FIST FIGHT: Is It Original? A Remake? Or Rip-Off?

Bike racks. After school. Be there!

Have you seen the trailer for Fist Fight?

Warner Bros

Two high school teachers. Opposites in every way. Lovable pipsqueak Charlie Day sweats and frets in the hallways. Still angry Ice Cube scowls and... scowls. At last bell, Day will have to fight Cube in the parking lot. Original comedy satire on bully culture? Remake as a modern and wacky David and Goliath? Or, is Fist Fight what it really looks like...

... a Rip-Off for 1987's Three O'Clock High?

Universal

Teen movies with "24 Hours Or Less" plotlines were huge in the 80's. Not all could be Ferris Bueller's Day Off as evidenced by A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. Falling in between was Three o'Clock High. The plot? Two high school students. Opposites in every way. Lovable pipsqueak Casey Siemaszko sweats and frets in the halls. Richard Tyson scowls and... scowls. At last bell, Siemaszko will have to fight Tyson in the parking lot. Sound familiar? There's more.

Nerdy heroes having the same deer-in-the-headlights gaze.

Warner Bros./Universal

Juggernaut-like bullies stalking hallways with perma-scowls.

Warner Bros./Universal

Luckily there's the quirky female sidekick helping our heroes.

Warner Bros./Universal

Now the makers of Fist Fight could say, "Those are classic archetypes common in all teen movies. Our film is an original piece of work in no way related to... what was the other movie again?" Chortling smugly they might taunt, "Was that your best? Shame, really. We heard such grand things about you."

I'd sip my bourbon. Suavely retort, "Wish I could say the same about your mothers."

Makers of Fist Fight would bark, "Guards! Take Mr. Tino down to the catacombs. Feed him to Frank Stallone."

Before goons grab me, I bring the boom. "You pull a rip-off, don't copy the shots."

This look familiar?

Warner Bros./Universal

How about this?

Warner Bros./Universal

Looks like "Inspired By" is Hollywood-speak for "Stolen From."

Warner Bros./Universal

Sorry, Fist Fight. Rules say three strikes, you're out. Rip-Off city, kid. Population: you. What happened? Didn't want to pay Three o' Clock High their remake fee?

Hold on a sec. I just thought of something. 'Three strikes' is a baseball saying. And Fist Fight is kinda like a boxing movie, right? So, it's one of them things. You know... like one of them mixed metaphors. How 'bout that. I'm did one of them smart guy things. I'll be the first to say it. Isn't life ironical?