Man in a Cell
Jack Stone (Matthew Reese) was happily married cop, that is until his wife is killed thanks to a Russian crime lord by the name of Balam (Chuck Liddell). Determined to get revenge Jack is forced to get himself thrown in prison for robbing a bank as not only does Balam control the police force but does so from deep within a prison where he lives in a specially built room and surrounded by enough heavies that even the prison warden won't venture in to Balam's area. But it seems that Jack is not the only one inside with ulterior motives as he meets William (Dolph Lundgren), supposedly a trustee and also Alena (Danielle Chuchran).
"Man on a Ledge", let me toss that into your cerebral mix and see if it causes any thoughts to fire off. Nope, well "Riot" reminded me heavily of "Man on a Ledge" because we have a cop who puts himself on the wrong side of the law to get even with a criminal who wrecked his life. And from this seemingly impossible situation of being behind bars are hero is orchestrating things with a package dropped off to a lawyer and so forth so slowly over the course of the movie a bigger picture is revealed. As such whilst I have given you enough in that synopsis to create a picture of what "Riot" is all about there is more going on than just that although whilst creative it isn't a complex movie.
One of those things you will probably be wondering as you watch "Riot" is where is Dolph Lundgren as for the first 30 minutes it is all on Matthew Reese with his shirt off, his rippling muscles showing and some fast fist work grabbing your attention. Lundgren does eventually show up as a prison trustee who acts like an old man with a limp and shortly after we see Lundgren we also see Danielle Chuchran who plays a plucky female prisoner who isn't easily intimidated. Of course it is obvious before we are told that these two are not as they seem.
Now I could go on describing things in "Riot" but in truth it would be a waste of yours and my time as this movie for all its suggested cleverness is all about Matthew Reese as Jack Stone kicking butt with some choreographed action scenes. And to be frank whilst the action does feel over choreographed it is entertaining to see Reese doing the hero stuff whilst Lundgren and Chuchran every now and then also getting involved.
What this all boils down to is that "Riot" isn't a great movie but for those who are looking for a sharp action movie with some creativity it keeps you entertained.
