bunch of kids fighting each other – not even with the gravity of THE HUNGER GAMES. Richard Norton, Don Wilson, Dan Inosanto, Benny Urquidez, and Jun Chong pop up briefly, but not only do they not fight, they don't even have any dialogue. Phillip Rhee himself only has one match, and I am 90% sure that he's been considerably stunt-doubled.

I'm all for martial arts in the family medium, even when it goes against my expectations, but even if there are some kids over the age of eight who are up to sitting through this, I don't think their parents will be. As both a filmmaker and veteran of the golden era of low-budget karate movies, Phillip Rhee represents one of our best chances of seeing the style of yesteryear revived in the new millennium, but if UNDERDOG KIDS is a taste of what Rhee is interested in doing with his experience, I will be less interested in any future features he directs. Skip it.