Close Range

let me start with saying that Scott Adkins has the potential to continue the line of great fighters in the world of Hollywood like van Dame, Steven Segal etc.To be honest he is the only reason i watched this movie int he first place (wasn't worth it at all).

Going into the movie, which the least to say as a beginning is that it had the worst dialogue, actors and story i have seen in a long,long time.It is such a shame to see an actor with good potential in such a bad picture where the least i can say is that it isn't worth neither the money , nor the time to see it. To be just, the fighting scenes where incredibly well executed and performed. But that doesn't compensate the completely horrible acting,dialogue, story. Just go watch undisputed 3 if you in the mood for a better fighting movie.

This movie is non stop action but firing 60 rounds from one clip and hitting everything but the people you aim at is just pathetic. The lead is supposed to be some great ex soldier and can't hit two guys 10 ft away standing in a doorway but manages to completely shred the doorway. He takes a dead body to hide and places in plain sight. He has no weapons then proceeds to leave weapons of the people he killed behind. It's really quite pathetic. I give it a 4 because the fights are passable.

...And it kind of works out. The acting, wooden. The writing, juvenile. The directing, well, he stuck to a detailed storyboard so it's not too terrible. But what is actually watch worthy is the action sequences. Fantastic fight scenes, creative shoot outs. Complex single shot stunt takes that wow. I was impressed from the beginning (except for one accidental camera angle where a bad guy clearly waits to jump into the fight-my peeve). This is not a thinking persons film at all. In fact I suggest you crack a twelve pack with your bros and sit back to cheer for some brutal MMA action. P.S. There really should have been some gratuitous nudity. It's just that kind of flick.

The most casting role Scott Adkins has nowadays is either supporting or antagonist character where he would only do a couple of fight scenes but plastered on the poster nonetheless for more draw. Luckily, Close Range has given him more freedom to deliver his trademark action sequences, although it's plagued with an alarmingly sketchy presentation of gangster genre with cheesy Cinemax vibe and awful soundtracks.

Plot is actually good, at least for the first act, as MacReady (Scott Adkins) opens the movie trying to save his niece from mafia. It's a nice setup as it wastes no time to push the action, and continuous shot fighting scene definitely helps. However, it soon becomes the tedious cat-and-mouse between MacReady, the Mexican mafia and unsavory cop.

The pacing loses steam fast, repeating the same angle of corrupt police officer or gang member chasing the hero. It lacks structure aside from the primordial rush of periodic fisticuffs and gun-totting scenes, even these are simplified. As expected, there's not much in term of acting, it's not utterly terrible but it does appear jarring at times. The characters are either stereotypical damsel-in-distress, overly vilified or straight up gangster extras.

Most of the presentation revolves around old corny action flick ambiance, a bit like binge night on Cinemax with the music department playing the same Desperado inspired tunes over and over again. Fortunately, the action is admittedly decent. Scott Adkins has more plenty of chances on creating brutal beatdown, some of which are pretty creative. Even though this can get over-the-top, the high octane action would definitely please genre fans, or those wanting for more Undisputed action.

Close Range tries to spice the bland drama with misguided style. It's a good thing that the combat looks visceral enough, but it still might not attract viewer beyond action buff.

Something you might not expect of reading, with a low budget movie like this, but I really liked the stunt and camera work, which go hand in hand in this one. I won't waste too much time on "story". In this case this has nothing to do with spoiling it, because the story itself is not really exciting or anything extraordinary. But you wouldn't expect that anyway.

Still very low and some of the acting to say the least does not help the movie either. But the stunt scenes are really well thought of, as are the camera angles and moves. I especially love the longer takes or the in your face (or hand) approach it takes. Again, this is small/low budget, so it's not like there is other things that are amazing (like locations, set design, even some of the "blood" effects seem more than cheap), but it can still work - and I think it does in some ways