Weekly film analysis-The Condemned


The Condemned is a movie directed by Scott Wiper and was released in 2007. It was released by WWE movies and Lionsgate. The movie fits into the action genre. It could also be considered part of the crime genre too. The plot follows the protagonist character, Jack Conrad as he is placed in a game with around a dozen criminals on death row to fight to the death, with the winner gaining freedom. The plot is not overly thought-provoking and it is a film that is easy to watch.

The goal of the movie was probably to show people that chasing money for the wrong reasons (like the people who created and streamed the game did) is usually a bad thing and you will face consequences for it. Generally though, the movie was made to simply be an action-packed feature film. The film has themes of violence, survival, nature and battle royale.

The main star of the film was Jack Conrad who was portrayed by 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, former WWE professional wrestler. The character suits the actors personality and although it looked like he did a great job of being what he was supposed to be here, it would be hard to believe that Steve Austin would be successful portraying any other type of character. Vinnie Jones did a great job at playing one of the other main characters (the bad guy of the movie) in Ewan McStarley. His performance was probably the best of the movie. The characters did seem to be very much stereotypes. For example, Jack Conrad is as typical of a prisoner as you could find and even his appearance shows this.


The direction of the movie was clear and predictable for most of the movie. Generally, the pacing of the movie was fast but that was to be expected from an action movie with Stone Cold Steve Austin in it. The movie was not really special or different in comparison to any other action movie, but it still a good break from movies that tire your brain out thinking about the plot so much.

The music was fast paced and created tension and was pretty much used in every scene where it could possibly fit (and some where it couldn't). At times it could be quite distracting and actually take away the meaning of the screenplay.

The movie's cinematography was definitely not the best. The camera seemed to jump every millisecond and it was hard to keep with the fight scenes as it was showing a new camera angle far too frequently. However, the colouring and lighting matched the environment well and that part of the movie was done right.

Of course, a movie about prisoners on death row fighting to the death to see who gets freedom is never going to feel realistic, but the movie seemed even more artificial than it should have. The characters seemed way too confident and unrealistic considering the circumstances.



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