This week has been more crazy than usual considering the fact that I have done a lot more reviews this week than I have done in the last two months combined. The Big Bad Film Fest just finished up, and I’m a little late on this one, but I found Tiger Style Media’s second film The Lockdown which comes out today on Digital, I decided to watch it because it showcased some decent fight scenes along with some of my favorite actors like Leo Howard, Caity Lotz, and the genre’s Michale Biehn. I, for my part, unfortunately, didn’t like the first movie, Art of Eight Limbs with Ludi Lin from Mortal Kombat, so my expectations are more modest this time around with all the talent in the mix. I don’t mind what Tiger Style Media does here and look forward that they will keep with the DTV style of martial arts action films; however, so far, the titles have been uneven with a couple of dazzlers.
I will say, however, that The Lockdown in which Ryan Jaeger who produced Art of Eight Limbs this time sits on the director’s chair, is rather great as it provides exhilarating thrills with its action and has a more engaging love-loss-family type of narrative. As regards the plot, this one is a bit more realistic than the James Bond/Enter the Dragon of their first film which was their first film. Not that there was anything wrong with that. But I believe a more believable portrayal of an American sibling duo who are into deep trouble and need to fight their way out of triangles was more plausible and had stronger emotional undertones to supplement the better physical ones.
In “Lockdown”, Caity Lotz plays Charlie, alongside her brother Jack portrayed by Leo Howard. They lost their mother, their father is a drug trafficker in a Myanmar prison and the duo were too determined to focus on dweling over their mother’s demise. Their father never had the opportunity to participate in their fueled discussions due to the chaos residing within. Their father, a well-known trainer made a name for himself. This overcame their thoughts of getting richer and delving into business with their gym, however. Charlie played her chess pieces perfectly working as an undercover journalist while Jack assisted her set the world for them. Their aim was to put an end to the homeless in the country.
Jack, for instance, still fosters a hope that all is not lost and that one day his father will come looking for him but Charlie doesn’t want to know him as all he does is complain about how he spent his life fighting to take care of them and how in the end he ditched them. Charlie is currently suspended from her job because she beat up some guys who were harassing a bunch of defenseless people and virtually no one paid attention to it. So with those plans not working out, she decides to join Jack on his trip to Myanmar in hopes they can persuade their father to sign the paperwork Jack had shown him. Oh, right, did I mention that this prison has a particular specialty of hosting death matches for the enjoyment of the masses, using Max’s children as fighters to earn his freedom? Well, there is that too.
As it turns out, both of them make their entrance into the prison system and get recast in the roles of drug addicts, only to end up behind bars yet again. Drug possession, God-free us, is nothing more than a LinkedIn account for a merciless warden, Cetan (Hon Ping Tang), and boy does it get ugly here with the politics and the violence. There are two other kids in that family sphere too, who also aid Warden Cetan in running the wrestling business because it has turned into a business! More ways to make the family close. So, when they go into the facility, brother, and sister don’t just sit on the couch and watch films after eating, but rather brawl, and that’s not even a metaphor, each day is as horrifying as witnessing prison soap operas.
The film appears to be yet another tribute to the vintage martial arts tape-wielding heroines striking down hordes of ninjas just the way Art of Eight Limbs The film pays tribute. The storyline is ludicrous, again as it was in the 90s But, in many ways, that’s also what made it entertaining to watch. The plot was only there to justify watching the hero-heroines destroy heaps of henchmen with signature moves before presenting a bone-thumping high finale. Always more action for the sake of more action is great, and better still is more vicious purposeful action.
There is a reason why I say that the first 2/3 of The Lockdown is engaging, I first explain that the acting of the two leads of the movie who relate as brother and sister and are in it together is simply outstanding. They were almost nice in the way that they were siblings so there were no opportunities for romance which would have postponed the action. Almost immediately we warm up to Lotz and Howard and we had quite enough of them in the midst of all the pandemonium and wished them to be out of it. Of course, it helps that Howard is a martial artist so he is more than good in the action and Lotz gets to show that she knows how to throw down with the best of them. I’m sure there were stunt professionals used here and there but for the most part, it’s them doing all the beating.
