The Lodge (2019)

 **This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Six months after pushing to finalize a divorce from his wife, Laura (Alicia Silverstone), Richard (Richard Armitage) plans a getaway during the Christmas season with his new fiancée, Grace (Riley Keough), his son, Aiden (Jaeden Martell), and his daughter, Mia (Lia McHugh). The trip to the family’s lodge gets off to a rocky start, and things take a bizarre turn for the worst as time passes.

Grace is forced to deal with her troubled past and a series of strange occurrences, while juggling the responsibilities for taking care of a disgruntled Aiden and Mia. Richard is the only person, who can ease the tensions between Grace, Aiden, and Mia, but there’s also a chance the group is experiencing an unprecedented disturbance…..

My Thoughts- Is Grace a bad person? Well, of course not. The problem is, she’s stuck in an impossible situation trying to earn acceptance and trust from two kids, who clearly hate her. Riley Keough delivers a strong and sympathetic performance, full of emotion and anger, when the situation calls for it. 

Early on in the movie, you can clearly see Grace is TRYING to do everything she can do to carefully ease her way into Aiden and Mia’s lives. Grace is sincerely apologetic, when she unknowingly puts on Laura’s beanie. But on the other side of that, you can understand Grace’s need to stand up for herself, to be an authority figure, because she has to show Aiden and Mia that she’s not a pushover.

It’s hard to not feel any sympathy for Grace, when the story takes a dark turn towards the end. The flashbacks from Grace’s past in the cult, with her father as the leader tells the story of a woman, who truly suffered through hell. To say she didn’t have a normal childhood would be an understatement. Richard, Aiden, and Mia? They were all supposed to be her second chance at happiness and a normal life. More kudos to Riley Keough, because she really drives home the idea of this kind woman, who didn’t deserve what happened to her at the lodge.

Aiden and Mia? You also have to understand, where they’re coming from. Two kids, who deeply love their mother, so when they look at Grace, all they’re going to see is a soulless home-wrecker, who destroyed their family. You could say Aiden is the stronger one in the duo, while Mia, the younger sibling, clings to her toy doll that resembles Laura. 

Jaeden Martell hits all the right notes, as the angsty and stubborn teenager, who flat out refuses to give Grace a fair chance. Lia McHugh does a good job, as the young daughter, who’s still a vulnerable kid at heart, following her older brother’s lead for guidance and a shoulder to lean on. The dynamic between Aiden and Mia is one of the bigger highlights in the movie. They share a tight big brother/little sister bond. They’re a team, and they rely on each other, for good and bad reasons.

The Lodge cleverly fits the pieces of the puzzle for the family drama together, because you can clearly see and understand everyone’s point of view here. Grace wanting to earn her way into a family. Richard trying his best to please Aiden, Grace, and Mia, while he tries to embrace his own happiness with Grace. Aiden and Mia rebelling against Grace replacing their mother, and a heartbroken Laura, who’s not ready to move on with her life.

It’s a prank! An elaborate and cruel prank, but still a prank. Hiding the food, the dead phones, hiding Grace’s medication. Everything was a carefully planned out and detailed setup to drive Grace crazy. Well, it worked. Grace snapped, but it’s obvious Aiden and Mia didn’t expect a few big setbacks.

The Lodge’s finale is genuinely jaw-dropping. The tables turn so quickly, escalating to one violent and gruesome event after another, starting with the sight of Grace’s dog, frozen to death with his tongue still sticking out. Aiden and Mia weren’t as smart as they thought they were. Assuming Aiden was the mastermind, all the careful planning wasn’t enough to overcome the fact that two kids were in way over their heads. Triggering Grace’s past traumas was too much to overcome. 

The final scene, where everyone’s around the table, including Richard’s corpse is truly an eerie and disturbing sight. Covered mouths with duct tape and “sin” written across them for a callback to Grace’s life in her father’s cult, and Aiden and Mia are visibly terrified, while Mia plans to kill them and herself. In the end, Grace’s demons won the battle, and the two demons in the lodge got the best of her.

The final shot of the loaded gun raises so many questions. Did Aiden and Mia manage to run away? Did Grace finish everyone off? Or, was there a struggle between Grace, Mia, and Aiden before she had a chance to do anything? Good call to abruptly end the movie in that spot. A scene that leaves you with a sinking feeling, because no matter how you spin it, there’s no outcome that provides a truly happy ending. 

