Dommages

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

"Damage" is a remake of a Charles Bronson flick, "Hard Times," which in turn was remade some years later with J.C. Van Damme. Steve Austin plays an ex-con who gets involved in the murky and illegal world of bare knuckle fighting. A hokey subplot has our hero trying to raise enough money to obtain a new heart for the daughter of a late acquaintance. Walter Goggins plays Austin's sleazy but likable manager and the very pretty Laura Van DerVoot is Goggins' partner. Several veteran actors were cast as well, including Donnelly Rhodes, to support Austin, who in fact isn't all that bad as the soft-spoken, hard-hitting tough guy. Casting several veterans in a film like this is nothing new; it has been used with folks like Chuck Norris, Ah-nuld and Steven Segal, none of whom started out as actors. The fights are clumsily staged, which in a strange way befits an ex-pro wrestler. "Damage" doesn't begin to touch the Bronson version, but it is watchable, especially for Goggins, who reminds me of a young Tom Cruise.

You wouldn't expect a lunkheaded beat 'em up starring hulking wrestler Steve Austin to go for the heart, but this virtual remake of the Van Damme vehicle A.W.O.L. (aka LIONHEART) is all feeling. Austin plays a guy fresh out of prison who finds himself engaging in a brutal gambling ring where he battles opponents to the death. His motive? To pay for an operation for an ailing girl.

For the most part, the film is all about the violence, featuring a string of well-choreographed and exciting bouts between Austin and various, even more fearsome fighters. Such bouts are satisfyingly hard-hitting and unflinching, and Austin holds his own against even the toughest brawlers.

What surprises is that the story outside of the violence is also engaging, with Austin delivering a realistic turn as a guy forced down a dark path in his bid to do good, and some heartfelt emotion dished out along the way with it. It's no classic, for sure, but it ably does what it sets out to do, which is entertain.

I feel the first thing I should do is confess that I'm not a wrestling fan - I've hardly watched the sport, and I've never seen Steve Austin in action. Obviously, he wasn't the reason why I rented this movie. What did get me to rent it was my love of B movies - I watch them all the time. This one got me interested since it promised it would have a lot of action (fighting) in it.

Now here comes my second confession - I didn't think very much of "Damage". True, it does look pretty good for what was a Canadian low budget movie. And Austin, though he's no actor, does bring to the screen a strong presence and wisely doesn't try to be very expressive in his somewhat limited dialogue. But despite all that, I found the movie to be somewhat boring. There's far too much talk, as well as multiple subplots that slow the action from coming. And when the action does come, it's somewhat disappointing. The fights are mostly filmed with the camera zoomed way in, and with somewhat quick cuts, making the action hard to follow at times. The fights are supposed to be brutal, but I never got the feeling the fighters were suffering or in pain at any time.

This isn't a BAD movie - it's just somewhat bland and disappointing, considering they got a skilled fighter and a premise that would indicate wall-to-wall action. You can safely skip this one.

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.