Marko Zaror – Action Hero Movies

This movie is a good half hour longer than any previous John Wick movie — it’s nearly 3 hours long! And the others had little plot between their very longwinded hollow violence scenes, so let’s hope this one isn’t just an extra dose of the same.

This movie kicks off with a very basic continuation of the very cool cliffhanger the previous movie ended on. The first 20 minutes proceed to indoctrinate us toward wimpy subservience to authority and to political correctness, to the detriment of our personal standards.

By 20 minutes in we’ve already met Keanu Reeves (John Wick), a fat old Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus from The Matrix), an ugly old Donnie Yen (from the Ip Man movies), Ian McShane (New York’s Continental Hotel Manager from the previous John Wick movies), Bill Skarsgård (who looks like a secret son of Steve Buscemi) and Hiroyuki Sanada (from Mortal Kombat 2021, and the planned 2026 sequel — as well as The Wolverine 2013 — and 47 Ronin 2013 alongside Keanu — acting here as Osaka Japan’s Continental Hotel Manager).

Soon we’ll also meet Scott Adkins (who should need no introduction) and by 25 minutes in we also meet Marko Zaror (from Undisputed III 2010 alongside Scott Adkins) who really shines in his role here — Zaror may even be the understated star of this show.

Donnie Yen’s been given quite a hotshot role here, as a blind man who fights better than practically anyone else, but he doesn’t impress me personally — he’s got quite a fish face on him, like Elon Musk and (Musk’s possible secret father) Pol Pot. Considering his star-power vs stardom imbalance, I’d expect he’s half Jewish, and the lead female in this movie probably is too, for similar reasons. Indeed, these Hollywood guys like to keep it in the family, even while representing different races with the help of their half-breed relatives who so often stick out like sore thumbs due to their lack of true talent.

In the end, I rate this movie Bang Average which is a level above all the previous John Wick movies since it has a slightly more interesting plot than those before it — it’s not just long scenes of hollow violence this time round, there’s a bit more to it. Still a bit thin, but not quite as bad as the others were. It has several new interesting characters too. Well done to the John Wick team for the improvement — this saga was a slow burner — hopefully they can improve it further if they ever make a fifth movie.

This is a much better movie than Undisputed II, which itself was a much better movie than the original Undisputed movie.

In ‘Undisputed III: Redemption’, Scott Adkins reprises his role as Yuri Boyka, now crippled with 1 broken leg after losing the last fight, and outcast to the filthy depths of Gaga’s prison – a similar position the Nikolai, the man in the wheelchair who helped his rival in Undisputed II.

Undisputed III is about the crippled beaten fighter, recovering to a level where he can fight again, but not yet fully recovered. This time, he surprises everyone by beating Gaga’s new champion Sykov, to earn himself a shot in an international prisoner tournament, then surprises everyone again by beating the guy given favourable treatment by the establishment. That’s literally the script in a nutshell, hence why I don’t rate it highly on plot, and the action is a bit monotonous, but it’s still clearly better than Undisputed II.

Other contestants include an American boxer called Turbo (played by Mykel Shannon Jenkins), a talented Brazilian capoeirista called Santiago Silva (played by Lateef Crowder), etc.

Undisputed III is like a cross between Van Damme’s movie In Hell (2003) where he fights prison battles organised by the wardens, and Van Damme’s other movie Bloodsport (or The Quest) where tournament contestants come from all around the world, showcasing their different styles.

I won’t spoil the story by going into further detail, I’ll just say this movie is a level above the ones before it in the Undisputed saga – a series of movies where each one is markedly better than the one before it (so far).

Scott Adkins does a good job, as do most of the other significant cast members, including Mykel Jenkins the American boxer who befriends Boyka; Mark Ivanir who plays Gaga; and Marko Zaror who plays Dolor, the Colombian fighter who is the main antagonist in this movie aside from the prison bosses & military leaders in charge.

In-keeping with the pattern of improving upon the last one, Undisputed III also has a good ending, even better than that from Undisputed II.