The Lodge also works as an unconventional Christmas horror film. If we’re making comparisons, it’s not as Christmassy as the Silent Night, Deadly Night films, the Black Christmas remake, or Krampus (2015). The Lodge has a far more serious tone compared to those films. 

Still, it’s set during the Christmas season. Before the story takes a deep dive into the dark side, the lodge is decorated for Christmas, and you’ll see Christmas presents. It’s not festive, and there’s no real cheeriness before the chaos starts. The Lodge slowly injects a crippling poison into of the bigger holidays with bitterness, tension, loss, and family drama. A deep sadness hits at a certain point, because maybe there’s a chance a good and happy Christmas celebration could’ve healed any open wounds. 

Religion plays a big part in the story here. Grace never had a chance. She was corrupted at an early age by her father, Aaron (Danny Keough), a fanatical cult leader. For Grace, religion is the boogeyman that just won’t go away, a leech sucking her soul dry. Brainwashing, and towards the end, religion is used as a guilt tripping mechanism and a scare tactic on both sides. 

The found-footage from Grace’s life in the cult and the mass suicides are a prime example for how religion can be turned into something evil, or used as a deadly weapon in the wrong hands. But there’s also a somber side for religion in The Lodge. A distraught Mia can’t handle the thought of her mother not making it to heaven, because she committed suicide. The Lodge goes with the thought of a loved one not being able to experience eternal peace and happiness as a crippling blow, that’s tough to recover from.

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s work behind the camera is admirable. So many little nuances and subtle storytelling with the shots of the black balloons floating into the sky, Richard touching Grace’s leg and Aiden’s reaction to it. Grace smiling at Mia in the mirror, and of course Mia doesn’t reciprocate the kind gesture. Going back to religion, crosses are not a sign of comfort or reassurances here. Crosses appear in one form or another throughout the movie. When you see a cross, something bad just happened, something bad is about to happen, or they appear during a stretch of hopelessness.

I absolutely loved the zoomed out shots, primarily during certain scenes in the lodge. A calming family retreat? No, the zoomed out shots gives the impression that this ordinary lodge is a spooky and creepy place.

And I can’t forget about Grace, Aiden, and Mia watching John Carpenter’s The Thing! The Thing (1982) is a great choice for a cabin fever movie. Of course, you won’t see any aliens in The Lodge, but a group of people stuck out in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm, fighting to survive a dangerous threat with limited resources and no means of transportation? You can easily connect the dots between both movies. It’s right there. As far as timing and placement goes, you could say that particular scene from The Thing mirrors and lines up with The Lodge right before things really start going downhill. 

A lot of layers for The Lodge. Suffering through mental illnesses is a big one, if we’re focusing on Grace and Laura. For different reasons, Grace and Laura struggled to hold it together. Two tragic characters connected to each other, starting new lives, with bleak futures, concluding in disastrous results. It’s so bad to the point, where everyone would’ve been better off not crossing paths.    

The shots of the little house diorama throughout the movie works as an unusual and creepy style of foreshadowing. It’s a morbid and detailed replica of the lodge, and there’s a dark irony behind it, when you realize the diorama is also a child’s fancy toy. 

Winter, snow, and freezing temperatures. The Lodge is a cold film in more ways than one. Starting the movie off with Laura committing suicide sets an ominous tone. Alicia Silverstone was fantastic. The way she sits down, calmly pours herself a glass of wine, and removes her jewelry, only to shoot herself seconds later was truly shocking. Laura was depressed, but to do that so quickly was a real gut-wrenching moment, because I honestly didn’t see it coming.

The isolated setting is perfect. The quiet lodge, deep in the woods, during a snowstorm and miles away from civilization adds to the dread and impending sense of doom throughout the movie. It’s a slow, slow burn build to the finale, and for me, it occasionally drags, but The Lodge is still a truly outstanding film. The Lodge plays like a psychological drama, featuring some well-placed horror elements. The nighttime scenes at the lodge, and Grace’s nightmare sequences balances things out on the horror side. And Top notch directing, because there’s no denying The Lodge is a beautifully shot film.

A terrific cast all around. Alicia Silverstone makes the most of her short screen time. Riley Keough is simply phenomenal in the leading role, a powerhouse performance that excels during Grace’s descent into madness, when you finally realize she’s just too far gone. The ending is a nail-biter, but it’s not your typical nail-biter. The Lodge’s ending leaves a few nerve-racking questions. Risky chances (Aiden and Mia possibly rushing and fighting Grace), no positive options, and IF anyone survived, no one has a chance of living a normal life after two big tragedies happening so close together.

