Whenever I hear about a new movie coming out that involves fighting of some sort, my first reaction is, is it from Lions Gate? It seems like they’ve been doing a lot of that lately, and they sent out a copy of one of their newest, Muay Thai Fighter, for me to review.

Muay Thai Fighter follows a couple of friends who train in the titular martial art. But one day, they find their training camp has been shut down, and so they do about the only thing left to them that makes any sense, and that’s to take their muay thai fighting on the road, where they can bring it back. But what they’ll find in the underground fight circuits they end up in is a whole lot more than they bargained for. Can they survive their ordeal and bring back their ancient fighting style, or will they fall prey to the horrors–and temptations–all around them?

Where Muay Thai Fighter distinguishes itself from a lot of other fighting movies is in its first ten minutes. There’s actually a lot of history of the sport delivered here, as you get a surprise education in the sport. It’s not every day that you get a little bit of history thrown in–it’s almost like a miniature documentary in the midst of a larger whole. There will be some laughs in here, a little bit of romance, and a whole lot of sports-style drama as kids from the back end of nowhere fight to become something more than they were in the grandest tradition.

It’s a surprisingly entertaining film, lots of fun, with plenty of things to like. Frankly, I had a great time here, because this kept things moving along at a good, brisk pace and didn’t slow down with a lot of unnecessary points. It’s put together a lot better than you might think, and goes down a lot of interesting paths, plot-wise, and has plenty of good surprises thrown in just to make things interesting.

If you like martial arts movies, sports movies, or good old fashioned drama, then you’ll get along a lot better than you might think with Muay Thai Fighter. There’s plenty for most anyone to enjoy, and it will prove shockingly uplifting for a movie like this. It would be easy–entirely too easy–to underestimate Muay Thai Fighter, and doing so would be a tragic mistake.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Muay Thai Fighter a full ten out of ten. This one came out of nowhere, did an incredible amount of damage, and kept me very satisfied for two hours, which is profoundly rare in a film any more. It should be just as good for you, so if you get a chance to catch this one, don’t let it slip by.