A luci spente

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.

B movies should be fun and entertaining not trying to do Martin Scorcese. And why cast Scott Adkins if you're going to use him for five minutes?

There are at least ten different plots going on and none of them are good. Even the fight scenes are weak. Mekhi Pfeifer looks like he's been on a cheeseburger and pizza diet and Jaime King's hair is laugh out loud ridiculous.

This movie fails on every level. 85 minutes feels like three hours. This is a complete embarrassment for all involved. The director straight up steals the Jet Li Romeo Must Die X-Ray punch effects. And where did the 7 million budget go? Garbage.

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.

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.

Did you ever wonder who green-lights these scripts? The answer is, you wouldn't want to know who, or even how, because it would make you weep for the lost opportunity to make a proper film. Decades later, and the industry still has not grasped precisely what makes these films exciting, fun to watch, and profitable -- ie, the gradual escalation, growing anticipation, of the fights entirely for their own sake. Trying to complicate the story with hard drama or useless plot arcs is the fast track to ... nowhere. To see this done right, check out Charles Bronson in HARD TIMES 1975 (still works well a full half-century later!); or the surprise hit WARRIOR 2011, which coincidentally leads my IMDb list of best films. Frank Grillo at age 58 can still command the screen. But he deserves so much better than this. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))