I’ve been following the making of this film since last summer and imagined it would be worth the price of admission if only to see Bautista (In Hollywood we keep the U in)  on screen. As it happens I was pleasantly surprised, Wrong Side of Town was much better than I thought it would be.

If you don’t want to be spoiled on the movie you should stop reading now.

The plot involves Bobby Kalinowski, a landscape architect in the suburbs….of some town. Geography is not this film’s strong suit. Bobby, his wife, Dawn and  daughter, Brianna, enjoy the quiet life but a chance invitation from the new neighbors lands Bobby and Dawn downtown after dark in one of the town’s swank night clubs.  The club owner, Ethan Bordas,  is a crook and his younger brother, Ethan, is a cocaine addict who can’t keep his grabby hands off the  club patrons. Unfortunately for Ethan, he goes after Mrs. Kalinowski and ends up  dead.  Thirsty for revenge, Seth puts a $100,000 bounty on Bobby’s head. That kind of money brings out all the town’s thugs and Bobby has to fight his way through them all in order to save his family.

The first twenty minutes or so of the film are a bit rough. RVD is not a natural actor but he gives the role his all and by the time we get to the action sequences seems to have eased into Bobby’s skin somewhat.  My biggest knock on this whole film is Brooke Frost, cast as Brianna. The actress and her acting were more than adequate  but the role seemed to be written for a much, much younger actress, like, a twelve year old actress instead of the mid-twenty something Frost. I found the mismatch very grating.  Edrick Browne as the super nerdy wine broker neighbor, Clay,  was also saddled with some bad scripting.

Moving on. If you can get through the first act, you’ll be set to enjoy the rest of the film.

So, Ethan’s dead  and his big brother wants revenge, this is where the movie picks up. Word spreads quickly about the bounty and soon enough every gangsta’ in town is looking for Bobby.  After a run in with a gang in a parking garage, Bobby leads Dawn, Clay and Clay’s wife to the nearest police station.  The group gets set up by Seth’s dirty cop, Briggs (Louis Herthum). The four are packed off in a taxi which gets waylaid at a gas station by a second gang. Director, David DeFalco pulls a cameo as the gang leader and Bobby has to think on his feet to elude the roughs and their massive animal, Animal (Nelson Frazier Jr. aka  former WWE Superstar, Viscera).

Tired, a bullet in his leg, Bobby sends the women home with Clay while he heads even deeper into the wrong side of town to call in a favor from an old military friend, Big Ronnie (David Bautista). The part about them being friends seems to be news to B.R. Since the two left the Navy SEALs Bobby hasn’t called, he hasn’t come down to visit Big Ronnie at his strip club and he’s never invited Ronnie out to the ‘burbs to meet the Kalinowski family. Big Ronnie has feelings too and Bobby has hurt them good. Hurt feelings aside, Big Ronnie tells Bobby that he can’t help him and send Bobby back into the cold night.

Ok, so Bautista pretty much steals the movie right here.  He and Van Dam have good action flick buddy chemistry.  (Click here for images from the film)

Limping away from B.R.’s seedy bar, Bobby is attacked by yet another gang looking to cash in on him. Led by Razor (rap star, Ja Rule), this new gang is already aware of how lethal Bobby can be with his hands and feet so they hold him down and beat him. Then the cavalry comes in the form of Big Ronnie who stops the beating, in his own style.  In one of the laugh out loud funny scenes of the film, Razor has a hard time understanding what “Let him go!” means, so Ronnie has to make his point more clear.

As the night wears on Seth gets more restless, he presses the dirty cop for Bobby’s home address. Now Bobby, with the help of Big Ronnie,  has to fight his way through the full wrath of Bordas’ army, including stealthy ninja body guard, Markus (Marrese Crump) to save his kidnapped daughter and end this beef with Seth.

If you’ve ever seen a Steven Seagal /Jean Claude Van Damme / Stallone /Schwarzenegger film then you already have a good idea  how Wrong Side of Town ends, no need to give away all the surprise twists and turns here.  All in all, Wrong Side of Town is an entertaining, low budget,  cliché filled action film, don’t expect more than it is.  The acting ranges from really bad to, pretty good, with veteran character actor Louis Herthum  as Detective Briggs bringing the most to the table.

The production quality, from the James Bond-esque title sequence, to the DVD’s special features is good.  Just as the film was cast to draw in a diverse crowd, the film’s soundtrack reflects that same diversity, rap, rock and vocals, something is bound to get your toe tapping.

And of course, the film features Bautista!  His role is rather small but he handles it very well, turning in a few good dramatic sequences atop the action and the unexpected humour. This guy is really funny!  The  end of this movie has the sequel built in and hopefully Bautista as  Big Ronnie has a Bigger Role.

I’m not sure if this film is even MPAA rated. If it is I’d guess it’s rated R. There are a few topless women, including adult entertainment star, Stormy Daniels.  There is a lot of profanity, Big Ronnie curses like a sailor. There is gun play, hand to hand violence,  and a prison shank~!

Is  Wrong Side of Town worth renting or  buying? At $17.99 from Amazon.com , or a few bucks at the video store, yes, I’d recommend it.

Following up on the story AlyCat broke yesterday, GMA News reports that will start filming Wapakman this July. Said to be a comedy in the style of Kung Fu Hustle, the film also stars half Filipino actress, Nicole Scherzinger of the music group, The Pussycat Dolls. Scherzinger may also be familiar to wrestling fans because she sand the National Anthem at Wrestlemania this year.

Watch this video on the GMA News website

And read the accompanying story… in Tagalog Come on Pinoy Fans, can anyone translate this for us, please?