STONE COLD STUNNER TO MYSELF?

The Stranger - Robert Lieberman

Let’s begin with a little story of myself and my childhood and involving a form of entertainment that many would call embarrassing or ridiculous. A form of sport that has received widespread hatred because of its childish nature and it’s over the top representation. You may already know what I’m talking about but if you’re unsure, it’s called wrestling, and no not the Olympic style wrestling but the good old fashioned wrestling provided by the WWE, the World Wrestling Entertainment Company, formally WWF. Growing up as a kid in South East London, fascinated by TV and the movies, it was no surprise that growing up; sport was a massive thing in my house. Watching football, cricket, rugby and a wide range of sports, one type that always fascinated by me by the staging of it, the sense of drama and script was wrestling. It had amazing characters, fantastic storylines and real athletes performing week in, week out all types of exciting shows and matches for you to wonder and wish about. It’s something that should grow out at a young age, but i do sometimes still read about the business about what’s going on, especially PPV every month. It’s something I’ve embraced, but I’m not a massive fan where i watch it three times a week like most children or teenagers but i still have my favourite wrestlers from the past and now. Always been a big fan of The Rock, Mankind, CM Punk, Triple H, Edge, Chris Jericho, and many, many more. But one name that defined the era that i watched, was the legend, Stone Cold Steve Austin. This man was wrestling. He was the face, he was the sound, and he was it. And people fucking loved it. And still do now. That’s why, using his massive popularity with the older audiences, his film career has somehow emerged with his starring in The Expendables, the new Sly Stallone film about a group of mercenaries, but before that Stone Cold had his own film, produced by the WWE with its new film company, Stone Cold takes centre stage, but will be able to take this and run with it into a fully fledged action film career?

Sadly the answer is no. Finding out that this was to be released on DVD instead of a cinema release, i knew that the film would be poor. The quality of a straight-to-DVD release where the filmmaking is so poor, you wonder if you could do a better job yourself. The storyline is weak, the action sequences are sloppy and all over the shop. Yeah sure it’s Stone Cold in action, but he can’t act really, just act tough, and that’s what makes the difference from him and other action films that had some acting kill, that charisma that made you care, for instance Bruce Willis in Die Hard, you actually care if he lives or dies. So after finding out Stone Cold had his own movie and finally getting to see it, it’s not looking good. He hasn’t made an impact like The Rock has. But i will keep watching his work, and who knows, over time, he could become brilliant. We all wish!

And on a last note...STUNNER!

2/10

Simon Childs