Wrestling superstars Rob Van Dam (BLACK MASK 2: CITY OF MASKS) and David Bautista, aka WWE’s Batista, team up for this straight up action thriller featuring fistacuffs galore and firepower. The film can be described as taking the cult classic film THE WARRIORS (1979) and replacing the titular gang with one man.
The one man army in this case is Bobby Kalinowski, played by Van Dam. An ex-Navy Seal, Bobby lives quietly with his wife and daughter. When he is invited to a nightclub on the other side of town by a new neighbor, things begin to unravel. At the club, Bobby’s wife is accosted by Ethan Bordas (Ross Blitz), the brother of the club’s owner Seth (Jerry Katz).
When Bobby defends himself against Ethan, Ethan accidentally kills himself when he plunges his knife into himself. When Seth learns the news of his brother’s death, he puts out a bounty of $100,000 on Bobby’s head. It is not long before Bobby takes on anyone who attempts to get the bounty, from bikers to gangsters.
When Bobby is injured, he decides to find his old war buddy, B.R. aka Big Ronnie, played by Bautista. Now the owner of a local strip club, B.R. refuses to help Bobby after he gets word of the bounty. However, B.R. decides to help Bobby not only because of a “debt” but Seth will not take things lying down and does anything he can to make sure Bobby gets his.
Written and directed by David DeFalco (REDEMPTION), the film clocks in before the ending credits at approximately 80 minutes. From the opening to the finale, this is a stright up action thriller that shows potential.
Rob Van Dam, more known for his time as a professional wrestler formerly of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) makes for a pretty good lead. The combination of his rugged looks and kickboxing/wrestling skills make him just what a lead action star should have. Van Dam even goes as far as performing his own stunts in the film, including a stunt where he climb obstacles to climb to a ladder on ly to fall to a platform.
David Bautista brings sarcasm combined with his brute strength and firepower in the role of Big Ronnie, Bobby’s old buddy from the war. Bautista can look pretty intimidating standing at 6-feet and 4 inches with a 300-pound frame. However, the smartaleckly remarks he brings to the table is a polar opposite to how he is portrayed in the ring, where he lives up to his nickname, “The Animal”.
Despite top billing after Van Dam and Bautista, hip hop artists Omarion (YOU GOT SERVED) and Ja Rule (HALF PAST DEAD) are only relegated to 15 minutes total as a gang leader and one of Ronnie’s thugs who go after Bobby for the large bounty. Most of the cast playing thugs include big beefy guys who look like they belong in the WWE, including former WWE star Nelson Frazier Jr., aka Big Mabel and Viscera and even director DeFalco gets his butt handed to him by Van Dam in a gas station fight. Lead villain Seth, played by Jerry Katz, is a typical cliched villain, always filled with one liners and acts more like a mastermind than bringing any action.
The fights here are coordinated by martial artist Marrese Crump, who also plays Markus, Seth’s number one henchman. The most technical martial artist of the cast, Crump makes good use of the skills of Rob Van Dam and makes Dave Bautista look great. While Van Dam uses his grappling mixed in with some of his kickboxing skills, it is Bautista’s final fight against Crump that stands out. Some who may feel Bautista is just a big wrestler underwent training in Filipino Kali for the film and in his knifefight against Crump, shows some of the quick crisp handwork that is part of the martial art style. While the fights tend to suffer at times from the all too familiar close ups and quick cuts, it shouldn’t mar the fact that the lead actors, though professional wrestlers, are capable of doing technical martial arts as well.
Recent news that Crump will be teaming up with Thai action heroine Jeeja Yanin will make viewers may want to at least rent this film to see what Crump can be capable of doing in terms of his acting and fighting skills. While the film isn’t the best action film of the year, WRONG SIDE OF TOWN brings straight out action entertainment with potential leads in Rob Van Dam and David Bautista, combined with Marrese Crump’s choreography.
by Albert ValentinRelated Topics:
David Bautista • Kali • Marrese Crump • Rob Van Dam • urban drama • war • wrestling • WRONG SIDE OF TOWN (2010)
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