In the west corner, standing 6 foot 6 at 290 pounds, in the beard and goggles, is Dave Bautista. And in the east corner, standing 5 foot 6, in the bleach-blonde hair, is Iko Uwais. Everyone knows Bautista. The former bouncer and 6-time world professional wrestling champion, who won a pro MMA bout in 2012, has been making movies since 2006. He launched into interstellar stardom as Drax, one of the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014, 2017 with the threequel due in 2012). Uwais is well known to fans of martial arts movies. His breakout film Merantau (2009) became a cult classic, and was following by two of the hardest hitting films of the last decade, THE RAID: REDEMPTION (2011) and its sequel THE RAID 2 (2014). STUBER had the potential for an epic David-and-Goliath fight scene reminiscent of Bruce Lee versus Kareem Abdul Jabbar in GAME OF DEATH (1978). Unfortunately, it misses its mark.

STUBER is a cliched buddy flick reminiscent of action movies gone by. Bautista plays Vic, a vengeful macho cop. His newfound buddy is the milktoast Uber driver Stu, played by Kumail Nanjiani. While it is refreshing to see a Hollywood films with two non-caucasian and non-African American male leads, a buddy film hinges on chemistry and with Vic and Stu, it's hit and miss. There's some good stuff - Nanjiani's comic timing is spot on and Bautista's absurd machismo is undeniable - but they don't sustain their witty repartee enough to carry the entire movie. It feels like a long ad for Uber, with a short commercial interlude for Sriracha, which disappointingly fails to bring any heat to the finale.

Iko Uwais plays Teijo, the villain of the film. Given his hulking physique, it's Bautista who usually plays cinematic villains. This is a problem when he is cast as the good guy. Who can possibly be a more intimidating villain? Uwais was a great choice. Uwais is first and foremost a master of the South Asian Martial Art of Pencak Silat. He fell into acting. It was never his intention. He was discovered by Gareth Evans, a fledgling Welsh director working on a documentary on Silat. After seeing Uwais in action, he signed him for his first three aforementioned films. Those films ushered in a whole new level of ultra-violent martial arts, all with an Indonesian Silat flair, and Hollywood noticed. It got Uwais a cameo in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015). His RAID Silat Master comrades, Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman, were cast as Shinobi in this year's strongest example of top-notch fight choreography so far this year, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM.

When it comes to fight choreography, Bautista is no slouch either. During his years as a pro wrestler, he delivered high-flying high-impact fights in front of a live audience. Recently, in one of his more outstanding action roles outside of the MCU, Bautista matched skills with Wushu star Max Zhang in MASTER Z: IP MAN LEGACY . Directed by the legendary Fight Choreographer, Yuen Woo-Ping. MASTER Z was a good old fashioned Kung Fu film where fight choreography is held paramount and Bautista rose to the occasion with remarkable panache.

Part of the blame must fall on the casting which lacks a credited Fight Director. STUBER opens with a strong fight scene between Bautista and Uwais, and it appears that Uwais had some hand in the choreography because some of his moves have that monkey-like agility that is so characteristic of Silat. The fight has some complex exchanges, but it's not filmed well. The camera work is way too wobbly to see the action clearly, so a large portion of the blame must fall upon Cinematographer Bobby Shore. Wobbly camera work can heighten the action when you have actors who cannot fight. With Bautista and Uwais, these are two skilled authentic martial artists. They can execute spectacular choreography, the kind of which begs to be spotlighted with focused steady camera work.

Teijo has bleach-blonde hair, which is strangely reminiscent of Tony Jaa's character Talon in xXx: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE (2017). Perhaps Hollywood thinks bleach-blonde Asians are gangster. It's ironic because if anyone is inheriting Jaa's hard fought martial arts movie throne, it is Uwais. Earlier this year, Uwais and Jaa starred together alongside Tiger Hu Chen in what was one of the most eagerly anticipated martial arts films, TRIPLE THREAT. The film boasted a big cast of martial stars including Scott Adkins, Michael Bisping, Michael Jai White, and JeeJa Yanin. The film delivered a fight fest, and the choreography was good, but it didn't quite live up to the buzz. Teijo is a cookie-cutter villain, also a shame because Uwais has displayed a surprisingly decent acting range, given that he didn't go to acting school. Last year, he stole the show from veteran actor Mark Wahlberg and MMA Champion Ronda Rousey in MILE 22. While the fight choreography was simple - one action, one cut - it showcased Uwais more clearly than STUBER and stands as his most significant Hollywood role so far.

Despite the lacklusterness of STUBER, Bautista, Nanjiani and Uwais all have bright prospects so it's fascinating to see them cross paths in this film. Later this year, Bautista will have his machismo challenged again, but this time by a precocious 9-year-old girl in MY SPY. And next year, he has a role in the eagerly anticipated remake of DUNE. Nanjiani, who voiced the alien Pawny earlier this year in MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL, will do more voice work for Robert Downey Jr.'s THE VOYAGE OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE later this year. Next year, he has roles in a murder mystery romance called THE LOVEBIRDS and a new Marvel franchise, THE ETERNALS.

For martial arts fans, Uwais remains the one to watch with his upcoming Netflix series WU ASSASSINS. Scheduled to debut this August, WU ASSASSINS is a martial-arts-themed TV series with Uwais in the lead role of Kai Jin. The show boasts a cast full of martial arts actors including Celia Au, JuJu Chan, Mark Dacascos, Byron Mann, Lewis Tan, and Katheryn Winnick, with the first episodes directed by INTO THE BADLANDS Producer and Director Stephen Fung. Expect more in-depth coverage on WU ASSASSINS to come from Kung Fu Tai Chi very soon.

Although STUBER falls short of a 5 star review, these three stars, Bautista, Nanjiani and Uwais, are burning brightly.