Damage (2009) Reviews

• good film

  nickbenger2010-02-22

  good film overall, plot was a little generic rather similar to "Fighting" the fight scenes can be enjoyable although they all seem to be somewhat similar.It's a shame there is no real training scene as in these sort of films they're really needed, the closest thing to one is a little bit of jogging which is obviously unrealistic if he actually wants to win a fight worth the amount of money he is gambling!. It's worth a watch, they're are better movies but i wouldn't disregard this one and would certainly watch it again. So i'm going to give this a 7/10, i think maybe a small minority are to quick to criticize when this isn't actually such a terrible movie.

  More

• not just another brainless action movie

  disdressed122011-04-25

  this is not just another brainless action movie.not that there's anything wrong with that.there's actually a story here,and a good one. there are some tender sensitive moments in which Steve Austin shows he has some real acting ability.yes there are some brutal fighting sequences,but that is not the core of the story.the core of the story is about doing the right thing,about morality,forgiveness and redemption.and that's what moves the film along.the dramatic scenes work very well here.partial credit must go to the cast,not just Austin but the supporting players as well.Walton Goggins and Laura Vandervoort are very good as well.for me,Damage is a 6/10

  More

• best Steve Austin to date

  nightshift312009-10-11

  This is my first review i felt so strongly for this film i had to wright one. I checked out this movie not knowing only that Steve Austin was it i think hes a good actor so i may be bias. I like watching movies that i know nothing about cause well i enjoy watching the show truly unfold in front of you. The movie starts out with Steve getting released from prison event then take him to the underground fighting world where he must win to save a life. Its a fight movie but it has more then you typical fight movie it had a great plot good script and all the actors showed up. For a B movie this was worth every minute spent watching i would recommend this to anyone who is a Steve Austin fan or like UFC or just likes a good story driven movie. There is something for almost everyone to enjoy

  More

• Austin + AWOL = Damage

  matthewmercy2010-10-08

  In his second leading movie role, former WWE legend Stone Cold Steve Austin plays John Brickner, an ex-convict whose attempts to live a quiet life on the outside are thrown into jeopardy when he is forced into the shadowy world of illegal fighting. Though his acting skills are somewhat limited, Austin is perfectly adequate as the star of this low-key action drama; just don't expect anything groundbreaking from the execution or basic set-up. Like Austin's previous vehicle (WWE Films' The Condemned), this basically just adheres to an established action movie template (this time the 'inspiration' is the old Jean-Claude Van Damme effort AWOL), and goes through the motions of its familiar plot in an unfussy and unsurprising way. The direction is unspectacular, the fight scenes efficient but not particularly brutal, and the final result is a film that is nowhere near bad enough to despise, but nowhere near good enough to be memorable. The supporting performances are largely anonymous, though Walton Goggins (sporting the same ghastly brown leather jacket he wore as Shane Vendrell across all seven seasons of The Shield) makes the best of a badly-written part as Brickner's debt-ridden manager.

  More

• Steve's quest for Action Hero stardom is off on the right track,.with this decent DTV effort.

  callanvass2009-12-21

  Damage is surprisingly an entertaining no holds barred, old school Action film. What I admired a lot about Damage is it's tenacity. It's always straight up in your face with great fight scenes, that are unrelentingly brutal. I am a die hard "Stone Cold Steve Austin" fan. He is without a doubt the greatest WWE superstar of all time and now he's taken on the acting world. Like The Condemned|which I love| he has a certain presence that you can't take your eye off of. He's certainly not a great actor,but his potential to be one of Hollywood's biggest action stars is certainly there,he's loaded with charisma and could land similar success like other action stars who were soft spoken|Seagal,Van Damme,etc|. One of the main key's that made this one of the better direct to video Actioner's i've seen,is the relationships with the characters. Especially the trio of John,Reno,and Frankie. We are able to care about them all,even if Reno's a bit of a weasel,and I just think that helped a lot. I also approved of Steve's enthusiasm to this project. Any less of an effort would've resulted in your standard straight to DVD flick,but Steve put his all into the film,making sure to give us riveting fight sequences and a decent overall storyline,but mainly I give that credit to Frank Hannah. I have seen many straight to video Actioner's and i'll be pretty blunt,most of them flat out suck,so I was really pleased by the effort of this film. Damage is certainly not original by any means,it rips off Big Brawl,Lionheart,among others..but it managed to entertain me for a 100 minutes or so and that's really all I can ask for. The Performances. Steve Austin is a physically gifted performer. He is a marvel in the action sequences,with major charisma to boot. He certainly won't win any Oscars with his acting,but he won't stink up the screen either and for limited experience,I thought he did some pretty decent work. I must say though what was the point of having Steve try to be emotional?. Everyone knows Steve is a redneck with a good heart,but he's hard as nails,and well he came across as looking silly more then anything else. Nevertheless I thought Steve was fabulous and I look forward, to his future projects,he's got big time potential. Lynda Boyd got on my nerves more then once with her cold character. That was one of the script's biggest mistakes,she's supposed to make us care about with the situation with her daughter,but she came across as a selfish lady who is putting too much pressure on John. Her chemistry with Steve also felt forced. Walton Goggins is a weasel but a likable one at that. He's able to make us care for him,we feel sorry for the situations he gets into,even if he partially deserves it. Laura Vandervoort is cute as a button,and manages to be quite likable,I enjoyed her performance. Bottom Line. Damage is one of the better DTV Actioner's that seem to come out like crazy now a days. It certainly won't make you go wow,it's not anything original,but it's certainly pretty entertaining. I wholeheartedly recommend Damage for a good night of entertainment. 7/10

  More