DamageWrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin in his second leading role in a feature film. In WWE produced “The Condemned” he played a badass convict forced to fight for his life. In the independently produced “Damage” he plays a badass ex-convict forced to fight for someone else’s life. The scheduled release date is 2010, but the film’s already leaked. If it were set for a theatrical run I would’ve probably waited, but since it’s a direct-to-dvd flick (in Europe) I had to check it out ASAP.
Stone Cold is John Brickner, imprisoned for killing a man in self defense (ah, long live our justice system) now let out on parole. Juggling between two dead-end jobs as a construction worker and a bouncer, he gets himself involved in an underground fighting league where the cash flow is much higher compared to his earnings at present. He fights not for himself, but for the daughter of the man he killed – she needs a heart-transplant fast which costs a lot of money – $250 000, to be exact.
Stone Cold plays a silent, but badass lone wolf kind of guy. It worked for him in “The Condemned” and it’s certainly worked here. “Damage” is supposedly the first in a multi-part deal he signed with Nasser Entertainment & Caliber Media, who made this. Judging from “Damage”, we could get some really good flicks in the future. But don’t let it fool you – “Damage” is still just a low-budget indie flick. The good thing is, it doesn’t show. The directing, the screenplay and everything else is really good, far above the industry average for these kinds of films. Yes, the story is cliché, but it plays well. It’s down to earth and believable. Beside Stone Cold who can’t act but he actually doesn’t need to, at least not for portraying such characters, we have the Canadian hottie Laura Vandervoort and Walton Goggins, of which I’ve never heard before. Nevertheless, they all did a great job.
Comparing it to something, I’d say it’s most similar to “Never Surrender” featuring a bunch MMA fighters. I recall giving that flick a 7/10, but that’s because I’m a sucker for cheesy B-flicks, as I’ve already said many times before. “Never Surrender” was poorly acted and badly scripted, and they knew it – so they put up some good action and nudity. “Damage” on the other hand doesn’t use these cheap tricks to attract an audience. While the action in “Damage” is good, it never goes over-the-top and like I said before, it’s believable, more or less. To cut to the chase, “Damage” is a B-flick with A-film traits. The only reason why no one will watch “Damage” and everyone will go see “Fighting” (for example) and make it a commercial success is because of Channing Tatum who attracts hordes of teens.
I’ll just say a word or two about the soundtrack, before wrapping up. During the fights, the music that plays is mostly instrumental heavy metal, to get your adrenaline pumping. On other instances, you’ll mainly hear some rock tunes which overall makes a good soundtrack choice. But what is best of all – the music that plays during the last fight. Goddamn, it has Rocky written all over it. Manly!
Don’t let the cheap looks fool you. “Damage” may not be very original, but it is a quality film worth not just renting, but buying, more so if you’re a fan of Stone Cold.
Rating: 8/10
- review by Ventilation Shaft
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