Every seven years a tournament takes place in which the worlds 30 greatest assassins compete to be the last one alive and claim a 10 million cash prize. The Tournament takes a neat concept and aims it at a very specific niche audience and then goes all out to please that audience. This approach is always something I've appreciated more than films that go for the broad audience. And it has generally always been something the critics have heralded too. Without such commendation we would never see classic status reached by the likes of Evil Dead 2, The Naked Gun or The Raid. They didn't however herald this notion in 2009 when The Tournament was released and subsequently annihilated by the few critics that even acknowledged it's existence.

In a world populated by CGI superhero and other family flicks, The Tournament dared to deliver gore, violence and practical effects driven action. And lots of it. It has to be said, what director Scott Mann achieves on a tiny $9 million budget is astonishing. I was more thrilled by the well choreographed and orchestrated set pieces in this film than I am during most of the gigantic budget CGI spectacle we tend to get today. And so I should be when the assassins battling throughout include the likes of Lady Deathstrike, Marsellus Wallace and the free running dude from the beginning of Casino Royale whilst the whole thing is hosted by Ser Davos.

For a long time now and especially back then film publications bemoaned the lack of these R rated, blood splattered action flicks and the over saturation of family friendly franchise entertainment. Looks like they answered their own question with their reception of this film. The film may not be high art and has it's flaws but they seemed unable to respect the film on it's own terms and appreciate it for achieving in it's own field. And that's something someone working in the film criticism business should be able to do.

If you're an action fan I implore you to check this film out. It's 90 minutes of pure, mental fun. In today's neutered film environment The Tournament is a movie that not only has balls but isn't afraid to swing them.

So are there any action films you think never got due credit? Anything hiding between Dolph and Jean-Claude on the bottom shelf that withholds content that contradicts it's status? Do speak up.