Lights Out

The good: we have some great B-movie actors present, who have made some solid (B-movie) action pictures before, like Frank Grillo and Scott Adkins. With even an actor like Dermot Mulroney starring my expectations for a straightforward fight movie were high...

The bad; but in the end this is not a straightforward action movie, it has got WAY too many uneventful talking scenes in which these B-movie actors try to act seriously. Problem is they cant act seriously. They can fight. But they cant act seriously. Letting these B-movie actors try to act seriously anyway is not wise, to put it politely... And I dont even wanna talk about the story...

Not any good then? It for sure isnt a terrible B-movie. They really tried hard to make it all look credible (at which they failed), but there are several other great Frank Grillo or Scott Adkins action movies out there which I would rather watch than this uneventful attempt at making a serious movie.

Frank Grillo as a badass with impossible hair. Even after he slept he woke up with perfect hair? Little details, make a difference.

I didn't watch much of the trailer and did not realize that's based on "fight club", cage brawling.

The characters had potential, particularly the main baddies , but it all goes down like a dud firecracker.

Some of the plot at first was not so cohesive, for example, wondering who that guy was who was rummaging through that ladies house, only to find out that was her boyfriend? Very unlikely looking pair.

At the end of it all what I wanted to see was more of Scott Adkins who was barely in it. This was a Frank Grillo movie.

I came to see Scott, but it's not what I got.

So so film that lacked originality, suspense and true gripping action.

Former soldier Michael 'Duffy' Duffield (Frank Grillo) gets into a bar fight over a card game. Max Bomer (Mekhi Phifer) recruits him into his world of illegal underground fights. They start working for Sage Parker (Dermot Mulroney). His partner Ellen Ridgway (Jaime King) is an undercover cop.

There are a few good veteran actors here, but the movie can't escape the B-movie space. The filmmaking and the derivative story cannot elevate this movie. The last act becomes anti-climatic and perfunctory. There are a lot of little nits to pick. I kept waiting for a scene to excite me but it never comes.

So ok, this is clearly not high cinema, but it is still quite entertaining. Yes, if you're here for Scott Atkins, you will be disappointed. That doesnt take away from this movie, and especially Frank Grillo, the guy is a total badass. Plus, you have Mekkhi Pfeifer and Dermot Mulroney, who have unfortunately dropped into the B movie scene, but that doesnt change the fact that they are solid actors that were at one point part of A movies. This movie is very much on par with your typical 80s or 90s mindless action movies. If you were a fan of those, you'll be a fan of this. So if you want some nostalgic simple, cliched action, give this a go.

Don't listen to the hate. Not quite a Blood N Bone but if you like similar action flicks to that, then you'll be happy investing 90mins of your time on Lights out.

There should be more movies similar to this that star Frank. Unsure why he doesn't have a catalogue boasting more titles. Great to see Scott involved, there's a similarity to where I would love to see Frank getting too. Nothing wrong with a 'B list' action movie, I'll take one of those every day of the week and twice on a Sunday. I'm now just waffling as for some reason short and punchy reviews aren't allowed. But yeah, check it out, unless you have ridiculous expectation I can't see you being disappointed.