Miguel Wants to Fight is as straightforward as its title. It has the energy of an early 2000s hijinks teen comedy, complete with (almost) parentless scenes and hypothetical fight scenes. At times, it also feels like a nostalgic action film as it makes homages to the same era. But while those aspects work well, the film goes nowhere thematically. There's no reason to think that fighting would solve Miguel's problems, and they ultimately don't. And any discussion about why people in the neighborhood resort to violence (mistreatment of minorities, toxic masculinity, or as a rite of passage for respect) never finds its way into the script. 

Tyler Dean Flores (Miguel), Christian Vunipola (David), Imani Lewis (Cass), and Suraj Partha (Srini) are a fun quartet to watch. Cass and Srini's crass banter and genuine eagerness to see a fight are the perfect set-ups for Miguel's cowardly quips and epic failures. But even though their ridiculous tactics keep the repetitive non-fights funny, it would've been nice to know more about each of them. Or at least see Miguel get a real training montage from Cass, the only currently-training fighter in the group.