What do you have to say about Michael Biehn, I would say he is a legend in the industry and has starred in some of the memorable action and sci-fi films. Even if he is older, he has not lost his ability to dominate the screen Mikhail Biehn Still remembers his previous works well and can improve even the worst of content with his presence. Mikhail Biehn Max is Biehn plays him as a shell of a man who betrays even his own children, but his character arc has layers that lead up to his redemption toward the end. I consider it still pretty cool that I had the honor of meeting him a few years ago at NYCC and I was able to discuss with him all his films before asking him to sign a Hicks photo which he wrote “Stay frosty”. It’s one of a kind.
Tony Danza Charlie’s character and Jack’s character were dynamically expanded into the film in the first two thirds alongside some rather poorly choreographed fights which were amiss with Tiger Style Media’s choreography standards. Howard has been amazing in the roles in my view but he could also dominate in far more diverse roles which I wish to see since he is charming in personal style and Canadian looks while being charismatic and displaying great martial arts talent on screen. Having a boyish look works well for him but charisma levels were of Arnold’s level. To summarize my views Howard is fit, active, and more than capable of performing any action that is needed in a martial arts film based on my past experience.
Lotz is just great as she portrays Charlie as well, as she is the one person whom she feels gets the most relatable appreciation from. Since she is a journalist thrust into such unique situations, Lotz does not dramatize the role by portraying the character of Jenny perfectly or portraying her as a superwoman. She is just an average woman with a couple of skills to aid her in self-defense, and so when the punches and kicks start rolling in, the audiences are left guessing whether she’s going to survive. However, there is no cause for concern as Lotz quickly snaps into character and matches steps with Howard all through and takes out a few unfortunate victims including Smoorenburg who she fights at the start. Smoorenburg is very busy these days including having a role in the new Bangkok Dog movie that was shown at the Big Bad Film Festival and is said to be a nail-biting thriller film.
They have indulged in soothing clips in Bangkok as well as in Thailand once again, and similar to what was seen during the 90’s, the majority of the action takes place within a prison therefore, the film Die Hard is mostly filled with JSW Spares. It is the stylistic for the curriculum and it indeed is not a game changer. As with the arrival of Ludi Lin, this time also the action sequence set in Burma occurs in Myanmar which is quite interesting as that country is essentially described as hell.
Lowz and Howard are among those who receive the most in terms of the fight action as this is without a doubt solid and legit worthy. The choreography and action design, which is also provided by the best Thai stunt teams in the business, is a combination of extreme tricks in a mix with MMA and various intricate joint and body movements that are well-rounded. The same applies to the bloody violence that has been skillfully edited but not overly so and at least in most cases the camera is pretty still when the actors are doing their action scenes. Again, the disciplines vary from traditional knee and elbow muay thai to extreme combat sports with an aerial assault and MMA’s ground and pound. But the plot of the film suffers greatly from the lack of real ring fighter’s heels that can be defeated by the stars at the end of the film which these characters experience a lack of depth.
The movie is in an unfortunate position where there is no redemption in its plot as both Charlie and Jack engage in quite a few fight sequences. All that was present were some interesting drama-induced stage fights and instead of giving the resolution a very upbeat astonishing ending, which was expected from the movie’s theme, the complexities of making the ending more realistic just made the resolution all the more plausible yet unexpected. I would have loved it if both our heroes had to fight through innumerable guards only to escape but what I was shown to appreciate was a complete letdown. Perhaps Jaeger and the rest of the crew wanted to make the movie look more realistic however if there was a 90’s approach needed, the dedication shown was further from ideal. Even now there is a portion of the film dedicated to the rest of the fascinating battles ready to be fought and fought wonderfully, as for the majority of the preceding film parts, seamlessly there was performed an action that did not appear to be intended to be a climactic point.
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