Star: Scott Adkins

One More Shot (2024) – Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White

This movie started out looking like a B movie, considering its sound effects, camerawork and acting standards. But it soon caught fire and sustained my attention and entertained me once Scott Adkins appeared about 10 minutes in.

Well done to whoever managed to put this semi-respectable movie together on what seems like a humble budget, outside of the resources of Hollywood et al. To its credit, the action and equipment used, seems to make great use of low budget money. The camerawork and sound effects were also on point intermittently throughout this movie, for example, at nearly 45 minutes in when Scott silently takes a man out by sneaking up and jamming a knife in his neck, that was really slick choreography backed by strong cinematography to the point it’s not noticeably any worse than top Hollywood standards for a moment there. So it’s not a bad effort and not a bad result overall, considering what we’re working with here.

Make no mistake, I am not one of those guys who enjoys watching the occasional B-movie. I can’t stand them, but this movie kind of works, so I guess it can’t be a B-movie really, especially since it’s starring Scott Adkins and has some decent settings & props – it’s more like a BBC drama episode mixed up with a Hollywood action superstar or two. It’s like something made for Netflix, with cost cuts all over the place. Less grandiose visuals and sound effects; more irritating suspenseful noise effects and godawful Eastenders-style acting throughout. But it has some seriously strong action scenes. Scott Adkins basically carries this movie, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were literally made for him, maybe even funded by him.

It turns out the truth is not far off. It was made by one of the UK’s leading independent production & distribution agencies (Signature Entertainment, founded by Marc Goldberg, a West Ham supporter), and its UK distribution rights were bought by Sky, while its US distribution rights were bought by a division of Sony (called Destination Films). So it’s not exactly Hollywood, but its roughly the next best level around.

It was good to see Michael Jae White join the show too, a little over half an hour in. I don’t say that very often – I’m not his biggest fan – he’s all fronting, even in real life, a bit like Steven Seagal, but with far less martial arts skill – but at least he’s another name in the cast, so it’s likely to continue being a half decent movie, with some effort towards plot development through the remaining hour of the movie. Having said that, he has put in some decent performances in some of his movies, this one included – he’s working with some very corny lines here, but delivers them like a boss. Well, near enough, for the kind of standard we can reasonably hope for here.

Alexis Knapp puts in a respectable performance as the female leader of the baddies in One More Shot. Tom Berenger does a fair job as a CIA boss who she kills, and Edward ‘Teddy’ Linard makes a convincing mercenary.

The blood-soaked crying & snivelling was overly dragged out towards the back end of this movie – we don’t need so much of that in an action hero movie. But the techniques of blackmail & torture are realistic considering what really goes on in this world – well done to the team for raising awareness of such dastardly tactics.

The ending was a bit anticlimactical, as if the real ending was chopped off and we only saw up until the scene before it. But it’s not a terrible ending either – I’ve seen plenty of otherwise decent action movies have a really poor ending and this wasn’t any worse than them. It was kind of smooth, but short and underwhelming compared to what it could have been, but realistically, considering how bad the start was, we shouldn’t be expecting a better ending than what we got.

This movie is actually a sequel to One Shot (2021) also starring Scott Adkins – be sure to check it out if you were a fan of this movie – maybe even watch that one first. Both are named after the one-shot or one-take filming method where the entire movie is either shot in one single long continuous take, or (more realistically) edited to appear as if it were shot that way, or at least with very few sharp switches between scenes. Between these two movies – One Shot and One More Shot – that’s already half of everything the British screenwriter & director James Nunn and the British producer Ben Jacques are known for. Marc Goldberg co-produced One Shot alongside his colleague Ben Jacques, then stepped down to allow Ben to take the lead in One More Shot; while James Nunn (not the actor) personally wrote and directed both movies, presumably with significant input from Scott Adkins and other highly experienced cast members.

