Review of The Condemned (2007) by Ed Fucking H — 23 May 2011

I honestly don't think that this movie deserves the severe panning and low score it's received. The story is pretty good, if not particularly original, there's plenty of action and the brawls and fight scenes are well choreographed and brutal. The fight between Nathan Jones and Steve Austin is a bone-crunching contest between two goliaths and worth the entry fee.

Steve Austin's understated performance is good. He delivers his one liners well without undue hamming and in a couple of movies he's managed to surpass the acting skills of Jean Claude Van Damme and Dplph Lundgren. Obviously this won't cut any ice with the more celebral film fan but I seriously doubt that they would be watching this film anyway. Vinnie Jones is predictably over top but we know that Vinnie's acting mode has only one setting - pantomine baddie.

This came on the TV in the background and after a few minutes I stopped what I was doing and actually sat down to give it my full attention. Overall, in comparison to similar films, it's a whole lot better than most of the stuff that Seagal has churned out in recent years. I would have been more than happy to have seen this at the cinema.