Eliminators (2016) Directed by James Nunn




Most action movie lovers already know it by now but Scott Adkins is well on his way of becoming a great household name in the genre. Perhaps he's not as great as a Schwarzenegger or Stallone but you could call him a new Van Damme or Seagal, even though these persons are still around themselves as well of course. He has the charisma, the looks and all of the fighting skills required for the parts, as well as some pretty decent acting skills.

It's too bad that he's stuck at mostly playing in 'smaller' action movies such as this one though. He does play in some big movies, every now and then but never in a leading role. A real shame, since he's definitely capable enough, as he also once more shows with his role in this movie. While the movie in itself really isn't anything all that special, it's still really one that's well worth your time, especially if you're into the genre of course.

No, this movie really doesn't do anything new and never that happens in it ever comes as a surprise but as far as straightforward and cheaper type of action movies go, this one definitely is a pretty decent one. it's well a well done and good looking movie, that never has a boring moment in it, perhaps because of its very same simplicity and straightforwardness. The action is pretty good, as well as diverse. Gun fights, knives, hand-to-hand combat, it's all in here, though it's still pretty laughable to see some of the fights turn into WWE matches, with some insane combo's and moves, that no one would ever pull off in any normal fight. This of course is due to the presence of Stu Bennett as one of the main villains, who is a WWE wrestler and known better under the names Wade Barrett/Bad News Barrett/King Barrett. It's pretty popular nowadays for action flicks to star WWE stars in them, perhaps more so than ever before. Not too many people know of it though, since most movies remain into obscurity and never make it to the theaters.

I still would be more interested in seeing the prequel of this movie though. The events leading up to this movie sounded far more interesting than the actual story of the movie. It had more depth and layers to it, while the story of this movie remains nothing more but an extremely simplistic and straightforward one, even by action-movie standards. It works well for the movie but at the same time it also obviously prevents it from becoming anything truly great or original. It's just never the most engaging movie, though it definitely very easily could have, if only the movie had a bit more depth to it and concentrated a bit more on the dramatic and serious tones of the movie at times.

But no, I still can't be too negative about this movie. It's pretty good for what it is and if you're into the genre there is no reason why you shouldn't give this movie a shot sometime.

6/10

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