Miguel Wants to Fight is about a teenager who wants to have his first fight. Many targets are selected and rules are laid out. This is about a boy who likes anime and action, just like his group. Living in a neighborhood where fights are a part of their daily routine, Miguel wants to step up. When his friends engaged in fights, we can see him standing at the periphery and becoming an audience.
What’s the golden rule of friendship? If your friend ends up in a fight, you fight too. But this is not Miguel. Upon being aware of the fact that his family was going to shift, the boy wants to man up and participate in a fight. Things go in else direction which doesn’t end well for him.
Making a film with a duration of 83 minutes seems too much with a limited plot. The movie was about Miguel and him trying to pick up a fight with anyone who was not a good person. In the end, we realize that to beat those evil people, he might have become one himself. His urge to fight made him almost lose his friends. One thing you learn from this film is to never go against your true nature and always stand by your friends. In the end, what we all got, it is our family and friends.
Trying to prove himself to be a badass fighter, Miguel forgot himself and the good person he is. There is not much to watch in this film and I would have preferred it if it were much shorter like just thirty minutes. The movie felt like a waste of time the equivalent of which could have been invested in a better title.
I didn’t like how teenagers were busy throwing racial or personal punches just to prove that they are excellent. If neighborhoods like these exist, parents and authorities need to have good supervision over these kids. Regular insults were thrown at an Indian boy and their religion. Being an Indian, it felt personal that insults like these were included in the first place. Though these lines were included just for fun, they didn’t seem reasonable.
Miguel Wants to Fight also showed us why Miguel wanted to fight in the first place and that was to prove to his father that he can also fight and survive in the neighborhood. The scene in which the same thing has been included shows us the impact miscommunication can have on kids. They want to shine bright even though it might cost them a lot of things.
The film should have included more twists in its plot. At many points, it felt like the things shown could have been utilized in a better manner. Imani Lewis (seen in First Kill) has a lot of potential which is undervalued. Her character could have been so much more than just being a part of the group. I saw her work in First Kill and the role didn’t do justice to the actress. Among the four friends shown, her character felt sidelined.
In the scenes in which we see that Miguel is approaching a fight and that now we’ll get to witness some action, the writers decide at that point that nah we’re not going in that direction. They leave the audience wanting to see something good happen, be it a fight. It is difficult to understand the point of this movie.
Final Score – [6/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
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Publisher at Midgard Times