Locked Down

Not in content but in terms of maturity and plot this film is generified to the point you could have seen this movie without actually having seen it. In short third generation cop gets set up, locked up with the criminals he's put behind bars, corrupt warden, sadistic CO, slutty CO, the entire prison is run by a convict, cop is forced to join an underground fight club. He quickly rises and defeats any challenger in his way (let me get this straight white cop who's main weapon of defense is a gun is able to best prisoners who have nothing to do with their lives besides fight and workout only DAYS after getting shanked) until he inevitably confronts the man who set him up. He also meets a long haired martial arts master who helps him to overcome his challenge. This film features plenty of sex, violence, and no plot. Within the first ten minutes there's gratuitous nudity and a sex scene that's probably aimed at the films likely underage immature audience. Lots of profanity that (having grown up in the most profane of environments) I've never heard used before. The protagonist (who oddly enough doesn't appear next to the big names on the film's poster) spends the entire film trying different accents and tones of voices to sound like a badass grizzly bear. In short what this film lacks in acting, plot, making sense, originality it makes up for in violence and sex. It's like a two hour porno with great production values. Wouldn't recommend to anybody.

Tony Schiena stars as a tough martial arts-fighting undercover cop framed for drug possession and sent to Blackwater Penitentiary, Chicago (cheap, unconvincing sets), where most of the musclebound crooks he sent down lay in wait for him. He's forced to fight to the death in illegal cage fights run by kingpin inmate Vinnie Jones. The cast includes several MMA fighters: Joe Doerksen, Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Cheick Kongo and big Kimbo Slice. But even the action is boring. Bai Ling is utterly wasted as a sadistic guard with a silly haircut. Total dtv sludge. Movie reviews at: spinegrinderweb.com

I like this movie. OK, they didn't spend (or waste) a lot of money and the story is not "Gone with the wind". But inside its limits I have enjoyed it a lot. First of all, I found it very entertaining. Much more entertaining, in fact, that many Hollywood blockbusters. Second, I really think that Tony Schiena is a good actor for this kind of action stuff, this is my first time to watch him on the screen but his fine performance (cool but also human and believable) deserves my respect. I was surprised too because fighting are built into a dramatic story that makes sense for me. This is a violent film but not only a film about violence, I found more topics in it: friendship, honor, loyalty, family. If I can complain about something, it is only Bai Ling's waste performance. This actress deserves something better than appear only some minutes with a few lines of dialog. Watch "Red corner" or "The beautiful country" and you will understand what I am talking about.

MINOR SPOILERS ONLY I clicked the box just in case to avoid any troubles. The spoilers is mainly about Kimbo's Role... Really he is basically just some prison fighting thug in ANOTHER PRISON, yeah you readed right, and he is there basically just to show the main bad guy run his "activities" in many prisons. He is the "king" of the prison over there, do one fight, and except 30 secs of screen time outside that fight, thats about it. From the cover i was expecting him to be the big baddie enforcer(and final fight) of the movie, especially since he got the face for it. Then you don't even have one single picture of the hero on the cover... not even on the back cover... LOL. As a fighter he was OK, but his acting was indeed not really good, even if he has that deep voice. I saw worst but saw way better. Vinnie Jones is believable in the role of the big bad, he do an OK job. As for the MMA fighters... there basically cannon fodder... Anyway lets say the plot is super classic, yet correct, the fights are decent yet they could had been way better... add some TnA scenes for the young Males, and you have a fighting movie in the "tournament style" that i would call decent yet not impressive.

In Chicago's Blackwater state penitentiary (not to be confused with the covert ops organization), mob boss Anton Vargas (Jones), rules the roost. Everyone is on his payroll, including the warden and the guards. He runs Punchfighting matches in the basement of the prison. Meanwhile, undercover cop on the edge Det. Danny Bolan (Schiena) is involved in a drug bust gone wrong where he's framed and mistakenly sent to Blackwater. While inside, he faces off against Vargas and his Punchfighting minions in order to survive. That includes criminals he himself put in jail. This modern-day Punchighter is another 90-minute commercial for the TapouT brand. While Circle of Pain (2010) has more TapouT product placement than Locked Down, still, somehow, inmates in a maximum security prison have have TapouT shirts and hats. These TapouT ( we feel very silly adding that last capital T, just so you know) productions always manage to get one B-list name - in Circle of Pain it was Dean Cain, Beatdown (2010) has Danny Trejo, and here we have Vinnie Jones. He is underused as the baddie, and this role doesn't let him live up to his full potential. He wears the same outfit the whole movie and doesn't say that much. As for Kimbo Slice, the filmmakers tacked on some unrelated plot about him fighting people in Florida. The word "shoehorned" comes to mind here. Tony Schiena is such a meatheady dolt - more than usual - I didn't recognize him at first. There are a lot of classic clichés on display: Bolan tells Vargas "we have a lot of history together", the scene where a guard says to the incoming prisoners "this is the end of the line" and "you can't do anything without my say so", and at one point Bolan even says "this might sound clichéd, but my father was a cop...my grandfather was a cop..." Also, Bolan's shrew of a girlfriend whining, telling him he can't a be an undercover cop because she never sees him anymore. The lifer/trainer of the Bolan character, and much more. Despite some of the negative things we've said so far, Locked Down is really not that bad for a modern-day Punchfighter. These movies hark back to a late 80's/90's style of filmmaking, which is decent, but what ruins that is all the horrible nu-metal music over the top of it all. Tunes such as "Wildfire in the Streets" by Tommy Fields, and other bands such as "Stabbed", "Eject", "Dgat" and others offer their selections as well. The most ridiculous song names a bunch of real-life fighters and how they are all going to, and I quote "pop your hood". What this means exactly is open to interpretation. As far as the fights, they have all the slow motion and quick cuts you might expect, as well as the choreographed pulled punches, but at least they seem to be TRYING. Locked Down is worth seeing if you liked Circle of Pain or other TapouT vehicles. It's more of the same. for more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