Distribution rights to the original movie, One Shot (2021), were purchased by Screen Media Ventures, LLC (trading as Screen Media or Screen Media Films). Its parent company Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc went bankrupt in 2024 after declaring over half a billion dollars in losses during 2023. Oops!

All in all, I rate One More Shot as Watchable – no more, no less. I won’t level it up to “OK” because that would be setting you up for disappointment since it’s certainly not on the level of the movies that I have rated OK. But I also won’t say it’s intolerable – I genuinely watched it from start to finish and it kind of sustained my interest and was worthy of a review. I would have switched off within about 15 minutes if it were anything less, but it delivered, and to be honest, after the dead first few minutes, I had to scan ahead to make sure it gets better, then go back and continue from where I left off. The other movies I’ve rated watchable include performances from pretty much all the best action movie stars of all time – they’ve all done some stinkers in their time, so it’s nothing to be terribly ashamed of, but make no mistake, they’ve all done much better too, Scott Adkins included. That’s not to say his performance here was terrible – he actually did quite well, considering what he was working with. He was his usual self, with a bit more weight on his shoulders, and a bit more baggage hanging on his coattails. Fair play. Don’t write him off as finished just yet. He deserves one more shot. Ba-dum tss!

Prison

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006) – Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White

With Undisputed II, the plot has improved a bit since the last one (although to be fair, any plot at all would have been an improvement).

Scott Adkins does alright here as Yuri Boyka – we don’t see much of his character come out until half way through the movie, since he’s meant to be a cold character, but when he realises his opponent was drugged so his victory was not legitimate, we see a bit more of what he’s about and can begin to sympathise with his character. For what script he’s been given, he does very well with it. He makes a convincing character, and his high spinning kicks & tricks are quite incredible in this movie.

This may also be one of Michael Jai White’s best performances, as the world heavyweight champion George Chambers who’s had drugs planted on him just to get him inside a mafia-controlled prison in Kiev so that Yuri Boyka can have a challenge in someone decent to fight. I’m not the biggest fan of MJW as an action hero, but he holds down this role very well.

Supporting cast range from mediocre to decent – not quite the circle of legends from the original Undisputed (2002) who were twiddling their thumbs trying to make a movie without a script; but still there’s some credible supporting actors here, especially Mark Ivanir who performs impressively in the role of the mafia boss called Gaga, and Eli Danker who does a decent job as Nikolai aka Crot the old man who helps George Chambers a bit.

It would have been nice to have another strong character in this movie, since Scott Adkins has such a cold role here, and there’s no women involved, making it a bit of a dull movie but still not as bad as the first in the Undisputed saga. It’s actually got a surprisingly good ending considering how slow it can be at other times. Don’t miss the further sequels as some of these issues may be rectified a bit.

Hunting

Hard Target 2 (2016) – Scott Adkins

This is not a bad movie – it’s of a respectable standard – but is easily 1 or 2 levels below the original classic from 1993.

In Hard Target 2 (2016), the screenplay, camera work and sound effects – and even the acting by Scott Adkins – are not quite as on point as we had in the original Hard Target movie starring Van Damme. So the atmosphere is not quite there in the same way. But it’s still a respectable movie worth watching sequentially after the original.

Scott Adkins does alright – he is his usual self – he’s just a bit too “everyday stunt man” for this role compared to the piercing attention given by Van Damme in the original. Maybe that’s just Scott’s way of acting, or maybe he was distracted with something, or maybe it’s a cinematography issue, but he just doesn’t seem totally with it, and at times is trying too hard, with external expressions that don’t appear to be coming from deeply inside. We know Scott can perform outstandingly when the role suits him better, as we’ve seen with Ninja (2009) where everything lined up and clicked together nicely – not just the outfits and supporting cast members although they were very much on point in that movie.

