Arena
- Year:2011
- Rating:MA
- Director:Jonah Loop
- Cast:Kellan Lutz , Samuel L. Jackson, Johnny Messner
- Release Date:January 11, 2012
- Distributor:Sony
- The Film:1.0
- The Disc:Zero
“…suffers predominantly from its lackluster script and muddled direction.”
Aside from a brief Captain America cameo, it seems our good friend Sam Jackson was stuck in straight to DVD (or in this case Blu-ray) limbo, such as in the case of this atrocity, for most of 2011. Here he plays evil businessman Logan, who runs an illegal internet-broadcast game showcasing modern gladiatorial duels where against their will contestants must fight to the death in order to survive. Hunky fireman David (Twilight's Kellan Lutz) is kidnapped and thrust into the Arena, where he must survive a number of bouts in order to be set-free from the futuristic jail he now resides in, and the watchful eyes of the curious internet masses.
As predictable as an episode of Home & Away, Arena suffers predominantly from its lackluster script and muddled direction. Hailing from a special effects background, debut director Jonah Loop struggles to elicit any performance of note (even Jackson, sadly), and only seems truly comfortable when filling out the brisk ninety minutes with yet another slo-mo action sequence, when Lutz's pecs are given prime position.
Admittedly some of the visuals are both striking and colourful (particularly on the grainy fight sequences), but there's little on offer that will push your Blu-ray player to the absolute limits on the visual and audio front. More worrying is the distinct lack of a single extra - that's right, not even a measly trailer. We're sorry, but a "connect to BD Live for more" link just won't cut it.
