It is award season at the movies, and A24 once again is throwing their hat in the ring with their latest release, The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson in his most prestigious role yet as pioneering MMA fighter Mark Kerr, with Emily Blunt co-starring.
With the studio really making a unique marketing push for this movie, JoBlo was invited to their event in NYC called The Smashing Machine 2000 Arcade. This was a promotional event that had classic fighting arcade games along with a Smashing Machine MMA fighting game, with a boxing ring set up, sparing equipment on display and more. It was a pretty badass event.
They even had a boxing punch machine. Just like in Rocky IV. You get to demonstrate your power in PSI. Haha my punch….750 was my best….so not quite at Drago’s 1400 PSI. Guess I have to work on my form.
But the real highlight of the event was that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt attended. UNFORTUNATELY, as the event started and by the time I got inside…the two of them had to leave… for whatever reason. But while I was there, I was fortunate enough to catch director Benny Safdie and have a pretty cool conversation with him. One of the things that got me PUMPED to see this movie, one of my favourite boxers right now is Oleksandr Usyk, currently the lineal undisputed champion in TWO divisions (heavyweight AND Cruiserweight), makes his cinematic debut as MMA Kickboxer legend Igor Vovchanhcyn. Benny Safdie mentioned that when Usyk and Johnson got in the ring, everyone in the filmed audience was in awe and excitement to see the two clash when they filmed their fight scene!
And to top this off, this event also had some amazing merch giveaways. Everyone who attended got a free shirt (same ones used in the film) and a free poster. Nice souvenirs to go with the event.
I managed to see the movie as well after I attended the event and it was everything that I had hoped for. After all the hype and praise it got in the film festival circuit, it lived up to that hype. Dwayne Johnson gave a performance of a lifetime as Kerr, and Emily Blunt was wonderful as his girlfriend Dawn Staple. It is high octane MMA action but also has very dramatic moments that really tug at the heartstrings. I believe this film will get some nods at the Oscars and is one of the most memorable movies of 2025. 9 out of 10 from this guy (our own Chris Bumbray gave it the same)! The only flaw I think is that the score and music from the film can be distracting and take away from some of the amazing scenes. You don’t have to be a fan of combat sports to love this movie. Dwayne Johnson has proved he’s more than just a big box office action star. His acting has taken a huge step forward.
