I May Not Have Liked Christy, But Sydney Sweeney’s Boxing Movie Got One Thing About The Genre Perfect

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While “Christy” doesn’t offer anything completely new, it effectively tells the story of boxer Christy Martin, a true pioneer for women in the sport. The film explores both her boxing career and the personal challenges she faced.

Ultimately, Christy is held back by a weak script that doesn’t live up to the talent of its actors or director. Despite this, the film has its strengths, particularly Sydney Sweeney’s captivating performance. The boxing sequences are also surprisingly well-done, standing out even compared to other sports movies.

Christy’s Boxing Scenes Look Very Real, Because They Are

Christy is a strong character-driven film, although the supporting characters aren’t very well developed. However, the boxing matches themselves are excellent, realistically capturing the strength and skill of the sport. The film features multiple boxing scenes centered around the main character’s journey.

To accurately show how much Sydney Sweeney physically changed for her boxing role, the filmmakers made a bold decision: they filmed the actors genuinely hitting each other during fight scenes. While the fights were planned and practiced, the actors weren’t holding back their punches.

Sweeney really liked this aspect of the production. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she explained that all the fight scenes involved the actors actually hitting each other, with no holding back. She felt this was essential to making the action feel authentic, believing that using stunt doubles or faking the punches wouldn’t be convincing.

To accurately portray boxer Christy Martin’s physique and power, Sweeney underwent three months of intense training and gained thirty pounds of muscle. She fully committed to the fight scenes, even suffering a concussion while filming. This happened during a particularly impactful hit she took from professional boxer Naomi Graham.

Sweeney is convincing in the fight scenes, probably because of her background in martial arts like jiu-jitsu. This training subtly influences how she portrays Christy’s fighting style, particularly when Christy is new to boxing and overwhelms opponents with her fast, aggressive attacks.

The boxing matches in Christy are surprisingly well-done. This is largely thanks to the actor’s physical abilities, but also to the dynamic camera work of director David Michôd, who skillfully captures the fast-paced energy and shifting advantages of each fight.

Christy’s Best Elements Are In The Boxing Ring

As a film lover, I’ve always felt boxing is uniquely suited for the big screen. There’s something about the one-on-one nature of the sport that really allows filmmakers to tap into deep emotions through physical action. The way a fighter moves, their style, can tell you so much about who they are as a person, and the pain they endure isn’t just physical – it represents their overall strength and resilience, both in and out of the ring.

Boxing has inspired many directors to create iconic scenes, from the gritty black-and-white fights in Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull to the moving training montages in Rocky, and even the symbolic final match in Michael B. Jordan’s Creed III. There’s a real potential for artistic expression within the world of boxing, and director Michôd clearly understands this.

The most compelling parts of the show Christy happen when she’s boxing, both hitting and being hit. In the beginning, actress Sweeney fully commits to the physicality, landing surprising punches. As Christy gains confidence, she becomes a more skilled fighter. When she’s losing, it shows – she becomes unsteady and struggles to remain on her feet.

The actors’ visible physical effort makes each fight more compelling, adding a sense of realism and toughness to Christy’s journey as a boxer. As she gains confidence and starts landing punches, the audience becomes increasingly invested in her successes and setbacks.

Overall, the movie Christy isn’t very successful. The script doesn’t give the supporting characters enough depth, which makes it harder for the actors to shine and leaves the lead, Christy, with limited interaction. It’s an okay film, but not particularly memorable, except for a strong performance by Sweeney. However, the movie truly excels during the boxing scenes – that’s when it really comes to life.

The boxing scenes likely serve a couple of purposes. They either give the director a way to add energy to the otherwise realistic story, or they visually represent what the main character is feeling inside. Plus, boxing is simply a thrilling sport to watch, and the movie needed some action to keep things moving.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Christy, though I didn’t actively dislike it. The main performance was good, but otherwise, the show didn’t really stand out. Surprisingly, the boxing scenes stayed with me – they cleverly mirrored Christy’s inner feelings and journey at different moments, using visuals to show her emotional development.

The boxing matches feel authentic because the actors actually throw punches, making the impact more believable and giving the fights a raw, realistic quality. This approach suits both the character of Christy and the overall gritty tone of the film, setting it apart from boxing movies with overly polished fight choreography.

Even though I wasn’t generally impressed with the movie, I have to acknowledge some good qualities. I especially appreciated the realistic and impactful direction by Michôd and the powerful performance by Sweeney, along with the convincing portrayal of her boxing opponents. This gave the character of Christy a strong presence and helped me understand why boxing is such a captivating subject for films.

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2025-11-11 23:42