Rating- 9/10

The Lodge (2019)(Minor Spoilers)

 

**This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Six months after pushing to finalize a divorce from his wife, Laura (Alicia Silverstone), Richard (Richard Armitage) plans a getaway during the Christmas season with his new fiancée, Grace (Riley Keough), his son, Aiden (Jaeden Martell), and his daughter, Mia (Lia McHugh). The trip to the family’s lodge gets off to a rocky start, and things take a bizarre turn for the worst as time passes.

Grace is forced to deal with her troubled past and a series of strange occurrences, while juggling the responsibilities for taking care of a disgruntled Aiden and Mia. Richard is the only person, who can ease the tensions between Grace, Aiden, and Mia, but there’s also a chance the group is experiencing an unprecedented disturbance…..

My Thoughts- Is Grace a bad person? Well, of course not. The problem is, she’s stuck in an impossible situation trying to earn acceptance and trust from two kids, who clearly hate her. Riley Keough delivers a strong and sympathetic performance, full of emotion and anger, when the situation calls for it. 

Early on in the movie, you can clearly see Grace is TRYING to do everything she can do to carefully ease her way into Aiden and Mia’s lives. Grace is sincerely apologetic, when she unknowingly puts on Laura’s beanie. But on the other side of that, you can understand Grace’s need to stand up for herself, to be an authority figure, because she has to show Aiden and Mia that she’s not a pushover.

It’s hard to not feel any sympathy for Grace, when the story takes a dark turn towards the end. The flashbacks from Grace’s past in the cult, with her father as the leader tells the story of a woman, who truly suffered through hell. To say she didn’t have a normal childhood would be an understatement. Richard, Aiden, and Mia? They were all supposed to be her second chance at happiness and a normal life. More kudos to Riley Keough, because she really drives home the idea of this kind woman, who didn’t deserve what happened to her at the lodge.

Aiden and Mia? You also have to understand, where they’re coming from. Two kids, who deeply love their mother, so when they look at Grace, all they’re going to see is a soulless home-wrecker, who destroyed their family. You could say Aiden is the stronger one in the duo, while Mia, the younger sibling, clings to her toy doll that resembles Laura. 

Jaeden Martell hits all the right notes, as the angsty and stubborn teenager, who flat out refuses to give Grace a fair chance. Lia McHugh does a good job, as the young daughter, who’s still a vulnerable kid at heart, following her older brother’s lead for guidance and a shoulder to lean on. The dynamic between Aiden and Mia is one of the bigger highlights in the movie. They share a tight big brother/little sister bond. They’re a team, and they rely on each other, for good and bad reasons.

The Lodge cleverly fits the pieces of the puzzle for the family drama together, because you can clearly see and understand everyone’s point of view here. Grace wanting to earn her way into a family. Richard trying his best to please Aiden, Grace, and Mia, while he tries to embrace his own happiness with Grace. Aiden and Mia rebelling against Grace replacing their mother, and a heartbroken Laura, who’s not ready to move on with her life.

The Lodge also works as an unconventional Christmas horror film. If we’re making comparisons, it’s not as Christmassy as the Silent Night, Deadly Night films, the Black Christmas remake, or Krampus (2015). The Lodge has a far more serious tone compared to those films. 

Still, it’s set during the Christmas season. Before the story takes a deep dive into the dark side, the lodge is decorated for Christmas, and you’ll see Christmas presents. It’s not festive, and there’s no real cheeriness before the chaos starts. The Lodge slowly injects a crippling poison into of the bigger holidays with bitterness, tension, loss, and family drama. A deep sadness hits at a certain point, because maybe there’s a chance a good and happy Christmas celebration could’ve healed any open wounds. 

Religion plays a big part in the story here. Grace never had a chance. She was corrupted at an early age by her father, Aaron (Danny Keough), a fanatical cult leader. For Grace, religion is the boogeyman that just won’t go away, a leech sucking her soul dry. Brainwashing, and towards the end, religion is used as a guilt tripping mechanism and a scare tactic on both sides. Also, the found-footage from Grace’s life in the cult and the mass suicides are a prime example for how religion can be turned into something evil, or used as a deadly weapon in the wrong hands.

