Review: Jailbreak

DVD: Jailbreak (2017)

It’s been a great time lately here at 60MW Towers for fisticuffs action. No we’re not fighting amongst ourselves…we all know that Chris could beat us all up simultaneously with one hand tied behind his back. I am of course referring to the great martial arts movies that have dropped through our letterbox lately.

The Japanese Re:Born had more knives flashing across screen than when Gordon Ramsay loses his temper in any of his kitchen based television shows, while Kickboxer: Retaliation featured some amazing choreographed fights that played out in one camera shot.

So here we are as Cambodia throws its hat (and fists, and feet, and anything it can get its hands on) into the ring with Jailbreak.

The narrative of Jailbreak is simple enough, as a team of 4 specially trained police officers escort a notorious criminal into a maximum security jail because he is threatening to ‘blow the whistle’ on the head of the crime syndicate. Unfortunately for the police, their drop-off coincides with the titular Jailbreak whereby masses of pissed off and violent criminals proceed to run amok and kick the crap out of everyone who gets in their way.

As if that chaos wasn’t enough, the crime boss shows up welding a sword and causes even more carnage.

As you can probably tell from the synopsis above, Jailbreak may well lack in narrative depth, but it more than makes up for it with onscreen action as you’re never more than a few minutes away from yet another bruising and bloody fight scene.

The acting is fine across the entire cast, though none are given any scope for nuanced performances. This is all about kicking butt…and butt gets kicked…a lot.

If you love the martial arts movies listed at the beginning of this review, as well as the likes of The Raid and Headshot, then Jailbreak should definitely be put onto your ‘to buy’ list immediately.

Review by Dave (host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Umbrella Entertainment.