Riot - In rivolta

A pretty bad movie that I decided to watch because I enjoyed Dolph Lundgren in 'ONE IN THE CHAMBER (2012)' and I also enjoy prison movies so despite the low rating I thought to myself: why not?

But despite the fact that Dolph Lundgren's face covers about 80% of the poster for the first half of the movie he is so far from being the lead, heck for the first 27 minutes he doesn't even have any lines and is limited to just sweeping the floors (literally with a broom).

I expected him the Russian kingpin, but nope he plays a mysterious quiet inmate with janitorial duties.

The kingpin is played by Chuck Lidell who for the record is on the poster, and I guess that's okay cause he is the actual bad guy of the movie but the main 'hero' of the movie is not even on it, played by Matthew Reese.

So yeah anyways even if you look aside all that it's a pretty boring movie, we've seen it all before but usually a lot more exciting.

They manage to throw in a even more so boring sub-plot about a news reporter on the outside as well and one about a female prisoner in the female department of the prison which feels like it was added just because it wouldn't be a long enough movie focusing on just Reese, Lidell and (ocassionally) Lundgren in all honesty.

All in all wooden acting by pretty much everyone doesn't help... Makes 'VENDETTA (2015)' with Dean Cain and The Big Show look like a prison- movie classic in comparison.

The last few Dolph Lundgren flicks have been rough going (specifically the Serafini ones like BLOOD OF REDEMPTION), so I entered RIOT with expectations lower than usual. So it was nice to see it actually putting forth some effort. It is essentially a vanity project (lead Matthew Reese's name appears 3 times in the first 30 seconds) and you have to suffer through UFC fighter Chuck Liddell - sporting a huge HGH belly - doing one of the worst Russian accents in the history of cinema (not an easy feat!), but the filmmakers came up with a twisty plot, some cool guard costumes and did some interesting fight choreography (which was obviously influenced by JOHN WICK and THE RAID films). Not a Dolph- classic by any means, but a decent 85 minutes.

Another month and another Dolph Lundgren VOD movie. An ex cop stages a bank robbery in order to be caught and jailed in the same prison as the ruthless Russian mobster Balam (Chuck Lidell), so he can get revenge against him for killing his family years earlier. Matthew Reese (who you've probably never heard of) is the star of the show here, although you'd never know it as all the promotional material suggests that Lundgren and Liddell are the co-leads despite the fact they're barely in it! Director John Lyde made the action/apocalypse/fantasy films Survivor and Curse of the Dragon Slayer, and manages to cobble together some decent action and fight scenes into a movie that's just an excuse to show people beating one another up. The plot is ludicrous, as are some of the twists, but then what do you expect from a script written by a Spunky Dustin Ward?

PRISON RIOT is another B-movie thriller set in a violent prison, where an undercover cop is gunning for revenge against the crime boss who had his family killed. Although Dolph Lundgren features predominantly on the box art, he's actually playing in support here, with the main role given over to unknown actor Matthew Reese. There's also a third character, played by Danielle Chuchran, who seems to have been added to the mix to bring in some female-on-female action.

Inevitably, the plotting and narrative of PRISON RIOT aren't up to much, but the focus is instead on plentiful action sequences. And the good news is that they're pretty good. Gone are the lumbering, slow fights of many a 1990s-era straight-to-VHS fight flick; instead, we get martial arts-themed bouts that have clearly been inspired by the likes of THE RAID. I'm talking multiple opponents and weapons, actors being thrown around the sets, and mucho violence.

Things culminate in a large-scale prison riot - as the title would suggest - which doesn't disappoint. Yes, the acting is rather wooden, with only Lundgren bringing some of his trademark charm to the proceedings, but when a film offers up a wealth of hard-hitting action it doesn't matter too much. Given that I'm a massive fan of THE RAID, any film which seeks to imitate that film is okay in my book, and PRISON RIOT hits the mark nicely.

No no no, just NO. I can't even begin to, ok, its supposed to be a comedy I think, but its funny for reasons that were not intentional. I wasted enough time on this movie, two hours I'll never get back. This will be my shortest review ever. Hard NO.