CASTLE FALLS (Dolph Lundgren, 2021)

[Jox]

Seems like a good French review but can't read it all
https://soirmag.lesoir.be/665278/articl ... ne-serie-b

[Jox]

Action heroes, normal jobs
https://www.polygon.com/action/551760/a ... ist-ranked

13. Castle Falls



The job: Demolition crew member
The hero: Scott Adkins
Where to watch: Peacock, Prime Video with ads, and for free with ads on Pluto TV and Plex

Castle Falls opens with an aging MMA fighter, played by Scott Adkins (John Wick: Chapter 4), losing a practice match and coming to the sad realization that his pro fighting days are over. With no job prospects and no money to make rent, he loads up his truck to search for work in a new city. While living out of his vehicle, he scores a temp job as part of a demolition crew working on an abandoned hospital. There, he stumbles across a large sum of hidden money in the wreckage and hatches a plan to quietly retrieve it in the hours before the building is fully brought down. When the time comes, he quickly discovers he’s not the only one after the money. And it will be a race against the clock to grab it and sneak out before the entire structure collapses around him.

Castle Falls is a rare Scott Adkins-fronted action project where martial arts isn’t the sole focus. While there are a few fights, including one with fellow action luminary Dolph Lundgren (who not only co-stars, but also directed here), it’s more about survival, as Adkins’ character has to use his knowledge of the site to stealthily get out with enough money to turn his fortunes around. Adkins has long been a name that knowledgeable fans have come to rely on for old-school action thrills, and Castle Falls delivers that in spades, along with a dash of working-class grit.

[Jox]

Someone skipped their research

9 Best Recent Action Movies That Are 90 Minutes or Less
https://movieweb.com/best-new-action-mo ... s-or-less/

7 'Castle Falls' (2021)
89 Minutes

Another Scott Adkins outing, Castle Falls is Dolph Lundgren's first time in the director's chair. The film stars Adkins as a former MMA fighter who is a member of a demolition crew that is set to blow up an abandoned hospital. He stumbles upon $3 million in cash and, while trying to get out, encounters Lundgren's corrections officer, who needs the money to help pay for his daughter's medical treatments. While they have to try and get past each other, the gang that hid the money initially sends men to collect it, and Lundgren and Adkins have to work together to get out alive before the building blows up.

The film has a fun timing mechanism that keeps the story moving along because of the tight deadline the characters are under. There are awesome fight scenes, as two master martial artists go to work against the crew of bad guys. As anyone can imagine, there's a worthy explosion that kicks the action up a notch. The movie checks in at 89 minutes. Lundgren also directed 2024's Wanted Man.