I have had a crazy busy week because I have had to write so many reviews, possibly more than I have been able to do in the past two months, and after the Big Bad Film Fest has ended, I still need to figure out how to review that, but now with Tiger Style Media’s The Lockdown coming out today as their second effort and it being out on digital, I wanted to get it as the trailer did have quite a bit of fighter action along with starring some of my favorite actors Leo Howard, Caity Lotz and Michale Biehn. I was a bit disappointed with the first flick, Art of Eight Limbs whose stars are Ludi Lin from Mortal Kombat and therefore, I thought this installment would be better considering the talent involved. It is a fresh concept however to see Tiger Style Media doing this as they are catering to a niche audience that has been thirsty for DTV martial arts action films, but so far the titles have been very inconsistent.
The Lockdown is an improvement on its predecessor and features numerous exciting action sequences that are accompanied by a more relatable story. This story focuses on themes of love, loss, and family concepts that Ryan Jaeger, who also produced Art of Eight Limbs, effectively communicates. The plot in this submission is slightly less extreme than that of the first movie, which followed a James Bond/Enter the Dragon plotline, especially in regards to the central characters. I believe the two American siblings seem way more believable in this film, who are stuck in a very tough predicament and have to use their fighting skills in order to get through it. All these factors resulted in the film being more emotionally engaging, and being more layered than just physical fights.
The Lockdown features Caity Lotz (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) and Leo Howard (GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra) playing the role of siblings Charlie and Jack Hightower respectively. Charlie, a reporter, is battling against the issue of homelessness in America whereas Jack is trying to manage their father’s gym business with the death of their mother. The couple’s father, Max (Biehn), has been missing for a long time and is currently serving time in a hellhole prison for drug dealing in Myanmar. The only issue though is that Jack requires Max’s sign to be able to have the business transferred to himself and Charlie as Max, at least in the past, was a great trainer and owned the gym.
Jack still has some maybe misplaced faith that dad will eventually see sense, but Charlie chooses to cut all ties as she holds a grudge against him for leaving and effectively forsaking them for most of their lives. Given the fact that Charlie could not control herself and had to be suspended for attacking a few huligans who were abusing a few desperate homeless people, she agrees to travel with Jack to Myanmar, hoping to get her father to sign the papers. Did I forget to mention the fact that this penitentiary holds fights to the death as entertainment for the civilians, and that Max has hooked his own children up for the fight just to gain freedom Yeah, there is that also.
As soon as they land, Charlie and Max are booked out by Cetan (Hon Ping Tang), the warden in charge of fights and drugged by two of his sons managing the promotion of it, for drugs they do not own. It’s a family business so whatever keeps them close I always say. Once you have been convicted, sister and brother shall no longer act as siblings but will fight each other. It’s not only in the ring that they are obliged to take part in fights, they will also be part of a struggle every day in prison, where losing sight is a matter of seconds.
Once again, as with Art of Eight Limbs, this film is certainly a tribute to the good old grindhouse martial arts films that went straight to the video stores which we all loved. The story is completely ludicrous just as it was in the ‘90s, but then, watching them was mostly about that kind of enjoyable. Because of this, the more absurd the plot is, the better since it allows the audience to focus on the hero or heroine, or both, as they effortlessly slaughter legions of thugs with their signature skills at lightning speed culminating in a shocking ending leaving many bones smashed in their wake. The greater the number of fights the better, and even better if the choreography is more heightened.
As I finish this section I am pleased to note that the first two thirds of The Lockdown do deliver, at least they did for me, and a main reason was for the two leads who share some stellar chemistry together as brother and sister. It was also nice that they were siblings so they won’t be romantically involved which would only pointless slow things down. Lotz and Howard are instantly charming, and even though the focus of the story is action, we really get enough time to know our characters in turn making us root for them. And yes, Howard is also a martial artist and is pretty good in action and Lotz gets to show that she goes out to enjoy herself. There must have been stun pros used here and ther but mostly it’s them doing all the beating.