When viewed in the correct context this low budget (est. $1.6mn) action film achieves it's objective in providing the audience with mindless entertainment whilst showcasing great martial arts sequences. Yes more of the budget could have been allocated towards enhancing the production value but ultimately this hits all the key notes of an 80's formula martial arts film......a simple story that creates the backdrop from which to thread together the escalating fight sequences which attract viewers to this genre. If you're looking for a serious action film in the frame of "Bourne Identity" or even "The Expendables" then this isn't for you........if however you're in the mood for cheap thrills and casual amusement then this could be a ride worth taking. Vinnie Jones continues to deliver his trademark edgy persona as Tony Schiena uses the platform to showcase his potential to grow into a genuine Action Star in the guise of Viggo Mortensen.

As I sit here attempting to find the words to cleverly describe Lockout, I draw a blank. Instead, one word continues to repeat itself in my head over and over again: absolutely terrible. Okay, that was two words, but seriously James Mather and Stephen St. Leger (Directors and Writers) could not have directed a worse movie. Rather, it appears as if the two sat down and decided they would challenge themselves by attempting to direct a quality movie in two weeks flat. They were not successful. Lockout is about a rogue U.S. agent Snow (Guy Pearce) who is sent into space to save the President's daughter (Maggie Grace) on a floating prison. The prison, which boasts to be the safest maximum security prison in the world is taken over by a delusional prisoner during an interview. From that point on, the movie unfolds into a world-wind of confusion and mediocre action scenes which inevitably leaves viewers wondering, what just happened? Allow me to be that beacon of light and give a few reasons why movie goers should avoid this movie at all costs. There is no fluidity to this movie what-so-ever. The movie just cuts from shooting scene to shooting scene with no regard for keeping viewers informed on the plot line. More so, St. Leger and Mather attempt to maintain a subplot while given little explanation as to the importance of it. Secondly, the action scenes are dull. At one point in time ten police officers are shooting at Snow from five feet away and do not connect one single shot. A rocket launcher whizzes by Snow's head, collides with a wall and creates a gigantic hole. Thats it. Literally. No big explosions. No gripping shootouts. Not a single moment that raised my blood pressure. Instead, the characters in the movie are thrust through a maze of impenetrable metal doors and hallways that they somehow always find a way through. And if the action wasn't enough to deter someone from seeing this movie, the dialogue is comical. Here I thought I went to watch an action/thriller when in reality almost every word that came out of any given characters mouth had me snickering and chuckling under my breath. Word of advice: don't see this movie. There are so many more activities you could do like watch paint dry or read through spam emails.

This film is a very poor action film, who would have thought that a prison would have about 20 inmates and 3 guards. The acting is awful the actors are rubbish apart from Mr Vinnie Jones who always carries off an English hardman well. did not like this film although you do get a few topless women popping up now and again to keep you interested. And a cameo from Jamie bell who realised the film was so bad he removed himself from the credits. only watch if you have nothing better to do with your spare 70 minutes.I recommend that you watch either Death warrent or In Hell which star the great Jean Cluade Van Damme he is the true action star for these type of movies. And vinnie you need to start making decent movies.

At the start of the movie I wasn't expecting a top-notch film, but I hadn't been watching more than 6 minutes and got my first taste of stiff acting, which continues throughout the film. Some other reviewers wrote that the fight scenes weren't very good, but I found them generally entertaining, although they could have learned a thing or two from the film Never Back Down. Besides the acting and sheer predictability of the film, what really disappointed me was the prison-break attempt. It seemed like something added onto the script at the last minute. A large portion of the film was unpolished and haphazard, the acting of the lead was extremely poor, and was the biggest let down of the whole film. If there had been a believable lead character, I may have overlooked the other ridiculous characters, such as the Cage fighter, the female prison guard, and just about the entire rest of the cast. The concept of a police officer being framed by a mob boss that he locked up to be put into the same prison had some potential, but it was all wasted on horrible direction and a terrible cast.

Just when you think you got a good action packed movie, you end up with this dump. The story line is pathetic and absolutely predictable. I had the feeling i was watching karate kid in prison, mind you karate kid was much better in comparison (which again underlines how crap this movie is). you can figure out how the movie ends after about 30 minutes into the film, which looks like it was written by a 10 year old at best. All dangerous criminals walking around in prison without handcuffs while guards parade holding their m16 in 1 hand. Very realistic, if you were raised by wolves in a forest. The acting is completely unconvincing, and i think the best part of the movie is a couple of hot girl featured with partial nudity. If you can miss 90 minutes of your life and a dollar for red box, be my guest. Otherwise just watch regular TV. You'll be better off trust me. Why Vinnie Jones.... WHY?!!!!!!