Caffeinated Clint
It’s the kind of movie you can watch with your friends and know exactly what you’re going to get – big characters, big violence, and big entertainment.
Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones, Rick Hoffman, Robert Mammone, Tory Mussett, Christopher Baker, Sam Healy, Madeleine West
Back when I was in middle school, there was nothing cooler than the World Wrestling Federation. Sure, it may all have been fake and scripted, but the story arcs and characters were real enough to get my teenage adrenaline pumping.
ImageIt was exciting, and there was no greater hero than Stone Cold Steve Austin, the trash talking badass straight out of Texas. Thanks to WWE Films and Lionsgate, we finally get to see Steve Austin lay the smack down on the big screen in The Condemned. I recently attended a research screening of the film and wanted to share my thoughts.
”The Condemned” is a hardcore action/thriller about ten convicts from around the globe who are gathered together on an abandoned island by a billionaire media mogul. They are told that they must fight each other to the death, and that the last one standing will be set free. The whole show will be broadcasted over the internet for the entertainment of millions of people signing on to watch every gory detail.
Steve Austin stars as Conrad, one of these convicts, who may or may not be innocent of the crimes he is said to have committed. His main competition for freedom is the ruthless McStarley, played by the English badass Vinnie Jones.
”The Condemned” is like ”Running Man meets Battle Royale” with the main character from Rambo. It is a high adrenaline, big on violence, no-holds-barred action movie. And its R-rated fun the whole way through. The film contains scenes of nearly everything they can give an R-rating for: violence, torture, gore, and suggested rape. The Condemned holds nothing back, and that’s what makes this film so fun. It knows that it is a harsh action movie and doesn’t pull any punches. Half of the fun is in seeing how each convict is going to die next, in even more gory detail than the last.
It’s clear, then, that you shouldn’t go into this film expecting deep character development or a convoluted story. But this isn’t to say that you won’t care about the characters, which are given just enough substance to make us root for the good guy and hate the bad guy. For example, when we learn who Conrad really is, he easily becomes our favorite character, and we root for him just as if we were one of the many people cheering him on in the film. We want to see him survive this contest and take down the bad guy.
The film also makes a few attempts at providing some social commentary. It tries to say that the people in the film who are paying to watch this online death match are only promoting the concept of murder as a valid form of entertainment. However, this message, while strong, gets somewhat lost amidst the action.
But it really doesn’t matter, as audiences aren”t going to go see this film for its social commentary. They are going to see it to watch a bunch of adrenaline-pumped action stars duke it out in a jungle. It’s the kind of movie you can watch with your friends and know exactly what you’re going to get – big characters, big violence, and big entertainment.
A swag of extras in tow, including a 5-part documentary on the making of the movie, two audio commentaries and a bit where Stone Cold checks out Movie World!
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Reviewer :Clayton Stone
