Wrong Side of Town

Lionsgate is known for many things: Releasing controversial movies ("Irreversible", "O", "American Psycho"), prestige pictures that get award attention ("Precious", "Crash", "Away From Her") and of course Horror movies (too many to count-though that genre has unfortunately taken something of a back seat as far as theatrical releases are concerned.) But the one thing people tend to forget to associate Lionsgate with is Straight to DVD movies. For who knows how long, Lionsgate has been giving the world the best (well, usually worst or most mediocre) in straight to DVD Horror, Action and general Exploitation. David (the absolutely abysmal "Last House on the Left" rip off "Chaos") Defalco now gets into this market with "Wrong Side of Town", a really bad but at least laughable blend of Wrestlesploitation (B-Movie with a Professional Wrestler(s)) and Rapsploitation (B-Movie with a Rapper(s).)

Bobby Kalinowsky (Rob Van Dam) is living a peaceful life with his wife and daughter, when they are invited to a night club run by a corrupt crime lord named Seth (Jerry Katz.) When his wife is nearly raped by Seth's coked up younger brother, Bobby comes in to save to day-and inadvertently kills the guy. None to pleased by this turn of events, Seth puts a bounty on Bobby's head, and hires local gangs (which include R&B singer Omarian, rapper Ja Rule and wrestler Viscera) to hunt him down. Thing is, Bobby is an ex-navy seal, and knows how to fight back. He knows he can't go at it alone though, so he turns to his old buddy Big Ronnie (Dave Bautista) for help.

First thing's first: "Wrong Side of Town" is not anywhere near as bad as DeFalco's prior movie "Chaos", as it's nowhere near as downbeat or ugly as that film. It's still an inept exercise though, with atrocious acting (more on that in the next paragraph), poorly choreographed action scenes, poor direction, heavily advertised actors not getting particularly huge roles (Ja Rule is barely in it, and probably wondering what the hell happened to his career in that he has ended up having a small role in a terrible Straight to DVD movie from the director of "Chaos", and Bautista, despite getting top billing, is barely in the thing), bad editing, and so much more. Sure, you can throw in all the nudity (including a cameo from porn star Stormy Daniels) and action you can, but that doesn't make the movie good.

And back to the acting. Oh boy, it is atrocious. Nobody in this movie can act worth a damn-especially star Rob Van Dam, who acts stiff and boring to the point that you wonder if he's an inanimate object and not a living being. In fact, the terrible acting ends up becoming the sole saving grace of this movie, as it becomes hilarious. My stomach actually hurt from laughing so hard, especially when we first meet the character of Big Ronnie. It's almost worth cherishing in that respect.

Apart from it's casting, there is no real distinguishing "Wrong Side of Town" from any other bad Straight to DVD action movie from Lionsgate. Everything from the cheap "James Bond" inspired opening credits to everything else on display is low rent to the point of inanity. That out of the way, if sh!%%y Straight to DVD action movies are your thing, and if you want a good laugh out of cinematic ineptitude, then by all means watch this.

First off, I'm extremely embarrassed to say I actually took the time to watch this movie. That being said, I'm still sad that this hour and a half of my life was toilet bowled, but I did get to laugh out loud quite a few times. Unfortunately those were supposed to be very serious moments.

Where to begin with this debacle I do not know. As I was watching this absolutely ridiculous and cliché drenched mess I kept saying to myself "surely a teenager made this movie!" There's no other possible answer for this horrific story, acting, everything, you name it!

If I am able to save at least one poor soul out there the agony I've endured then I feel I've done my job here trying to help out mankind at least a bit. So please, please for the love of God stay as far as humanly possible away from not only this wrong side of town, but the same city, state and continent if at all possible. It doesn't matter if it's free on cable, pirated, you're drunk, stoned, or all of the above, it's not worth it!!!

If you absolutely must, then make sure someone pays you handsomely first.

Bottom line, if you're in the mood for a decent action flick, see anything else, even if you've already seen it 100 times!

In one word for this film it is 'classless". Poor acting all the way throughout, mediocre action sequences, and to much of an original plot.

If you find yourself extremely bored and with absolutely nothing to do then watch this.

Too many wrestlers who want to be actors nowadays and this film does nothing for the acting of Rob Van Dam or Dave Bautista.

Less than thrilling in it's sequence of movement. The only thing I found interesting in this film was the cars and bikes.

I have come to the conclusion with the Rock being the exception to the rule is that wrestlers need not go into acting.

This movie is among the spate of movies built around WWE pro wrestlers - most of which were trashed on theatrical release - and some simply going straight to video, like this one.

Unlike the other movies in this "genre" the setup has a legitimate action thriller plot rather than a mindless plot involving a pointless competition or defeating an army of baddies - most commonly on some unnamed island.

That said, this movie utilizes the well-worn premise of a hot head derelict reckless grope-hungry man being killed by our lead actor - only to find out that he's in fact the son or brother of a ruthless viscious local crime boss - who of course wants revenge.

Here it's the boss's brother. Oh wait. In a shocking plot twist we learn that it's actually his SON, not his brother- like it even mattered.

The cast boasts wrestler Rob Van Dam who has a spotty theatrical filmography and David Bautista, filmed at a time that Bautista was just on the verge of becoming a respectable actor.

There is also a cameo-ish appearance by Stormy Daniels - yes THAT Stormy Daniels - with actual lines to boot, in one of her handful of IMDB acting credits that can actually display a thumbnail and and a synopsis.

Of course, once you know the plot, the movie is entirely mercilessly predictable. To tell you that the finale is a "spoiler" would be giving this movie too much credit.

Rob van Dam is a passable actor, and he has an immensely cute and only barely annoying daughter Brooke Frost. The fight scenes are in fact entertaining - as opposed to ridiculous or campy - and of course he benefits from having a back history of being an "ex-Navy Seal" like so many other protagonists of this genre. In the 4-5 fights, there were a mind boggling 5-15 combatants, when maybe 3-4 would have sufficed.

In the end, van Dam and Bautista leave dead bodies everywhere and go on their merry way - without the film giving us any hint of any potential legal percussions.

Overall, this was fun watchable kick butt movie.

..and I'm talking about the Film technical side! how is it even possible that an elevator show up in a movie (which has some awful editorial work!) which has nothing to do with the scene or even the situation within the scene?! i just don't get it. i really am upset!

the technical side of this movie is pure horrible. I'm glad i don't own it. but i thought the world should know this: the acting is one thing, but if the editing is bad - and i mean really 'bad' - how worse can it be?

watch it yourself with an eye on the little details.. sometimes it seems the actors weren't told what to do.

I rated it 2 out of 10 because the acting overall didn't blow as much as the technical incompetence that leads through this movie.

• one upset movie lover.