After coming home to a murdered wife, Kyle chases after the man who did it. They get arrested and the man walks away scot free, he comes from a wealthy family and has paid off the judge. Kyle can't stand for this, he shoots the man several times right in front of the court house. The judge takes this as a disrespect to the law and human life, sentences him to life in prison. This is in Russia and the prison he goes to is not really a nice one. The warden hosts fights between the inmates and makes money off of them, Kyle soon finds himself tangled in a series of fight matches with some real mean dudes.
I'm a JCVD fan, so my views on his films tend to be a little bias. I give them a little break because...well....it's a JCVD film. You should know going into a film starring the guy, you're going to get little on the acting side and a lot on the kicking side. In Hell flips this around a little bit. Instead, we get JCVD pulling out some acting chops. He mourns his dead wife, is beaten emotionally and physically and has to deal with the harsh realities of prison. He doesn't go above and beyond, but you will get a little bit more out of him here than his usual fare.
Second, the film leaves his splits, 360 spin kicks and other high flying acts at home. In Hell goes for more realistic and gritty fight sequences. There are some moves that belong in a wrestling ring, but for the most part, these guys look like they are beating the living crap out of each other. It makes the viewer feel more for the character, he's not some martial arts guru, he's a guy fighting for his life. Again, it tends to humanize the character a bit and connects more with the audience.
As far as a JCVD film goes, I would rank this one as one of his better efforts. as for as prison movies go, I'll let it slide a little bit. He of course befriends the one guy people seem to be afraid of. The guards treat him worse than the other inmates and he is thrown into isolation more times than we can count. Predictable and clichéd prison bits, but it's expected. You can guess how one big fight scene will go down because of the way he interacted with the guy while thrown in isolation, so the film doesn't throw any surprises our way.
It's also tame on the escape scenes. There are a few, and it never feels like we are on the edge of our seat, wanting them to escape. This is a feeling you need to get from the audience when characters are trying to flee for their lives, this film manages to side step this.
In Hell is a surprisingly decent movie, I'm sure if it starred anyone other than JCVD I would give it a negative review, so take that whichever way you want to.
I'm a JCVD fan, so my views on his films tend to be a little bias. I give them a little break because...well....it's a JCVD film. You should know going into a film starring the guy, you're going to get little on the acting side and a lot on the kicking side. In Hell flips this around a little bit. Instead, we get JCVD pulling out some acting chops. He mourns his dead wife, is beaten emotionally and physically and has to deal with the harsh realities of prison. He doesn't go above and beyond, but you will get a little bit more out of him here than his usual fare.
Second, the film leaves his splits, 360 spin kicks and other high flying acts at home. In Hell goes for more realistic and gritty fight sequences. There are some moves that belong in a wrestling ring, but for the most part, these guys look like they are beating the living crap out of each other. It makes the viewer feel more for the character, he's not some martial arts guru, he's a guy fighting for his life. Again, it tends to humanize the character a bit and connects more with the audience.
As far as a JCVD film goes, I would rank this one as one of his better efforts. as for as prison movies go, I'll let it slide a little bit. He of course befriends the one guy people seem to be afraid of. The guards treat him worse than the other inmates and he is thrown into isolation more times than we can count. Predictable and clichéd prison bits, but it's expected. You can guess how one big fight scene will go down because of the way he interacted with the guy while thrown in isolation, so the film doesn't throw any surprises our way.
It's also tame on the escape scenes. There are a few, and it never feels like we are on the edge of our seat, wanting them to escape. This is a feeling you need to get from the audience when characters are trying to flee for their lives, this film manages to side step this.
In Hell is a surprisingly decent movie, I'm sure if it starred anyone other than JCVD I would give it a negative review, so take that whichever way you want to.