The lead female character in this movie is played by Ann Truong – again, she is a level or two below who we had in the original, for my taste, but to her credit, her acting was decent and some men will even prefer her style. She’s a bit of a butch warrior woman, with vulnerability and dominance in equal measures. Some men are into that, I guess – take Van Damme’s real life bodybuilder wife for example – he probably could have married Kylie Minogue if he wanted, since they had a fling while shooting Streetfighter immediately after finishing the original Hard Target movie, but instead he preferred to marry the Puerto Rican bodybuilder Gladys Portugues. So I’m not saying Ann Truong was a bad casting choice for the general masses, I’m just saying the casting of Yancy Butler as the lead female in the original movie was a much more powerful ingredient, for my taste. And that’s what these reviews are about – I’m not reviewing movies based on the likely perception of the masses, I’m reviewing them based on my own preferences, just for myself and anyone who can relate.

Good to see the return of Robert Knepper as the chief baddie. He was great in the original, and he kind of stole the show in this movie too.

Other supporting cast members were fair enough but didn’t wow.

Prison Sport

Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) – Scott Adkins

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.

Assassins Vengeance

Assassination Games (2011) – Jean-Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins

Classic moody old Van Damme and classic moody prime Scott Adkins join forces in a beautiful depiction of two expert assassins colliding on a job then joining forces to finish personal vendettas against the odds. The only reason I don’t rate Assassination Games higher is because it has a fairly simplistic script and probably a lower budget than it deserves. The basic concepts in the plot are good, but they fail to flesh out into a more comprehensive plot to entertain us on another level which we should be considering the stars involved. The script is thin but the two action hero superstars carry this movie into a moderate success. The opening scene seems almost B Movie quality, but it quickly improves. Granted, there are some cool sets, like Van Damme’s apartment with secret rooms, and his agent’s lair was convincing too. All in all, it’s makes for decent viewing when you haven’t seen it in a while.

Supporting cast includes Kristopher Van Varenberg, also known as Kris Van Damme, and Bianca Van Varenberg, also known as Bianca Bree and Bianca Van Damme – these are Jean-Claude Van Damme’s two children from his current wife who he divorced then re-married (Jean-Claude has a son to ex-wife Darcy LaPier also – that one being called Nicholas Van Varenberg). Indeed, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s name is actually Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg. In this movie, his daughter Bree plays the comatose wife of Scott Adkins’ character, and Van Damme’s son Kris plays one of the enemies of Adkins’ character.

Prison Redemption Sport

Boyka: Undisputed IV (2016) – Scott Adkins

The Undisputed saga is quite unusual in how every next movie is better than the one before it, and this movie is no exception to this – at least in a way (mood wise, and maybe also plot wise) Undisputed IV is considerably better than the already much improved Undisputed III.

The cast is about as good as previously, but cast was never much of a problem in this saga. We have a lot of new faces now – only Yuri Boyka (played by Scott Adkins) is the same, plus the odd prison warden or military boss in a very minor role. But the sound has been upped a level, as is noticeable from the outset – the atmosphere is much more like what you’d expect from a high budget, high quality action movie now.

Cast wise, Scott does well as always. Teodora Duhovnikova does an mediocre job as Alma, the lead female character – the struggling wife of the opponent Scott regrets killing.

Brahim Achabbakhe does an average job in the role of Igor Kazmir – the local champion who Boyka needs to defeat to set Alma free. Martyn Ford makes an epic appearance as The Nightmare – the wildcard extra final boss fighter. Alon Abutbul does a good job in his role as the local mafia boss called Zourab who Alma owes big money to. Other supporting cast members ranged from okay to pretty good.

The plot is about as good as Undisputed III, maybe better – hard to compare as they’re so different, it’s like apples & pears. The diversity of action here may be a bit better too, a bit less monotone. But the musical sound effects, and probably some other less obvious things that affect the mood, that only higher budget movies have, seem much more on point this time. The ending probably doesn’t trump the previous one, but it’s no less creative and well executed this time round.

