4/5 Surprisingly good
  by Grimmy (MD USA)
I expected a mindless shoot-em-up, but there are actually likeable characters we can empathize with, a servicable plot, and some clever twists, especially at the end. There's blood and violence galore, and shooting of innocent bystanders. Ving Rhames plays himself, as usual.

5/5 Terrific action movie!
  by Carl Danby (Pittsburgh, PA United States)
Big screen mayhem throughout! This rental was quite a pleasant surprise. Certainly worth purchasing for repeat viewing.

4/5 typical story with exciting well-done action
  by ribcage (Lantana, Florida United States)
The Tournament, being a death match movie, is not going to wow anyone with its storyline. A bunch of people, 30 in fact, are involved in a last man standing kill or be killed game instituted by the super rich for some high stakes gambling. One of our contenders (Ving Rhames) has got a vendetta for his dead wife. Another, played by Kelly Hu, is a sympathetic character with her own sad secrets behind her. And the rest are all psycopathic murderers save for a priest (Robert Carlyle) who gets inadvertantly caught up in the game thanks to the trickery of one of the contestants. What's special is that somewhere in the midst of this resurrected plot, there's actually a hint of heart to it. Rhames had me convinced of his character's sadness and rage, unlike most of the actors who have played similar roles before him.

The movie doesn't dawdle at all. It's action from the very opening sequence and after that its action sequence to action sequence with stop offs at either the gambling table or the gambler's techs at their station nearby to set up the next sequence. There is a bit of an interlude at the three-quarters mark, but it lasts about two minutes and we go back into the fray.

The action shows a lot of variety too. We have martial arts, gunplay, car chases, and even Sebastien Foucan, who showed off his free running skills to great effect in Casino Royale, and his incredible abilities has a major role in the film.

That's what really sold me on this death match movie. Many of them stick very much to one style, but this one tried out several different styles and methods and it worked. All of it culiminates in a fantastic chase down a highway between a double-decker bus and a semi-tanker, giving a strong nostalgic feel to classic action from the 1980s (even down the the intense, blaring orchestral score for the scene).

The Tournament's story is predictable the whole way through, but the action, the pacing, the acting, and the cinemtography are perfect the whole way through.

4/5 The Top seed TOURNAMENT
  by N. Peake (BigApple)
I picked this up again on the strength of the headlining talent in front of the camera...and am glad I did. This little independently distributed film is a gem..has a little bit of everything for the action movie loving audience. The premise is that every ten years a tournament is held throughout a city that pits the worlds top assassins against each other to the death. ( This idea..though not yet over used is nothing new, and has been done in similar ways in films like "Battle Royale", and more recently "The Condemned" both entertaining...but B.R. is a modern classic.) The Tournament has enough differences to stand on it's own. The cast in general is really talented and do very well with the characters and script, but there are some stand outs. Kelly Hu is simply great, in a performance that rivals if not trumps her butt kicking character in X2, she plays an assassin for the yakuza and looks fabulous in the action scenes...she really sells it. Ian Somerhalder plays a psychopath looking for notoriety, he is an actor I've not seen before but will be sure to keep an eye out for him as he delivers brilliantly...but the best performance by far in this film is delivered by veteran character actor Robert Carlyle, who always delivers...but his star shines bright in his portrayal if a priest who is questioning his calling and gets caught up in the middle of the mass murder parade that is the Tournament. The cast is rounded out with other notable talents.
With Action that takes place in every possible location from rooftops, to street corners, from barrooms to bathrooms this non stop adrenalin rush packs a wallop...and keeps the viewer excited and attention wrapped until the closing credits. This is a keeper for any action movie fan.

4/5 Remake?
  by Doneit (WV)
Lot's of action in what has to be a remake of The Quick and the Dead. It has got the Priest, the kid, the girl and the grizzly old man. Ok, it has the modern day twist, but still everyone must die except for one. Maybe.