EFC

A bitter rivalry, vicious brawls and suspensions – and yet somehow Jaze Bordeaux’s EFC has nothing to do with the latest Merseyside derby. This feature length drama is a gloriously corny cage-fighting spectacle – which lands its biggest punches with brutally realistic fight sequences but lacks the ground game of a coherent plot.

Rivals Cassady Jones (Karlee Rose) and Alexa Star (Kathryn Aboya) are two of the biggest stars in women’s combat sports – but when a title fight turns sour, a tournament is announced to crown a new queen of the cage. Whilst the fighters duke it out, the behind-the-scenes business dealings turn just as brutal – as the soul and future of the sport is on the line.

Inspired by the tumultuous early years of the UFC as well as the breakout of women’s superstars like Ronda Rousey, EFC is a sequence of bone-crunching cage fights with a semblance of a plot tacked on. Jaze Bordeaux’s appreciation for MMA as a sport and the usage of real cage fighters in the film’s creation pays dividends for the quality of the fight scenes that make up a large part of the film’s running time – which are an impressive realisation of what MMA fights actually look like. Sure - there’s the blood and broken bones that fans pay admission for, but the grappling, ground and pound and flow of real fights also comes through to make for a pretty authentic representation. Outstanding sound design, which adds an extra layer to the violence, is the icing on the cake.

If the fights are title contenders, the actual storyline around them carries a losing record. The background drama around the competition’s future is scarcely believable, and the central rivalry between Star and Jones is so cheesy that it feels more pro wrestling than pro fighting. It’s a world away from Gavin O’Connor’s seminal Warrior, that brings the intensity of the fight scene whilst maintaining a gripping story throughout – EFC’s story is soap opera in comparison.

There is an element of charm to the cheesiness, with a cast of stereotype characters from the explosive mob boss looking to take charge of the company to the stony executive with a secret heart of gold. If one can look past the expletives, the dialogue is pure narmy goodness – over the top but never boring. It is an interesting inverse of the gritty fight scenes which are as real as can be. One gets the sense that it is in the combat where the filmmaker’s true interest lies – the background drama really just there to act as a driver based loosely on real events.

There is fun to be had with EFC, which succeeds entirely on the back of electrifying fight sequences where every punch lands. The script and performances are featherweight in comparison, but these scenes (as well as its female-focused plot) just about bring this fight to a decision.