Plot: In 2045 convicted criminals are given the opportunity to compete on the world’s #1 televised sporting event, Arena Wars. They must survive 7 rooms and 7 of the most vicious killers in the country. If they win, they regain their freedom.
Arena Wars is the latest indie actioner from Brandon Slagle (The Flood) and at a lean 90 minutes it is packed with fight scenes from beginning to end with arguably the best villain death I’ve seen since the 90s. Kudos to Slagle for bringing back this important element from the genre.
Arena Wars doesn’t have a massive budget and at times it is a little too darkly lit to see what’s happening in the fight scenes, but it doesn’t take away from some of the fantastic gore. The darkness also works in creating a sense of threat where you don’t know who or what will be lurking in the shadows.
I love the outfits of the Arena Wars opponents who look like Mad Max and The Running Man extras crossed with Batman villains. It’s hilariously violent with a huge bodycount and the characters are memorable too. It has a great cast including Michael Madsen, Robert LaSardo, Eric Roberts and John Wells as our hero Luke Bender.
Bender is in prison having taken the fall for someone else in the Marines and he ends up fighting for his life in the Arena Wars. He reluctantly becomes a leader helping the other convicts try to survive and most of the movie involves all of them beating the shit out of the opponents in thoroughly satisfying fashion.
Overall, Arena Wars is proof you don’t need a huge budget to make a cracking fight film with some gruesome kills and the best bad guy death I’ve seen in years.