Fatal Deviation

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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.

Tropes used in Fatal Deviation include:

• 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