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s work behind the camera is admirable. So many little nuances and subtle storytelling with the shots of the black balloons floating into the sky, Richard touching Grace’s leg and Aiden’s reaction to it. Grace smiling at Mia in the mirror, and of course Mia doesn’t reciprocate the kind gesture. Going back to religion, crosses are not a sign of comfort or reassurances here. Crosses appear in one form or another throughout the movie. When you see a cross, something bad just happened, something bad is about to happen, or they appear during a stretch of hopelessness.

I absolutely loved the zoomed out shots, primarily during certain scenes in the lodge. A calming family retreat? No, the zoomed out shots gives the impression that this ordinary lodge is a spooky and creepy place.

And I can’t forget about Grace, Aiden, and Mia watching John Carpenter’s The Thing! The Thing (1982) is a great choice for a cabin fever movie. Of course, you won’t see any aliens in The Lodge, but a group of people stuck out in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm, fighting to survive a dangerous threat with limited resources and no means of transportation? You can easily connect the dots between both movies. It’s right there. As far as timing and placement goes, you could say that particular scene from The Thing mirrors and lines up with The Lodge right before things really start going downhill. 

A lot of layers for The Lodge. Suffering through mental illnesses is a big one, if we’re focusing on Grace and Laura. For different reasons, Grace and Laura struggled to hold it together. Two tragic characters connected to each other, starting new lives, with bleak futures, concluding in disastrous results. It’s so bad to the point, where everyone would’ve been better off not crossing paths. 

The shots of the little house diorama throughout the movie works as an unusual and creepy style of foreshadowing. It’s a morbid and detailed replica of the lodge, and there’s a dark irony behind it, when you realize the diorama is also a child’s fancy toy. 

Winter, snow, and freezing temperatures. The Lodge is a cold film in more ways than one. The isolated setting is perfect. The quiet lodge, deep in the woods, during a snowstorm and miles away from civilization adds to the dread and impending sense of doom throughout the movie. It’s a slow, slow burn build to the finale, and for me, it occasionally drags, but The Lodge is still a truly outstanding film. The Lodge plays like a psychological drama, featuring some well-placed horror elements. The nighttime scenes at the lodge, and Grace’s nightmare sequences balances things out on the horror side. And Top notch directing, because there’s no denying The Lodge is a beautifully shot film.

A terrific cast all around. Alicia Silverstone makes the most of her short screen time. Riley Keough is simply phenomenal in the leading role, a powerhouse performance that excels during Grace’s descent into madness, when you finally realize she’s just too far gone. The ending is a nail-biter, but it’s not your typical nail-biter. The Lodge’s ending leaves a few nerve-racking questions. Risky chances, no positive options, and IF anyone survived, no one has a chance of living a normal life after two big tragedies happening so close together.

Rating- 9/10

Arena Wars (2024)(Minor Spoilers)

 

**This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- In the future, death row inmates are selected to compete in Arena Wars, a fight to the death reality show hosted by Samson (Michael Madsen) and Moses (Robert Donavan). Teams of seven prisoners have the chance to win their freedom, if they can outlast and defeat different killers, including Meat Wagon (Wesley Cannon), Cutie Pie (Maria Bova), and Calypso (Allen Woodman).

Perez (Robert LaSardo) leads one team of inmates, but Luke Bender (John Wells) emerges as the new star of Arena Wars. A selfless ex-Marine, who sacrificed his freedom in the name of national security, Bender is determined to lead his team to freedom. 

Belladonna (Kevin Hager), a CEO, and the mastermind behind Arena Wars, is desperate for higher ratings. Supported by his security team and his two cronies Domino (Mercedes Peterson) and Gideon (Michael Beran), Belladonna is determined to see Arena Wars succeed by any means necessary. Can Luke lead his team to victory? Or, has Belladonna stacked the deck too high against him?

My Thoughts- John Wells playing the grizzled tough guy with a conscience balances the story, so it’s not completely limited to blood, guts, and violence. He’s a character, who’s easy to root for, the Marine, who puts his country first, while also wanting to ensure the safety of his fiancée and her father, Admiral Jordan (Eric Roberts). Wells delivers a solid performance as Luke, adding the emotional foundation to Arena Wars. Yes, he’s a bit cheesy with the soft spoken badass routine, but it still works to complement the overall zany tone in Arena Wars.

Kevin Hager’s Belladonna is a decent enough villain. The typical narcissistic rich guy jerk, who probably has some mommy issues going up against the good guy soldier is an easy layup to execute. It’s almost impossible to resist the urge to punch Belladonna in the face. His smugness, his lack of empathy for other people, and his massive ego. All the right ingredients for a slimy antagonist, who’s hopefully headed towards a brutal comeuppance.

