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Castle Falls (2021) Was Worth The Wait. When Taekwondo Life Magazine spoke to Scott Adkins in June, 2020 the production of Castle Falls had come to a halt as the world shut down during the height of the Global Coronavirus Pandemic. Earlier this year production on the film resumed, and it is set to hit theaters on Friday 3, 2021. Castle Falls was worth the wait-it is very good.

The tightly scripted and efficiently directed film features Adkins and fellow martial artist and action star Dolph Lundgren. As both "down and out" men's paths cross in their quest for $3 million hidden in an abandoned hospital they find themselves having to elude a ruthless gang in search of the money. The situation is accelerated by the near imminent demolition of the hospital where the quest is underway forcing an alliance in order to survive.

While this film does not have the same humor and chemistry of Adkins' Debt Collector buddy films, it is still impressive to see these two martial arts action legends work together and play off of each other's strengths. They both do a good job individually, and together, in demonstrating their acting and action skills. This is a small film with a big heart.

As for the action; the film does not disappoint. There is plenty of action and well choreographed fighting, including the great scenes where Adkins and Lundgren face off against each other. For a 90 minute film the audience is treated to a great sampling of Scott Adkins' martial arts and Taekwondo acumen. He is one of the most fun action stars to watch, on the scene today.

Lundgren is the film's Director, and he does a very good job. The film is visually accessible, past faced, and fun to watch. I applaud Lundgren for his direct approach to the story, the action, and the fight choreography. The abandoned hospital provides a visually interesting setting for the majority of the film's action. This film balances the action and the drama for a highly watchable end product.

Yes, I watched that Apex abomination from Bruce Willis and I wondered how bad can this low budget ($1.5m) be, from our friends Lundgren and Adkins.

I was ready for a disaster and it did start slow and emotional, kind of depressing, but then it changed gears up and up, it got action, humor, blood, tears, in a more rounded package than the usual action movies.

The fights were violent and dirty, the way a street fight should be.

The ending was cooler than a big truck doing donuts at the golf course (on Bruce Willis retirement home) and then rolling coal on Bruce Willis! :D The lesson is that when underdogs get a windfall, it never comes in a silver plate, nope, it comes chained to two big raging bulldogs and it will take a lot of guts and blood to get it.

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!

Nowhere in the entire movie I saw the character of Lundgren wearing sunglasses, so how come in the poster he got one.

The plot has been done countless no of times before, none of the fights are brutal n the end a big piece of cake.

But still I enjoyed it cos of Lundgren n Adkins.

Dolph Lundgren should just stick to acting, because his directing was terrible. Many scenes were too long, bad angles, with lots of amateur mistakes. For example, how did Lundgren's eyeglasses stay on everytime he got punched in the face lol? Even the scene cuts were bad and were missing the pro elements an experienced director would know. He also didn't direct his cast properly, as some actors seemed lost, while others where just too overbearing. The fight scenes were too long and poorly choreographed for the most part, although the action was good. The 90 min runtime felt much longer with the slow pacing, and there was just too much filler and very little substance. The entire cat and mouse chases were dragged out and boring - up some stairs, down some stairs, in a room, out of a room... repeat. However the premise of the story by novice writer Andrew Knauer was actually very creative and enjoyable. I just wish it had more substance, and it needed some plot-issues tuning. The casting and acting were decent (albeit lacking direction), and Lundgren's acting was spot on. But the star here was Scott Adkins, who pretty much carried the entire film. The score wasn't bad for a B film, and the cinematography was good. Had this film been directed by a seasoned filmmaker, it would've been a hit. If you're a fan of Lundgren and/or Adkins, you'll enjoy this one. It's a 6/10 from me.