This was an actual modern martial arts film. -Probably the first I've seen where the fights are based on what we currently know to be the most effective and real approach to hand to hand combat.

And it wasn't overdone. -It wasn't a bunch of guys from the gym deciding to make a movie. The story came first, and the fights made sense, the skills baked into the story rather than the story being an excuse for them. That's competence, right there. Competent scripting.

As for the realism... I mean, the moves were all recognized and real MMA tactics. Nobody walks away without getting hurt. Nobody flies through the air. And no 100 pound girls bring down man bears. (The film did feature a girl, and she fought like a girl. She was a mean b****, and you wouldn't want to run into her in a dark ally, but she was a girl and the script and action dealt with her very believably.)

And best of all.., it was a solid story featuring Good Guys and Bad Guys, and some grey guys in between. But the hero was.., heroic! Damn! How often do you see that?)

It was mid-budget, nothing fancy, nothing to mark it as a Block Buster or make it stick out in the culture swirl. Sadly, it won't be remembered. It didn't look like 'money', but it was competent and engaging and satisfying. Nothing about it was stupid. (Though, I was making "Hurry Up" motions with my hands at the hero when he found the money. "Get out! Go Go Go! Stop being.., a regular guy who isn't used to this kind of world and who is taking a moment to deal with a 3 Million Dollar windfall... Okay, I get it, but still... GO!")

But seriously. Competent. Engaging. Satisfying. Nothing stupid.

Those are pretty rock solid hashtags. In today's insane media landscape? Yes.

Recommended!

Castle Falls, an action thriller crafted in the old school 80's & 90's action style. Think of walter Hill's Trespass (1992) & Carpenter's They Live (1988) for style & setting with its abandoned building/hospital setting & two guys after some hidden loot with a gang there to hunt them & with it's blue collar construction working average-joe heroe's especially Scott Adkins. Definitely Adkins character from his outfit/wardrobe to him punching in & working as a drifter construction worker is inspired by Carpenter's Cult movie hero Nada played by Roddy Piper in They Live. Adkins is a huge fan of They Live in real life. Here the excellent Scott Adkins, who i consider to be the most underrated actor & action star working today!!!, plays an ex-MMA fighter, Mike who is down-on-his-luck & takes a job as part of a Demolition crew at a huge abandoned hospital scheduled to be demolished very soon. Adkins is such a likeable actor & here he's got his British accent which is Awesome & he steals the film of course & delivers his finest performance. Now, director & star Dolph Lundgren has used Adkins probably the best I've seen him, he's allowed to act with emotions but still does kick-ass the way he does & how we love.

Adkins discovers some bags of cash (about 3 million dollars) hidden within the hospital & comes back to get them but in that time we get more characters entering the abandoned building for that some money. The money was hidden there some time ago by drug dealing scum who want it back & also we get a struggling father who is there for that money to pay for his daughters cancer treatment. Legendary action star Dolph Lundgren is Richard, a desperate father & prison warden & fits into the role nicely & proves he's a fine actor as well as an action star. Of course Adkins' blue-collar worker & Lundgren's desperate father team-up to take out the drug dealers & keep the money & what we get is a stripped-down & old school style action thriller made on a small-budget but packs a big punch. Dolph Lundgren has given us character we really like & care about with real reasons for their actions & a huge building to play in. Films like this show that you do not need a ridiculous mega "Hollywood" budget to make a good action film. Dolph Lundgren should be very proud of his movie what he & his crew have pulled off with limited funds & restrictions.

The building is Awesome, a huge place full of floors & elevator shafts for our heroes to do action. The setting was a real location so it came with it's realistic gritty look & natural screen presence. Dolph has directed a damn good & entertaining little action thriller & i loved it's one place, contained setting & thrilling brutal fight scenes as said before, Dolph really knows how to use Adkins on screen & the two have worked together many times before (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Legendary, Expendables 2) & also Dolph shows he's a decent action director that has sprinkled his movie with drama & feeling. Yes Castle Falls is a low-budget B-movie really but a damn good one & it never out stays it's welcome with it's short running time, so yeah a damn good movie in my opinion. The look is of course pretty sharp looking as filmed with modern cameras but the story, style & characters feel old school.

I grew up watching & loving the action genre & consider Van Damme my favourite action star & think that Scott Adkins is pretty much the British version in some ways but of course he's his own Awesome action star in his own kick-ass right. Adkins would make the best Punisher or Batman ever.

Actor Dolph Lundgren directed this movie and together with actor Scot Adkins produced it as well. They both had full control to make something really decent, because they were paying for and directing this movie, but there still are way too many silly plot turns, that just completely ruin the litlle bit of suspense.

It is not meant to be a comedy, but these silly plot turns are so laughably bad. Such a shame...

Not any good? Well the fights are good. Dolph Lundgren and Scot Adkins are good.

If you dont mind silly plot turns and if you also dont mind a rather SLOW story, with not much fighting then this could be your pick.