Fatal Deviation [1998]

Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the holiday Adam cooked up some Irish farm stew and found a low budget Irish martial arts film for us that was a vehicle for a Van Damme fanboy to really show his American Kenpo skills. If the title doesn't sound familiar, there's a famous soundbite that may as it seems to have entered the meme world for its quality: "You made me look bad . . . and that's not good." Incredible writing there from the land of Swift, Wilde, and Joyce. Really makes us proud to be of Irish heritage, and not in any way question why our ancestors left.

James Bennett leaves his reform school (in his 30s seemingly) to venture out and learn martial arts like his murdered dad. Along the way he saves a girl from some goons, but mostly just picks fights with whoever is around to show off his skills. Sometimes he punches a bag and does splits. This catches the attention of the man who murdered his father who makes the bold decision to try to get him into his squad. I think they do crime? It's unclear. There's also a tournament coming up for Beltane (martial arts has literally nothing to do with this holiday) and Bennett is invited to attend. He goes on some dates, has a bar fight, shoots guys while standing on a motorcycle, and then has a long sequence where he learns to fight from a Franciscan monk, who are known for their fighting, right? The movie takes a turn for the Bloodsport ripoff, which is just an Enter The Dragon ripoff, to have the tournament, which Bennett wins. Later, at his second picnic with the girl, he finally gets to shoot his father's murderer with a shotgun. Blooper reel!

This movie is quality. Aside from the painfully obvious nods to other martial arts film, it's got insane lines with insane reads, a plot that doesn't do anything, highly realistic sound effects, and incongruous light 90s pop music. It's also only an hour and ten minutes, a perfect length for it to not drag on too long and with very few dull moments. A definite recommend.

Spoon Rating: 6