Hello people of the Internets!
Ok, so last night a friend of mine got me to watch this movie called The Condemned. He described it as, “The movie that Gamer should have been”. So together we watched, in his cramped residence room, and I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.
Produced by the WWE, I went into this movie slightly wary. The last movie I’d seen that had anything to do with the WWE was The Scorpion King, and that was a piece of steaming crap in the desert. However, I didn’t take me long to get fully invested into the characters and the storyline.
Basically, this slimy guy wants to make a TV show about condemned convicts on death row killing each other to win their freedom. Of course, no one would go for it, but he does it anyway over the internet. Making people pay 50 dollars to get on his website, this guy and his team nab ten death-row convicts from across the globe to duke it out for live webcast entertainment. Needless to say, hijinks ensue.
My face throughout this entire movie ranged from:
😐
😦
:O
😯
:S
The range of emotions I went through surprised me. This movie was just so REAL, and it brought up many interesting questions concerning morals and human nature. Hell, it even got a happy ending.
The music melded into the action and events of the movie perfectly…a little too perfectly actually. Unfortunately, the soundtrack wasn’t too memorable, which is too bad, but it did meld into the action well. It did its job, just not spectacularly. Some of the cinematography is a little awkward too. For example, the fight with Conrad and Petr is incredibly shaky and a little hard to watch. It hurts the eyes and makes the fight scene drag out uncomfortably. You’re stuck there wondering who’s winning and who just hit whom (and since the two actors look an awful lot alike, it makes it even harder).
Despite its few flaws, I find the most interesting aspect is that it raises some really interesting questions. Like, at the end when McStarley is killing all the people who helped Mr. Slimy get this thing going on the internet, you find yourself rooting for him. This is interesting because, not only are you rooting for a guy massacring unarmed people, you’re also rooting for the main antagonist, a guy who had Paco’s wife raped and murdered in front of him and the entire world and who mercilessly attempted to kill our protagonist. You want to see him kill these people who thought his brutality was pure entertainment and it feels poetic and fitting that he is in turn killing them. Like the movie, A History of Violence, this movie not only calls attention to human nature in general when it comes to violence, murder, and revenge, it also brings its audience into the mix, showing that you, the audience, are no better than the bastards who endorsed rape and murder amongst the ten convicts.
The Condemned was a GREAT movie, IMHO, and I think that if you have the stomach for some hardcore violence, domestic abuse, rape and philosophical issues you will have a wonderful experience.
Until next time Internet!
Love,
TheMadCEHMist
P.S. This week I will be posting a new video series (a very short one) where my friends and I review some movies together. There’ll be laughs, tears, and angers all up in hurr. Don’t miss out! 😉
The Mad Reviews 