Fatal Deviation

 uUHSCNMH4wE Fatal Deviation is a 1998 Irish martial arts movie. It is, in fact, Ireland's only martial arts movie, and perhaps for a very good reason.

It tells the story of one Jimmy Bennett, a martial artist, returning to his hometown, Trim, after a decade in reform school, to investigate the death of his father. Along the way, he runs into the local drug ring, who are determined to win a local fighting contest, which will supposedly allow them to control the town, who may be connected to his father's death, as well as a mysterious monk, and the beautiful Nicola.

The whole thing can be seen on YouTube, starting here.

If you're short on time, see Obscurus Lupa's review here.


 * All Monks Know Kung Fu
 * Badass: Jimmy.
 * Bar Brawl
 * Bang Bang BANG: Averted, incredibly. The punches and kicks are louder than the gunshots in this movie.
 * Bond One-Liner: "Enjoy the slide!"
 * The Brute: Seagull.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Everybody in the Bealtaine Tournament.
 * Click. "Hello.": "I'm not paying you to sit on your arse smoking."
 * Deadpan Snarker: Jimmy. Or he would be if his lines weren't so filled with Narm.
 * His accent doesn't help with this.
 * The Danza - Pretty much the entire cast. Justified in that none of them had ever acted before and would probably have difficulty responding to other names.
 * Dull Surprise: Nicola. Dear God, Nicola.
 * Fan Disservice: One Mook strips naked, barring a cowboy hat and gets into an outdoor bath for no real reason.
 * Hey, It's That Guy! - Mikey Graham of Boyzone fame as The Dragon. And he's the best actor in the entire film. Seriously.
 * Inevitable Tournament - The Bealtaine tournament, which for some reason, will allow the winner to take control of the town.
 * Just Plane Wrong - Seagull flies from Hong Kong to Trim in a Cessna.
 * Katanas Are Just Better - The Big Bad's weapon of choice when he killed Jimmy's father.
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes - For years, getting a full working copy of this movie was damn near impossible. The film really only gained its cult popularity after Colin Murphy reviewed it on The Blizzard of Odd.
 * Marty Stu - Jimmy. He doesn't even bother to change the name of his protagonist from his own.
 * Narm - "Fuck you and your gun, ya prick!"
 * After Nicola's capture by the bad guys, Jimmy has a Flash Back to his memories of her. In the middle of the generic picnic/lovemaking memories, one scene is of him driving a motorbike and firing a handgun, while Nicola clings to his back in fear.
 * No Kill Like Overkill - In the climax of the film, Jimmy shoots a gangster in the head twice, then administers a rather unneeded roundhouse kick to the head.
 * So Bad It's Good
 * Oh Crap: The bouncers at the pub Jimmy is refused from for no reason when he charges at them.
 * Old Shame - For Mikey Graham anyway. This troper remembers seeing an interview where he was on a documentary about Irish actors trying to get their break in the States. Fatal Deviation is mentioned and he went all quiet.
 * Storming the Castle: The climax, in which Jimmy wipes out most of the gang to rescue Nicola.
 * Throw It In: The car crash in the climax was unscripted.
 * Training Montage: Several.
 * Two Shots From Behind the Bar
 * Unnecessary Combat Roll - Jimmy rolls across the bonnet of a car and then back again in the middle of a fight for no reason.
 * You Killed My Father