Overall it’s a decent movie – still a bit gritty, cold and one dimensional like the others, but getting quite closer to the level of a top action hero movie now. I can’t imagine Scott can keep doing these fancy spinning high kicks much longer, he’s already getting close to 50 years of age, so we might never get an Undisputed 5, but he could tone down the fancy moves a bit and work with a more exotic plot perhaps.

Ninjas

Ninja (2009) – Scott Adkins

Scott Adkins has made many strong contributions to the English language martial arts action hero movie industry, and Ninja (2009) is easily one of his best. This movie sees the main character grow up in a Ninja school in Japan, competing with his ninja brother to inherit the position of Soke (master) of the school. The main antagonist, upon being disrespectful and outcast by the old master, then kills the him and everyone found in the school that night, while hunting down the old master’s daughter who fled to America with the movie’s main hero to hide and protect the sacred armour & weapons that have been kept by the school for hundreds of years. American police obviously get involved, as does an organised crime syndicate, but they aren’t able to do much against the talented ninjas. With a likeable lead man & woman, and credible moves, equipment, bad guys, cops, and good busyness from start to finish, this movie is just one or two levels shy of the best martial arts action hero movies ever made, in my opinion.

The main cast members giving decent performances include: Scott Adkins as the main star (called Casey Bowman in the movie); Mika Hijii the lead female (called Namiko Takeda); Tsuyoshi Ihara the main antagonist (called Masazuka), and Togo Igawa the teacher of the clan (called Sensei Takeda) who gets killed by his outcast student Masazuka about a third of the way into the movie.

This movie has a bit too much blood & guts spilling around early on – not as much as in Ninja Assassin of the same year, but still a bit too much for my taste – that kind of thing messes with the mind of the viewer. This movie has many similarities with Ninja Assassin, right up to the ending where the art of quick movement & disappearance is displayed alongside the art of sensing the location of the quick mover. Maybe it’s some kind of competition who can do best with the same kind of script on a given year, a bit like how there were two Hercules movies in 2014 – the one with The Rock, and the one with Kellan Lutz (where Scott Adkins played a supporting role) – both good movies in both cases.

Ninja (2009) has a very tasty plot development after half way through the movie, when the police arrest Casey and Namiko, then Masazuka hunts them inside the station.

The action and drama is quite continuous and exciting from start to finish. Minimal boring patches. The mood setting is of variable quality throughout – it could sometimes be a lot better with the help of better sound effects and more finessed screenplay. Scott has a bit of a “girl next door” vibe, as do the other main characters here, but they still all do a decent job.

When Scott tries to look intense, he overcooks the external expressions, because it’s just not his true character. This is what makes Van Damme and Seagal movies so good – they genuinely believe they are hotshots in real life, so it’s not even acting, it’s their real character shining through. In this way, Scott Adkins is like the polar opposite of Denzel Washington, because Denzel has a confident penetrative gaze without trying too hard, but has minimal athleticism and zero real physical martial arts acumen, while Scott is a supreme athlete and a top level martial arts trickster but over-cooks his serious gaze to the point he’s almost gurning. He’s like a promoted stuntman. But neither of them are deeply equipped with practical, subtle self-defence skills. Guys like Steven Seagal, Jackie Chan and Jean-Claude Van Damme would probably wipe the floor with Scott Adkins in a real fight, and a prime Bruce Lee would probably wipe the floor with all of them simultaneously. Still, Scott does better aerial tricks than all of them, and can probably handle himself comfortably against the average man.

The Sequel

If you enjoyed Ninja (2009) don’t miss its sequel – Ninja II: Shadow Of A Tear (2013) – also starring Scott Adkins. It doesn’t strictly follow the same storyline with all its features, but has a fairly similar feel and is roughly the same quality of movie, with its own fresh plot.