The killers are bloodthirsty maniacs! Okay, and what else? It’s true each killer has a different backstory, including wiping out the entire United Nations, or a terrorist attack targeting Yankee Stadium. Maria Bova’s Cutie Pie shows some personality, as a gleeful and demented murderer, who enjoys what she’s doing.

And maybe I’m reaching here, but I’m almost sure there’s a reference to A Nightmare On Elm Street and Freddy Krueger with the boiler room stuff. Personally, I wanted to see a little more depth for the personalities. Creative looks for the costumes and different styles for the killers, and there’s a reason why the killers are seemingly invincible. But there’s really nothing worth mentioning once you get past the “WE’RE GONNA KILL YOU!” mindset.

John Wells does most of the heavy lifting on the acting side of things. Luke’s team is full of colorful characters. Kylie Fulmer’s Billie stands out, and Johnny Huang puts a lot of enthusiasm into Khan, the jokester, who’s reminiscent of a knuckleheaded class clown. Michael Madsen has a good amount of screen time as one of the hosts, and Madsen was seemingly in a comfort zone and having fun playing Samson. Eric Roberts? He’s barely in the movie, but Jordan plays a crucial role in Luke’s story, especially towards the end. 

The irony for a reality show about prisoners killing their way to freedom is a bonkers story that’s good for a few laughs. Also, there’s a noticeable night and day difference between two of the hosts. Holly Daze (Sheri Davis)  represents everything Arena Wars is supposed to be about. She’s wild, has an in-your-face attitude, and her wardrobe reflects her fiery personality. The woman interviewing people in the crowd? She looks and sounds like someone, who doesn’t belong there. Maybe she should focus on reporting legitimate news, or possibly doing something more dignified. Hilarious stuff. 

I didn’t go into Arena Wars with high expectations. It’s the kind of movie, where you should know what you’re getting into before you hit the play button. Arena Wars is set in a city…named The Big F*****g City. Luke’s picture-perfect Superman Punch, and Belladonna calmly eats sushi off of a topless woman, while people are brutally murdered. It’s a silly and over the top action/sci-fi flick, featuring heavy doses of dark comedy. 

Giving credit where credit is due, Arena Wars really nailed the dystopian mood for the movie. The depravity, the sleaziness, and the need for people to consume more violent entertainment. For a movie that’s set in 2045, maybe it’s kind of scary to imagine this is where we’re headed as a society in twenty years? I know Arena Wars is not that deep, but maybe they could’ve focused more on those particular what ifs, because there’s a lot of material to explore. 

The fight scenes were too repetitive for me and kind of dull every now and then. I didn’t get Domino’s storyline, or why they felt the need to put effort into it, if that was the conclusion they were going with. Overall, there’s still more than enough bloody violence and gore in Arena Wars. It’s a really cheesy movie, loaded with corny dialogue, but Arena Wars mostly works, delivering just enough chaos and violence.

Rating-5/10

Arena Wars (2024)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- In the future, death row inmates are selected to compete in Arena Wars, a fight to the death reality show hosted by Samson (Michael Madsen) and Moses (Robert Donavan). Teams of seven prisoners have the chance to win their freedom, if they can outlast and defeat different killers, including Meat Wagon (Wesley Cannon), Cutie Pie (Maria Bova), and Calypso (Allen Woodman).

Perez (Robert LaSardo) leads one team of inmates, but Luke Bender (John Wells) emerges as the new star of Arena Wars. A selfless ex-Marine, who sacrificed his freedom in the name of national security, Bender is determined to lead his team to freedom. 

Belladonna (Kevin Hager), a CEO, and the mastermind behind Arena Wars, is desperate for higher ratings. Supported by his security team and his two cronies Domino (Mercedes Peterson) and Gideon (Michael Beran), Belladonna is determined to see Arena Wars succeed by any means necessary. Can Luke lead his team to victory? Or, has Belladonna stacked the deck too high against him?

My Thoughts- John Wells playing the grizzled tough guy with a conscience balances the story, so it’s not completely limited to blood, guts, and violence. He’s a character, who’s easy to root for, the Marine, who puts his country first, while also wanting to ensure the safety of his fiancée and her father, Admiral Jordan (Eric Roberts). Wells delivers a solid performance as Luke, adding the emotional foundation to Arena Wars. Yes, he’s a bit cheesy with the soft spoken badass routine, but it still works to complement the overall zany tone in Arena Wars.

