The Smashing Machine (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – The story of mixed-martial arts and UFC champion Mark Kerr.

My Take – Having been the face of blockbuster cinema for more than a decade, as a viewer you usually know what you’re going to get from a Dwayne Johnson starrer. And so far it has worked for him, even when he’s essentially playing some version of the same character.

However, in this latest sports biopic, Johnson does the unexpected by really stretching himself and stepping outside the comfort zone, far away from his usual spectacle driven quips filled action-adventures, to deliver a knockout and poignant performance that has all the potential to garner a nomination in the upcoming Academy Awards.

Inspired by HBO’s documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr (2002), in his solo directing debut, Benny Safdie, best known for co-directing Good Time (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019) with his brother Josh Safdie, aims to construct a sports biopic that thrives on the erratic yet endearing nature of MMA fighter Mark Kerr, a man who could beat the world in the cage but couldn’t quite win against his own chaos.

Turning what could have been a routine sports biopic into a strangely intimate study of addiction, masculinity, and the fragility hiding behind a 260-pound body built like a fortress.

Unfortunately, while doing that, the film also succumbs in its attempt to subvert expectations. Yes, it has its moments, but the sluggish pacing makes it an exhausting watch. While the predictability of the story-line was always going to be in play, the screenplay stretches what could have been a compelling narrative into a drawn-out slog.

Leaving us with something that lands as a missed opportunity even after it tries to be grittier and intimate than is typical for the genre. But if you want to see Johnson truly act, really act, this is the film to watch. Vulnerable, gripping, and unflinching, it’s the most surprising performance of his career, and I hope it’s the first of many roles where he pushes himself like this.

Set between 1997 and 2000, during the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s wild pioneer years when the sport was still gaining popularity, with both audiences and businesses willing to give it more exposure, the story follows Mark Kerr (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) an already acclaimed freestyle wrestler who has never lost a professional match, but the paydays are not lucrative and he often has to travel to Japan for tournaments.

Involved in a stormy but long-term relationship with girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt), he wants to keep his winning streak alive. But after a controversial bout in which his opponent was not penalized for illegal strikes, leading to a no-contest ruling, Kerr begins spiraling, turning increasingly to the opiates that help dull his physical (and emotional) pain.

Here, writer-director Safdie is less interested in Kerr’s matches than he is in the fighter’s personal life. Much of the film centers on Kerr and Dawn, revealing how often they bring out the worst in one another. Both characters can be self-involved, unable to hear their partner’s point of view during an argument, and director Safdie occasionally lets the disagreements become volcanic.

While the film lacks the grand psychological depth of domestic drama, Kerr’s romantic woes nonetheless consume him in a picture that largely avoids sports tropes such as training montages and high-profile title bouts.

Similarly, the film treats Kerr’s drug addiction with an unromantic aspect, sidestepping many of the usual plot points involving rehab and recovery. Johnson is especially touching when portraying this outwardly macho individual who breaks down in tears at his inability to pull himself out of his dependency.

But for all its emotional depth, the film isn’t without flaws. The pacing is throughout uneven, especially in the second act. The screenplay wanders between moments of genius and patches of repetition, as if unsure whether it wants to be a sports saga or a domestic drama.

Director Safdie occasionally gets so absorbed in mood that momentum starts to slip away. The film runs just under two hours, but at times, it feels longer, not because it’s dull, but because it drifts.

There’s also a sense that the biopic format holds it back slightly. Mark Kerr’s story, fascinating as it is, doesn’t have the wild unpredictability it teases to have. It’s more subdued, more internal, and while director Safdie finds honesty in that stillness, it may not satisfy viewers expecting the adrenaline rush that comes with the genre.

But something keeps you glued and that is, without question, the most complex and lived-in performance of Dwayne Johnson’s career. He is unrecognizable as Mark Kerr, not just in vanity but in demeanor, as Kerr’s highs and devastating lows fully absorb him. The transformation is startling.

From the prosthetics that give him a receding hairline and a bulkier frame to the emotional restraint in his eyes, everything about this performance feels real. Ferocious and vulnerable in equal measure, he brings a level of humanity to the character that allows the audience to remember that Kerr is a mere man, albeit a flawed one, and not a hulking monster.

Alongside him, Emily Blunt as Kerr’s thoughtless and dependent girlfriend and later wife, Dawn, brings an impeccable performance as the psychological dynamics and bittersweet bond between them are undoubtedly one of the engaging parts of the film’s screenplay. The two showcased excellent chemistry in the otherwise underwhelming Jungle Cruise (2021), but here their obviously different dynamic is allowed to shine more.

Ryan Bader, a real-life MMA fighter who makes his acting debut here, brings out the authenticity on the screen, and his camaraderie with Johnson is organic and enjoyable. On the whole, ‘The Smashing Machine‘ is a well-made but unremarkable sports biopic driven by Dwayne Johnson’s most absorbing turn yet.