Filmmaker Matt Newton writes, directs, and stars in Cage Rage, a story about an MMA fighter on the verge of a breakthrough who keeps getting in his own way — and, for the record, Newton put himself in fighting shape to do it. It’s a familiar setup, but Newton makes it personal.
Joey (Matt Newton) is a 30-year-old MMA fighter who is good, but not quite good enough to reach the top. His coach thinks he knows the problem: Joey’s game has a hole, and the answer is Jiu-Jitsu. Joey’s personal life is just as unfinished. His girlfriend Ellie (Kim Michelle) just walked out, convinced he’s on his way to becoming his father — a violent man Joey has spent his whole life trying not to be. Without a nickname, without a belt, and without the woman he loves, Joey is a fighter who doesn’t yet know who he is.
The trouble compounds because Joey runs with his buddy Liam (Connor Horrigan), who works for the dangerous Mr. Suarez (Silvio Simac) — owner of the Dragon Dynasty club and father of Sacha (Chloe Rann) and the menacing Ninja Nico (Nathaniel Wood). Joey had already made a mess at the Dragon Dynasty the night before when his temper got him into a fight, causing some damage, and again when he spots Ellie at the club with fellow fighter Sammy (Mike Ekundayo), he loses it completely. The brawl puts Joey in debt to Mr. Suarez, and the only way to clear it is to help Liam with a simple deal, which quickly goes wrong.
As Liam sinks deeper into Mr. Suarez’s world and drags Joey along with him, the criminal entanglement threatens to derail Joey’s fighting career. His only real way out runs through the gym — specifically, through a new Jiu-Jitsu coach, Master Neto (Valmyr Neto), who starts teaching Joey the ways of the “gentle arts” and, hopefully, directly addresses Joey’s temper.
“The brawl puts Joey in debt to Mr. Suarez, and the only way to clear it is to help Liam with a simple deal, which quickly goes wrong.”
I’ve had the chance to review several MMA dramas over the years, and what impresses me the most is just how personal they tend to get, especially for the filmmakers and MMA fighters themselves. Deep down, there’s a story that they have to tell, and Cage Rage is one of those films. Star, writer, and co-director Matt Newton creates a very sympathetic character in Joey — a promising fighter who suffers from a mental block that keeps him from truly breaking loose as a champion-level competitor. He must learn the gentle way of Jiu-Jitsu to turn things around.
The mafia world that Joey is thrust into is elaborate, but Newton never lets the B-stories get too convoluted or disrupt the story at all. While remembering that this is an action movie and we’re here to see fights, he has a small progression of Joey as he learns and levels up throughout the film, finally meeting the final boss at the end. There’s also this cool swagger that Cage Rage has as a film. It has a really kicking soundtrack. Usually, I’m not into this kind of music, but it really works with the film and the story. There’s something about this Australian production that refuses to follow any American tropes in the sports and gangster genres. It goes down roads that I wasn’t expecting. Also, the fight scenes: I love how the cameras get in close. You have the wide shots of the fighters in the cage, but once the action starts, the camera drops to ground level and shoots upward in tight medium and close-up shots. It’s a cool effect that works.
In the end, I thought Joey’s character arc was well-crafted with a good balance between his training and fighting, along with the intricate mafia tale that becomes the catalyst of Joey’s personal journey. Newton keeps the stakes personal throughout, and when the final fight arrives, you actually care who wins. Cage Rage won’t reinvent the sports drama, but it doesn’t need to — it’s a solid, scrappy film from Australia that knows exactly what it is, because it thankfully isn’t trying to be American in any way.
For more information, visit the Cage Rage official Instagram page.
"…a solid, scrappy film from Australia that knows exactly what it is."
