Preview of Rob Van Dam actioner ‘Wrong Side of Town’

After his last feature film appearance in Tsui Hark’s ill-fated BLACK MASK 2 back in 2002, veteran pro-wrestler Rob Van Dam is back and ready to bust some skulls in the urban actioner WRONG SIDE OF TOWN, also starring fellow pro-wrestler Dave Bastista and featuring the fight choreography of martial artist Marrese Crump.

On the surface this looks like yet another routine, DTV urban action movie that puts WWE stars together with hip-hop stars to sell itself. Yet I’m hesitant to pre-judge this one. From what I’ve seen, Crump in a phenomenal young martial artist with a lot of potential as a choreographer. In one of the videos further down the page he discusses integrating Filipino knife fighting into the movie and this is backed up by a solid demo.

After having been subjected to bad acting from MMA fighters in several movies this year I’m reminded by the following trailer that pro-wrestlers have a big advantage over these real fighters when it comes to moviemaking. The pro-wrestlers already know how to perform physically. Van Dame and Batista both look vicious. I’m actually looking forward to this movie. I could be wrong but I suspect this could end up being one of the better DTV releases released next year. On that note, Lionsgate will be dropping it on DVD and Bluray come February 23, 2010.

Ex-Navy Seal Bobby Kalinowski (Rob Van Dam) lives a quiet, peaceful life as a landscape architect in an LA suburb with his wife Dawn (Lara Grice) and 16-year-old daughter Brianna. Tonight they are invited out for an evening on the town by new neighbors Clay and Elise Freeman to a happening club downtown. Little did they know that this would be the start of a life or death ordeal for the group. While at the club, Dawn is accosted by one of the club owners, Ethan Bordas. When Bobby intervenes and accidentally kills Ethan defending his wife, his enraged older brother, Seth, puts a $100,000 bounty on his head.

Now Bobby must escape LA while being pursued by every criminal, wise guy and thug in the city. Bobby decides to separate from his wife and neighbors and revert to his Navy Seal training to survive. To complicate matters, Seth has a corrupt police sergeant preventing Bobby from getting any help from the law! However, they all underestimate the fighting skills and abilities of Bobby Kalinowski who battles through an army of thugs to finally make it back home. But, relentless, Seth doesn’t stop there. He targets Bobby’s family next and kidnaps his daughter. His plan is successful and he lures Bobby to his seedy warehouse complex for the final showdown.

WRONG SIDE OF TOWN – Behind the Scenes

WRONG SIDE OF TOWN – Marrese Crump on Becoming a Better Fighter

WRONG SIDE OF TOWN – Batista’s Fight Scene

Additional images, videos and information about WRONG SIDE OF TOWN can be found at Movieset.com.