Ninja II: Shadow Of A Tear (2013) – Scott Adkins

Ninja II: Shadow Of A Tear (2013) starring Scott Adkins

This movie sequel is about as good as the original Ninja movie from 2009. It carries some of the same core characters and plot references, but has plenty of new plot material to work from. In this movie we see another vengeance-led mission except this time Scott’s character has nothing to protect – he’s lost everything and is on a “kill ’em all” kinda mission now as he tracks down the untouchable druglord who he thinks killed his pregnant wife, taking out everyone he encounters along the way. It’s a solid movie, about as good as the original – some things are better, some things are worse. This time it’s not set in America though, it’s set in Thailand & Burma.

The Legend of Hercules (2014) – Kellan Lutz and Scott Adkins

This movie is quite entertaining from start to finish. Boring bits are rare and don’t last long. It has some powerful scenes, although the grandest one seems a bit over-cooked with the lightning wielding effects that don’t seem to have been ‘built up to’ so well as the super-strength from a few scenes prior.

Ethical concern

My main bone to pick with this movie is its inappropriate depiction of what constitutes morality. How can Hercules be acting righteous and fighting to save people’s lives while simultaneously mindlessly slaughtering people forced into duelling with him? I guess this is a common theme with Hollywood action movies, but it doesn’t make sense morally, especially when they act like it’s all in the name of goodness and caring, like this movie implies. An action hero should be much more careful who he injures and kills. And it’s not just promoting a thoughtless disregard for life, it’s following the worst scenes of slaughter with scenes of prosperity and contentness, to get people to associating murderous deeds with peace and happiness thereafter. How much of this is a ploy to boost enrolment in military forces, and how much is motivated by more sinister goals, I wonder. Either way, make no mistake, there’s nothing righteous about slaughtering people without even caring to speak with them first, and those who do such things tend to become suicidal out of an extreme guilty conscience rather than being really happy in the end, assuming they’re not killed or maimed instantly on the battlefield like so many are. Wouldn’t it be great if the were more realistic sadness & sorrow in war movies – not to deter from the buzz of the action, but just to add realism between the action scenes so people don’t get a false sense of confidence as if they’re untouchable in battle.

Cast members

Kellan Lutz does a decent job as the lead actor, Hercules. A bit camp, but looks the part and is almost serious enough for the role.

Scott Adkins puts in a fair performance as King Amphitryon – he shows a bitter personality here but that’s just the role he’s been given and he holds it down quite well.

The King’s son is no less nasty and is played by Liam Garrigan quite convincingly.

Liam McIntyre does a decent job as the military squadron leader Sotiris who fights alongside Hercules throughout the movie.

Rade Šerbedžija does a decent job as Chiron, the old man on Hercules’ side.

Kenneth Cranham also does a decent job as Lucius, the smalltime fight club owner who bought Hercules & Sotiris then sent them to the big stage and set them free.

The main women in this movie are: Gaia Weiss playing Hebe, Hercules’ lover; and Roxanne McKee playing Alcmene, Hercules’ mother. They’re both quite basic and expressionless – not terrible in their roles, but quite forgettable performances nevertheless.

This movie is fairly action packed, with a few strong scenes, although the action is also monotonous at times. There are a few interesting plot features making it generally enjoyable to watch once every few years – it has a story you can get behind, although it’s quite simple and shallow in script.

All in all, I rate The Legend of Hercules (2014) a bit better than the likes of Bloodshot and Black Panther, as they have a similar level of action-packedness and awesome scenes, played by a similar mix of so-so to decent actors, following a similarly simplistic plot with a similar mix of pros and cons to the script, but have a bit less of a dominant action hero vibe – they’re kind of off genre and pandering to snowflake culture too much, while this movie’s a bit more on point in the action hero department.

If you enjoyed this movie, see also Hercules (2014) starring Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) – it’s a totally different movie but has a lot in common with this one, not just in name and year released. Funny how two strong Hercules movies came out in the same year – this is not the only time such things have happened either (we had two strong English language Ninja movies in 2009 for example – both of which I’ve rated Pretty Good, about equal to The Legend Of Hercules).

The Sequel

See also, The Art Of Action

Ethical concern

Cast members