Kevin Hager’s Belladonna is a decent enough villain. The typical narcissistic rich guy jerk, who probably has some mommy issues going up against the good guy soldier is an easy layup to execute. It’s almost impossible to resist the urge to punch Belladonna in the face. His smugness, his lack of empathy for other people, and his massive ego. All the right ingredients for a slimy antagonist, who’s hopefully headed towards a brutal comeuppance.

Arena Wars managed to pull off one good surprise, revealing Admiral Jordan and Luke’s fiancée died in a car accident years ago. Luke was duped by deepfake AI video calls with Jordan. That plays a big part in Luke doubting himself towards the end, because the father/son relationship brought a shred of normalcy into his life.

Domino’s failed sneak attack? Why? Why would they waste so much time on a storyline, where Domino ultimately fails at killing Belladonna, and when the big moment comes, she literally doesn’t pull the trigger. Domino plays a role in being a helping hand for the good guys. I get that, but all the build up for that lame ending, where Belladonna still gets the last laugh was a real downer.

I wasn’t too surprised, when Luke and a few others on his team survived. Perez dying early on in the movie did catch me off guard a little bit, but it’s obvious they were saving the big hero storyline for Luke. Belladonna cheating and giving an unfair advantage to the killers? Yeah, wasn’t surprised by that either, because outside of them just being completely nuts, you could easily tell the killers were hopped up on something. Although, I will say this, Belladonna’s death was a gnarly sight. Cut in HALF with a chainsaw? Ouch!

The killers are bloodthirsty maniacs! Okay, and what else? It’s true each killer has a different backstory, including wiping out the entire United Nations, or a terrorist attack targeting Yankee Stadium. Maria Bova’s Cutie Pie shows some personality, as a gleeful and demented murderer, who enjoys what she’s doing. 

And maybe I’m reaching here, but I’m almost sure there’s a reference to A Nightmare On Elm Street and Freddy Krueger with the boiler room stuff. Personally, I wanted to see a little more depth for the personalities. Creative looks for the costumes and different styles for the killers, and there’s a reason why the killers are seemingly invincible. But there’s really nothing worth mentioning once you get past the “WE’RE GONNA KILL YOU!” mindset.

John Wells does most of the heavy lifting on the acting side of things. Luke’s team is full of colorful characters. Kylie Fulmer’s Billie stands out, and Johnny Huang puts a lot of enthusiasm into Khan, the jokester, who’s reminiscent of a knuckleheaded class clown. Michael Madsen has a good amount of screen time as one of the hosts, and Madsen was seemingly in a comfort zone and having fun playing Samson. Eric Roberts? He’s barely in the movie, but Jordan plays a crucial role in Luke’s story, especially towards the end. 

The irony for a reality show about prisoners killing their way to freedom is a bonkers story that’s good for a few laughs. Also, there’s a noticeable night and day difference between two of the hosts. Holly Daze (Sheri Davis)  represents everything Arena Wars is supposed to be about. She’s wild, has an in-your-face attitude, and her wardrobe reflects her fiery personality. The woman interviewing people in the crowd? She looks and sounds like someone, who doesn’t belong there. Maybe she should focus on reporting legitimate news, or possibly doing something more dignified. Hilarious stuff. 

I didn’t go into Arena Wars with high expectations. It’s the kind of movie, where you should know what you’re getting into before you hit the play button. Arena Wars is set in a city…named The Big F*****g City. Luke’s picture-perfect Superman Punch, and Belladonna calmly eats sushi off of a topless woman, while people are brutally murdered. It’s a silly and over the top action/sci-fi flick, featuring heavy doses of dark comedy. 

Giving credit where credit is due, Arena Wars really nailed the dystopian mood for the movie. The depravity, the sleaziness, and the need for people to consume more violent entertainment. For a movie that’s set in 2045, maybe it’s kind of scary to imagine this is where we’re headed as a society in twenty years? I know Arena Wars is not that deep, but maybe they could’ve focused more on those particular what ifs, because there’s a lot of material to explore. 

The fight scenes were too repetitive for me and kind of dull every now and then. I didn’t get Domino’s storyline, or why they felt the need to put effort into it, if that was the conclusion they were going with. Overall, there’s still more than enough bloody violence and gore in Arena Wars. It’s a really cheesy movie, loaded with corny dialogue, but Arena Wars mostly works, delivering just enough chaos and violence.

Rating- 5/10