17 Years Later, Tim Allen’s Forgotten Action Movie Still Kicks Harder Than You Remember

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The list of anticipated 2025 movie releases grows every single day with new announcements and new sleeper hits popping up out of nowhere, but one of the leaders of the pack from the very beginning has been the long-awaited legacy sequel, Karate Kid: Legends. Some of the more classic and often-revisited examples are Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury, Jet Li’s Fearless, and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and rightfully so. Yet, one movie from 2008 is one of the most underrated marital arts movies: Redbelt.

Redbelt is a highly underrated movie by master scribe David Mamet. The film is an outlier and an underdog for a multitude of reasons beyond just being from the western hemisphere. Redbelt was a box office bomb, a moderate critical failure, and a step outside the comfort zone of everyone involved. Despite all of this, and against all odds, the film is a forgotten gem and remains one of the greatest martial arts films of all time.

Redbelt Was a Long Time Coming

While it seems sacrilegious to say that an American film ranks among the best martial arts films of all time, it is a perfectly valid assertion to make for a film as masterful as Redbelt. The film has a pitch-perfect cast and crew, and tells a story both on and off the silver screen. Redbelt was helmed by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, David Mamet, who has long been established as one of the greatest playwrights and screenwriters of all time. He has penned iconic films such as The Untouchables and Hannibal, but is perhaps best known for being the original playwright behind Glengarry Glen Ross (for which he won his Pulitzer Prize).

By the year 2008, when Redbelt hit cinemas, David Mamet had made the jump from purely writing film screenplays to directing films himself. He tried his hand at a variety of genres, including period piece drama, full-blown action, and screwball comedy, but undoubtedly found his home in the crime thriller niche. Mamet’s contributions to this subgenre include House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner, and Homicide, all of which are fantastic and mind-bending entries in the cinematic canon, but by 2008, he had seemingly matured past the need for smoke and mirrors.

The result of this is Redbelt, a strangely optimistic and good-natured martial arts drama from one of cinema’s most notorious cynics. Before the release of this film, Mamet had made an entire movie parodying the “Quest for Purity” (2000s ensemble masterpiece State and Main), but this time came out swinging with a completely earnest movie all about the very same topic.

While Redbelt may be uncharacteristic in terms of narrative structure, it is typical of a David Mamet joint in every other conceivable way. The story of the film primarily follows Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a highly principled and tender jiu-jitsu teacher. Despite his immense talent, and much to the chagrin of his wife (whose family promotes fights), he refuses to compete in tournaments because he views it as degrading. Two events throw Mike’s highly principled moral code-ruled life into disarray.

First, a distressed woman accidentally fires a gun in his studio, leading to Mike taking her under his wing. Second, Mike intervenes in a local bar fight that, to his surprise, involved the major movie star, Chet Frank (Tim Allen). These encounters, while simply acts of kindness that Mike would do for anyone, inadvertently pull him into the world of Hollywood, where he’s promised financial support and recognition by his new friend, Chet. As he dives deeper into the world of glitz and glamour, Mike slowly realizes that he has been extensively manipulated by the stars and learns that this life is incompatible with his moral code.

With his back against the ropes after extortion and inadvertent deaths, Mike is forced to do exactly what he has resisted against: Using his jiu-jitsu skills in the ring. What follows from this point is a slow and meditative finale, where Mike defends not only himself in the physical sense, but the core values that make up his identity. The film’s tagline reads “THERE’S ALWAYS A WAY OUT. YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND IT”, and this statement could not be more true to the emotional journey of the ever-optimistic Mike Terry.

A Sitcom Star Plays Against Type In Redbelt

When people talk about the greatest Sitcom star success stories, Tim Allen is rarely, if ever, mentioned. While his career hasn’t been flashy or full of awards buzz, he has had a beyond solid career characterized by comedy performances across live-action film, television, and animation. His most iconic role is most likely as Tim “The Toolman” Taylor in the beloved eight-season sitcom, Home Improvement, but he has also starred in a handful of other programs, such as Last Man Standing and Shifting Gears.

When it comes to film, Allen is slightly less prolific, but just as successful in the grand scheme. He is most recognized by movie fans for his roles in Christmas classics like The Santa Clause trilogy and Christmas with the Kranks, but his actual biggest role is as the voice of Buzz Lightyear. Allen has been the voice of Buzz since the very first Toy Story, and has continued reprising his voice acting role in every subsequent entry (including the upcoming fifth one). Despite all of this success, Allen had never played a legitimately dramatic role in any film project until 2008.

Redbelt was a unique challenge for Tim Allen, as the typical role he plays is mimicking the “everyman”. Allen’s characters are generally relatable and simple-minded, but capable of high-stakes comedic hijinks. In the role of Chet Frank, however, Tim Allen had to abandon every lesson he learned while on the set of his early comedy efforts. He has a cult leader-esque energy, and perfectly balances the faux-kindness required to draw Mike’s character in, with the eventual gritty cynicism that makes up his character in the film’s climax.

While it may sound strange, Redbelt owes much of its brilliance to the comedic career of Tim Allen. The character of Chet Frank is extra menacing in the film’s finale because Allen’s restrained performance is such a far cry from what fans expect from him. His sleazy and world-weary demeanor adds immense depth to the film’s musings on power, corruption, and exploitation, and it just wouldn’t have been the same with another actor in the driver’s seat.

Redbelt Was a Box Office Bomb

As previously mentioned, Redbelt has been largely buried under the titanic weight of other iconic martial arts films. A big reason for the film’s lack of recognition in among modern day moviegoers is because of its original lack of box office success. Despite positive initial reactions, including a 67% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 65% rating from audiences, the film was met with zero fanfare.

Redbelt had a relatively low budget (especially when compared to some of Mamet’s other works). Against a budget of $7 million, Redbelt only managed to rake in $2.7 million, most likely due to the film’s limited initial release and fierce competition when it went wide. Most notably, Mamet’s 2008 effort was pitted against the MCU’s golden goose, Iron Man, and the ever-controversial Wachowski Sistsers film, Speed Racer, which both managed to suck up the energy of contemporary moviegoers. The film, however, never really stood a chance, as it routinely ranked around tenth on the charts during its box office run.

Redbelt may not stand a chance when pitted against box office giants and towering genre-defining martial arts films like the Karate Kid franchise, but as time goes on, the film is bound to slowly gain an improved reputation. Redbelt is a film that breaks the norms of what a martial arts film can be. Instead of being defined by exciting fights and fierce training, this film’s runtime is instead filled with discipline, order, and optimism, and is all the better for it. Anchored by two titanic performances from Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tim Allen, Redbelt stands today as a beautiful example of what happens when a film refuses to conform.

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