Hey folks, Valkor here. And I welcome you to TOV's "30 in 30",
where I'll review 30 unique film and maybe some not so unique,
all in 30 days. What's cool for most of the flicks, is that I
know nothing about em. So this should be a real treat not just
for you guys, but for me as well. Good or bad, this is gonna be
a fun month. It all starts today July the 4th and ends on Aug
the 3rd. Can I make it through? We'll know soon enough!
For our fourth film, we up the adrelanine to bring you Undisputed III: Redemption, starring returning actor from part two, Scott Adkins.
In Undisputed III: The Redemption, Scott Adkins returns as Boyka (From Undisputed II), former prison fighter now a disheveled janitor. In the last tournament, Boyka, who considered himself to be the perfect machine was taken down and his knee busted. But he trained himself secretly and wanted to prove himself once more and re-enter the ring. Current king of the ring is Sykov (Esteban Cueto). Boyka steps in the ring, defeats Sykov and is now entered in the first ever International Prison Fighting Championship, where winning means your freedom. And losing means you die. Eight fighters from different prisons across the globe will compete, each bringing to the ring their own fighting style. The tournament is run by a secret underground tournament where big money is being bet on the fight. But one fighter in particular, from Colombia, is given an edge and is considered a sure win; he's even pampered above the rest and given a daily dose of steroids, while the other fighters must toil in the pits busting rocks and only allowed one hour to train. Also the Syndicate keeps a close watch on Boyka and USA fighter Turbo (Mykel Shannon Jenkins), watching as the two use working in the pits to their training advantage. But when the duo gets wind that something's not right with the fight, they'll use everything in their knowhow to try and gain an edge to win their freedom and take down the Syndicate. But the Syndicate takes notice of them and as a result they bust up Turbo something fierce. Now Boyka is all alone; does he have what it takes to take out the Colombian? Will his knee hold out long enough to survive the tournament? And what will happen to the Syndicate if Boyka wins?
What's this "If he wins" stuff? There are no twist endings here, he'll get through it. And now, on with the show!
The Good:
Not having watched the first two Undisputed films, I have to say this third flick is pretty bad ass. For one thing the fighting sequences were well choreographed; there's a lot of spin kicking, flying punches, over the top fist to the face, spitting out your mouth guard with a healthy dose of blood tossed in action. In short, the shit is crazy! Plus the editing on the fighting is spot on perfect; the camera stays locks on the action long enough so you can catch everything and doesn't cut away too quickly. I especially loved the slowdown on some of the hits and take downs; it really puts emphasis on the blows. The pacing of the story is pretty tight; nothing about the story is dragged on for too long or too short. And the ending is somewhat predictable, but cleans up the story nicely. The acting overall is ok, thankfully it's the fighting that's the main focus, but everyone does a great job. No real stands out in this bunch, but still watchable.
The Bad:
For BD it lacks any extras, though it is a combo disc, meaning you get the BD, DVD, and Digital version of the film. You also get some language options, but just French and Spanish.
The Ugly:
Bruised and battered fighters in HD… UGH! You can tell the makeup guy did a DAMN good job on those faces because… DAMN!
Overall Undisputed III: redemption is a straightforward actioner that's loads of fun to watch. Even if you've never seen the first two films, you can still dive right into this one with no worries, as there is no focus at all of the previous films. And out of TOV 5 stars, I give Undisputed III 4 stars and it's been Valkor tested, TOV Approved.