The Condemned (2007)

Overall rating from 1 to 100: 58

O Masterpiece (95-100)
O Excellent (75-94)
O Good video rental (60-74)
X Merely OK (50-59)
O Pure mediocrity (30-49)
O Medusa: don’t watch (1-29)

Review by Jason Pyles / April 28, 2007

“The Condemned” is a humorously ironic, hypocritical movie: Produced by World Wrestling Entertainment and with a tagline that reads, “10 people will fight. Nine people will die. You get to watch,” this movie proceeds to lecture on how immoral it is to enjoy violence as entertainment.

This is the summer of snuff films. “Vacancy,” which is also playing in theaters, is also about recording actual deaths for entertainment purposes. Of course, neither movie is truly a snuff film itself — no one really dies — but that’s what both movies are about.

Essentially a star vehicle for wrestler Steve Austin, “The Condemned” owes a lot to the Stephen King novel “The Running Man,” which was adapted into an Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle in 1987. (The 20-year-old movie is far superior to this new one, by the way.)

Ian Breckel (Robert Mammone) is an unscrupulous TV producer who has an idea for a twisted spin on reality television: He wants to collect 10 tough death-row inmates from around the globe. Then he wants to put them on an island and have them fight to the death until a sole survivor remains. This one survivor will be awarded with money and freedom.

But since this scheme is illegal, and no TV station will pick it up, Breckel plans to broadcast a stream of live footage on the Internet, which can be viewed for the nominal fee of $49.99. His ambition is to become rich and to draw at least as many viewers as the Super Bowl draws: 40 million.

So the producer’s staff rigs 400 cameras throughout the island. He collects the criminal titans from international prisons, including one Jack Conrad (Steve Austin), and deposits them on the island for mortal combat.

The game is simple: Each of the 10 has a bomb strapped to his or her leg (yes, there are two women). Of course, if they try to tamper with the device, it explodes. And, after 30 hours, the bombs are set to explode. So, the only way to get of the island alive is to kill the other nine contenders before 30 hours has passed. And, much like TV’s “Survivor,” bones are thrown to aid their competition from time to time: Duffel bags with food, water and weaponry parachute from the sky.

That’s the premise of “The Condemned.” It’s more violent than I suspected. Much like in “Vacancy,” the scenes where the women are being beaten are way too much. During the event, some of Brechel’s staff have a crisis of conscience, and the longer we sit in the theater, we feel like we can relate.

My chief complaint is the same as the one I had with “Pathfinder”: During the fight scenes, it appears as though the camera was strapped to their fists. Fast flashes of indistinguishable action flicker on the screen to give us the feeling of speed and power. But without any context, we aren’t impressed, nor do we care.

In some ways, “The Condemned” was better than I expected but worse in other ways. I’d rather watch “Lost.”

Directed by Scott Wiper
Steve Austin / Robert Mammone / Tory Mussett
113 min. Action
MPAA: R (for pervasive strong brutal violence, and for language)

Copyright 2007.
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