Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)

USA

96 mins.

Directed by Isaac Florentine

Starring: Scott Adkins, Mykel Jenkins, Marko Zaror, Mark Ivanir, Robert Costanzo

Director Isaac Florentine is in a rare group of filmmakers these days. He has successfully created a reverse-quality franchise. After the forgettable original Undisputed, Florentine took over the wheel from Walter Hill and hit the ground running. Undisputed II: Last Man Standing was better than anyone ever expected it would be and put most theatrical action flicks to shame. The same goes for Undisputed III and even more so. The fact that this went straight to video and The Spy Next Door was on thousands of theater screens makes me want to paper cut myself.

One of the main reasons U2 worked so well was the character of Uri Boyka, played with aplomb and a huge dose of Wolverine meets Ivan Drago by the man-god Scott Adkins. If you're not familiar with Adkins, he is the premire direct-to-video action star these days who hasn't had a major theatrical hit yet. I'm sure that'll change soon, but for now he's doing just fine. Boyka was a great villain in the second film and served as a worthy opponent for Michael Jai White's Iceman Chambers character.

It's still baffling that these films have been shuttered to a straight to video release. Is it because guys like Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins are not considered bankable? Maybe. There's nothing overtly offensive in either of the sequels. Except maybe the idea that Eastern Europe and Russia is one giant prison colony. Anyway, part three transfers everything great about part two and gives you even more to like. The true genius of this film, though, is in its main character.

In another rare instance, the villain from the second film becomes the hero of the third one. Yeah. I'm surprised I haven't seen it more in films lately, but here it is anyhow. Boyka was indeed a villain in part two, but nothing so over the top as to render his babyface turn in part three illogical. He was brutally humbled by the Iceman in part two and this new Boyka is all about the comeback and indeed redemption.

I love how the setup of the film doesn't waste any time with getting to what you really want out of these films. It doesn't care if you haven't seen the last film, because it's continuing on without you no matter what. 

Uri Boyka, king of the prison fighters, is relegated into slammer exile as a mop jockey after getting thoroughly owned at the end of U2 (if you haven't seen it yet, please do so as soon as possible). His knee is obliterated and even simple tasks are literally a pain for him. Luckily for us, he's been doing rehab on it, prison style. That involves heavy buckets of water and  the like. You know the drill.

Apparently, the world's criminal underground loves prison fights. So much so, they have their own promotion. Or at least they've got it in their pocket; hook, line and sinker. The main thrust of the film is a prison fighting tournament where the winner gets to go free. Allegedly, of course. Throw in a corrupt warden who harbors the fighters at his own gulag during the tournament and you're all set to go.

Boyka is hungry for another chance be top dog. After all, his sole reason for being was to be the greatest fighter possible. After losing to Chambers, his whole world view has been shattered. Boyka practically begs slick gangster Gaga (a returning Mark Ivanir) to back him in the tournament. Gaga is naturally unconvinced, given Boyka's knee. Then Boyka annihilates the local prison champ. Gaga is now interested.

The rest of the movie takes place at the warden's (Hristo Shopov) sinister huskau. There, Boyka meets the other seven fighters in the tournament. They include Turbo (Mykel Jenkins), a cocky motormouth from America and Dolor (Marko Zaror) - a ringer from Colombia. Turbo talks a lot of shit and Dolor is fond of injections. Ahem. Needless to say, the outcome has been severely fixed and even the head of the underworld urges his associates (including Gaga) to bet on the Colombian. Sudden death rules will surely apply.

When they're not fighting, they're on the chain gang. It's during this time that the laconic Boyka and the chatty cathy Turbo begin to form a modicum of buddyhood. Their friendship grows and eventually evolves to the point that their lives literally end up in each others hands. The chemistry between the two is more than enough compared to other films U3 has to compete with. Just another reason why it defies standard DTV stereotypes.

The tournament fights are all brutal and executed with an energy usually missing from similar productions. Everyone is on their A game both in front of and behind the camera and it shows. While some MMA purists might equate the fighting in the movie to over-the-top superhero antics, I felt it hit all the right buttons as far as satisfying cinematic fight actions goes.

Uri Boyka as a character has enjoyed an extremely popular fanbase ever since the release of part two and the existence of part three is pure proof of this. Adkins throws on the Russian and slips into the cranky, determined badass one more time. Not once did I think this was just some Brit with a Russian accent. His performance is completely seamless and utterly believable. I could watch another trilogy of films featuring the adventures of Boyka and still want more. He's a great character and his hero turn only enhances and mystifies him at the same time.

Jenkins is hit-and-miss as Turbo. He's a great fighter and has natural screen presence, but there's something about the character that just didn't work for me. I get he's a braggart and cocky as a defense mechanism and a good guy deep down, but Jenkins playing him just didn't complete it for me. Marko Zaror plays the villain of the film, the loopy Dolor. He's not given near enough screen time to be as memorable an antagonist as Boyka before him, but he is great as it is whenever he is on screen.

If you have any reservations about direct to video action movies, you need to push them aside and sit down for a double feature of Undisputed II & III. Forget the first film and let Isaac Florentine's brutal one-two punch of down and dirty prison fighting epics take you away to a magical land called Eastern Europe.

Boy-ka! Boy-ka! Boy-ka!