What would be your opinion about Michael Biehn? He is an icon in the genre films. He has featured in the best action and science fiction films without a doubt. Now though he is older, he still can dominate the screen and even with the worst material, he is able to elevate the component thanks to his presence. Biehn, who plays Max, acts as a man without a backbone willing to betray everyone, even his own children but as the story progress so does the depth of his character, which is built upon a final resounding redemption moment. It’s a fascinating experience to remember how I had an opportunity to get in touch with him on the occasion of NYCC and I was lucky to converse with him about each of his films before he signed the Hicks photo saying “stay frosty” which is simply amazing.
As I said earlier, the first two-thirds of the movie are fairly enjoyable, where we learn about how Charlie and Jack interact. Furthermore, we are given more poorly choreographed action set pieces that felt better than what was featured in the first Tiger Style Media film. The action seems to be fast and fierce, and Howard explains why he needs to be a poster boy for this genre. He is also quite pleasing to look at with a charming boy next door feel that goes well with his extreme and crazy martial arts abilities. He is not a big guy but he is fit and is more than able to provide what is needed in a martial arts action role.
Lotz is a good match for Charlie, who has a likable and where it matters much more, a humble demeanour. Charlie, however, was fighting so when she , a journalist like most of us, is in this unusual scenario, she tries to be real and isn’t perfect or unflappable. She is your average housewife who just so happens to know how to defend herself so when the brawling begins, there are doubts that she will be able to survive it. No worries though as Lotz stays with Howard at every stage and gives a few poor souls the beating they deserve including her opening opponent Ron Smoorenburg,enforcer of veterans, pulling no punches at Faa Gwai from Triad Wars. There has been a lot of activity with Smoorenburg recently and he was even spotted in the awesome Bangkok Dog which has just got its world premiere at Big Bad Film Fest.
Let’s take it to a cinematographic perspective. The viewers are given some pleasant views of Thailand and its splendid city of Bangkok, which again is a common theme in film but just like America in the 90’s most of the action is centered in the four walls of a place which leaves us with the same experience that the Die Hard franchise depicts, in which all the action is condensed in a single location. this has become the norm in many films which is not a deal breaker. Like said Ludi Lin’s appearance, the Myanmar context is interesting for its historical connotations since it is widely perceived as hell on earth.
The fight scenes are quite convincing, and Lotz and Howard seem to indulge in most of the action as they go about their fights. Choreographed and staged by top-level Thai stunt teams, the battles are a combination of different components such as arching and flipping combined with MMA as well as more intricate manipulation of joints and bodies to give an overall effect that is satisfying. The carnage is well captured on camera and is not over-excessively edited, and at least the camera is quite stable most of the time when the actors are performing. And once again the range of disciplines includes the old school but not obsolete knee and elbow rushes straight out of muay thai and yet again there are neuralons but now of a fresh kind, they come from the extreme sport of aerial bombardement and also some modern MMA ground and pound type of strikes. The film is also weak in the fact that it does not have any real in fight bane like figures for the stars to go up against which is a pity since they are all quite forgettable at the end of the movie as well.
The finale has got to be the weakest point in the movie. It is here where the movie tries to wrap itself up. Charlie and Jack do get to confront their respective tournament champions but apart from a few impressive shots, the emphasis is not on the outcome and the surprises that do occur seem to make sense but the film is actually quite poor because of the lack of any emotion or epic scenes to end with. What I would have loved to see was a big breakout scene with our protagonists assaulting a village but in actual fact, all it was, was something quite disappointing. Maybe Jaeger and the others were attempting to present a more realistic picture, yet if this were to be a proper homage to the 90s, what happened to my big ridiculous ending. That said, there are some good battles that one can watch and indeed a majority of the earlier parts of the movie had all the battles that were executed with such finesse and due regard to the abilities of the participants.
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