Ed-Shullivan
"Do you mind if we finish this?"...is the line Steve Austin uses before he knocks out his last opponent in Damage. Steve Austin wasted too many good years in the wrestling ring when he could have been honing his acting chops in action films like this one. Austin plays an ex-con named John Brickner, who is enticed in to the underground fight world with the promise of a six figure pay cheque by a bar maid named Frankie played by Laura Vandervoort and her questionable crony friend Reno Paulsaint played by Walton Goggins.Okay, so the story line has been done hundreds of times before. In this action film John Brickner agrees to enter the underground cage fight scene in an effort to raise $250K to pay for a new heart for the pre- teen daughter of the man Brickner strangled to death years earlier. I like Steve Austin as the ass kicking hero with a big heart in Damage. His fight scenes are better than most action stars, and his acting character that he portrays is humble and realistic.If you like the action and fight scene genre than you should enjoy this film better than the other average cage fight movies. Steve Austin should go on to make many more action movies based on the quality of his acting skills, large physique, calm cool collected mannerisms, and his natural All American hero image.
Leofwine_draca
You wouldn't expect a lunkheaded beat 'em up starring hulking wrestler Steve Austin to go for the heart, but this virtual remake of the Van Damme vehicle A.W.O.L. (aka LIONHEART) is all feeling. Austin plays a guy fresh out of prison who finds himself engaging in a brutal gambling ring where he battles opponents to the death. His motive? To pay for an operation for an ailing girl.For the most part, the film is all about the violence, featuring a string of well-choreographed and exciting bouts between Austin and various, even more fearsome fighters. Such bouts are satisfyingly hard-hitting and unflinching, and Austin holds his own against even the toughest brawlers.What surprises is that the story outside of the violence is also engaging, with Austin delivering a realistic turn as a guy forced down a dark path in his bid to do good, and some heartfelt emotion dished out along the way with it. It's no classic, for sure, but it ably does what it sets out to do, which is entertain.
p-stepien
An ex-convict John Brickner (Steve Austin) gets released after a second degree murder charge. Fraught with feelings of guilt he attempts to do his best to right the wrongs of the past and in doing so promises the victim's widow Veronica (Lynda Boyd) to do his best to gather up $250000 in order to pay for a heart transplant meant for Sarah, her daughter. Given the limited options of earning such cash he decides to enter into an illegal fighting circuit with the help of Reno (Walton Goggins) and Frankie (the sumptuous Laura Vandervoort).In a movie littered with decent actors it seems surprising that the wooden barn-house performance of Steve Austin actually manages to be the best of the lot. The remainder of the cast seem to be part of the endeavour solely for the paycheck. Given this is an cranked-up testosterone all-American machismo fight movie I wouldn't expect anyone to go the distance, but some honest input would do everyone involved (including the viewers) a world of good.Crudely placed on top of a simpleminded script bound to be targeted on supplying some decent fight scenes, "Damage" tends to be extremely tiresome in between the action, especially due to some poorly crafted story-building. Given the genre a blind eye can help you go the distance as long as the main ingredient - the fights - satisfied the blood-hungry needs of viewers. This is not to be so, as they lack the committed honesty of most classics of the genre. However likable Steve Austin may be he just isn't a persona of such intensity as Jean Claude van Damme or Arnold Schwarznegger.
nickbenger
good film overall, plot was a little generic rather similar to "Fighting" the fight scenes can be enjoyable although they all seem to be somewhat similar.It's a shame there is no real training scene as in these sort of films they're really needed, the closest thing to one is a little bit of jogging which is obviously unrealistic if he actually wants to win a fight worth the amount of money he is gambling!.It's worth a watch, they're are better movies but i wouldn't disregard this one and would certainly watch it again. So i'm going to give this a 7/10, i think maybe a small minority are to quick to criticize when this isn't actually such a terrible movie.
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