Diablo

The first time they fough it was in the very awesome Undisputed 3 and it gave us one of the best western martial art fight of its decade.

The second time it was in Savage Dog and altough not "terrible", it was very underwhelming.

This one really was great ! Very different than Undisputed due to not only the setting but Marko having a metal hand wich plays in the story. Its brutal and its not short !

And its not only Scott vs Marko but the movie as a whole as a lot of fights and they done pretty well. Yes some of them feel a bit like "hey we need a fight here, so lets put an excuse for one" but do you turn up for a Scott Adkins movie for great story telling or for action?

The story is both good and full of holes/under developed. The relationship between Scott/Kris and Elissa was fun to follow. I think they had good chemistry and i really enjoyed the performance from Alanna de la Rossa.

Marko Zaror balding look really is not flattering but work perfectly for the character he plays in this. He look very creepy and altough his character is written as very stoic, he manage to convince in his physical acting.

Now the biggest issue is if you look a little deeper in the story, there is really major holes and plot points issues, and lots of stuff is not flesh out. This is a simple story yes, but i do think it could had used an extra 20 to 30 minutes to be flesh out a bit.

But as i said if you tune in for a Scott Adkins movie (featuring Marko Zaror), you ain't doing it for a deep story or some amazing dialogues. You want a movie about butt kickings and this is exactly what you gonna get with this.

I gave many movies 7 out of 10 and they were just "fine", and they were movies i had no intend to watch again. I could totally see myself watch Diablo again, i had a lot of fun with the movie, so therefore its gonna be an 8.

Just keep in mind i review movies on the fun i had with them first and foremost (but can aknowledge a "good movie" that is simply not for me) and i am more lenient with direct to VOD lower budget movies, so its a subjective score.

I thought Alanna De La Rossa was excellent, despite a few wobbles. She portrayed some endearing qualities through her character, which were entirely miscast: churlish whimsy doesn't gel with pistol whipping baddies. Scott Adkins didn't have much more than a one-dimensional character, he was there for the fighting in which he excelled.

If you are into martial arts and nicely choreographed fight scenes, this is for you. If you are looking for a coherent story with at least a modicum of plausibility, steer clear. From the start to the finish, you need to not so much suspend disbelief, but pack it in a box and ship it to a small village in Outer Mongolia with instructions that it is buried at least 12 feet underground.

Not bad, not bad at all.

Scott has done a few clunkers lately, so I wasn't sure what to expect here.

While not as good as the Undisputed series or Avengement, it's on the higher tier just below them to me.

A welcome return to lots of martial arts without the comedic nonsense that he too often does lately.

The actor who played the bad guy, I'd never heard of, but he did a great job as a menacing, serious opponent to Scott, especially with his "enhancements". You'll find out what I mean when you see the movie.

If you are a Scott Adkins fan or enjoy martial arts movies, it's well worth watching.

Diablo isn't breaking new ground in the story department-revenge, betrayal, and brooding antiheroes are all here in familiar form-but what it does deliver is sharp execution, literally and figuratively.

Scott Adkins does what Scott Adkins does best: move like a damn machine and make the action look brutally efficient. The fight choreography is tight, fluid, and creatively staged, and the camera work actually does it justice (no shaky cam nonsense or hyper-edits). Action fans will be happy.

Big shoutout to the actress who plays Elissa-she brings a level of intensity and emotional grounding that elevates every scene she's in. While the plot's a bit vanilla, her performance is legit, and I hope to see her in more leading roles down the line.

Not a game-changer, but if you're here for adrenaline and clean fight sequences, Diablo delivers.

A "mythical killer" finally gets a chance at revenge, by putting his enemy's daughter in danger.

Unfortunately, this is a very straightforward and simplistic story with only a handful of solid fight sequences to hold it together. And while competently made, it feels like it never delivers more than the bare minimum.. resulting in a somewhat dull product. There's little tension or suspense, and no good lines or memorable moments.

I find particularly disappointing how it fails to sell the villain as a freakish, unstoppable force. That there's no emotional weight or payoff, and how it is just not engaging or fun to watch.

I quite enjoy Scott Adkins and usually enjoy his work, but this one falls flat and explodes dead on the floor.