Mike Rickard
The Condemned: Review of Stone Cold's New WWE Film
By Mike Rickard II
Mar 31, 2007, 17:01

The Condemned delivers violent but entertaining story

After two lukewarm films, WWE films has hit a home run with its new release The Condemned.  Not only does the film prove a great vehicle for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to showcase his charisma and acting skills but it’s a well written and well paced film to boot, demonstrating that the WWE is learning how to make good films. 

Written and directed by Scott Wiper (Captain Jack, A Better Way to Die), this WWE Films production is the first starring role for WWE superstar Steve Austin (The Longest Yard, Tales of the Rat Fink) after several guest appearances on various action TV shows during his heyday as a wrestler.  Appearing alongside Austin is former footballer Vinnie Jones (Snatch, X-Men: The Last Stand) who plays one of the film’s main antagonists.  Former WWE superstar Nathan Jones has a role as one of Austin’s adversaries as well. 

The premise of The Condemned is one part Most Dangerous Game and one part The Running Man.  Austin plays one of ten convicted criminals sentenced to death who are “saved” by the producer of an online reality show.  Hoping to attract as many viewers as the Super Bowl, the sinister producer strands them on a remote island, pitting all of them against each other in a winner take all battle to the death.  Each contestant is racing against the clock (and each other) to survive thanks to an explosive charge locked on to their ankles that will detonate in thirty hours.  While this is by no means the first film of its type (No Escape, Battle Royale, and Surviving the Game come to mind), it shines thanks to the performances of Austin and Jones (Vinnie) and a tightly written story.  

While this film is WWE Films’ third release; it’s actually the first film by them that stands out as something other than a glorified direct-to-DVD release.  Unlike See No Evil and The Marine, The Condemned goes all out in delivering two hours of solid entertainment.  While See No Evil and The Marine were decent horror and action movies respectively, they lacked the passion that’s evident in The Condemned.  While there’s really nothing you haven’t seen before in The Condemned; it’s so well done that you’ll want to see it to experience it.  It’s like a new rollercoaster.   There may be no new design features to it but it’s still one hell of a ride.     

Watching Austin in the film, you can’t help but wonder why he never did much more in Hollywood after some memorable guest shots on Nash Bridges (a spin-off show featuring his Nash Bridges character was talked about but never went anywhere).  Austin’s charisma, his natural action star look, and his loyal fan base make him a natural candidate for an action vehicle.

With The Condemned, Austin has said vehicle.  It will be interesting to see how the general public reacts to the film.  It’s a good action film with an interesting story and supporting characters (Vinnie Jones stands out as Austin’s arch rival contestant) and if it’s marketed right, it could be the start of something good for Austin as his in-ring career is all but over thanks to injury.

One thing that needs to be noted is that this isn’t the type of film you bring the entire family to.  The film definitely earns its “R” rating for some brutal violence including a rape scene and some other disturbing sights.  People concerned about foul language definitely won’t want to watch it either.  While there’s not a lot of gore, there’s no mistaking the fact that these people are brutal killers going all out for survival.  Don’t bring the kiddies if you’re expecting to see cartoon violence in this flick. 

The film was premiered at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.  An entire entourage of WWE superstars and their guests joined WWE fans attending Wrestlemania as part of the WWE’s Wrestlemania travel package.  The rowdy crowd seemed to enjoy the film and they definitely enjoyed Stone Cold’s performance.  After the film, Austin came out to thank the audience for their support throughout the years and he finished the evening by indulging in his traditional nightcap of beer.