Following his showing up in Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing and how things worked out, Yuki Boyka is back, and he wants his chance at redemption by fighting in a prison tournament at his prison and then in a new place that promises more in terms of reward and challenge.
Written by David N/ White and directed by Isaac Florentine, this sequel comes after 2 fairly big fight films and brings back a character that was a hit in the second part of the series. The film takes Adkins’s Boyka, saddles him with a healing injury from his fighting in the second film, and sets him against more opponents including one who is feared by most, Dolor. The film here is very much created as an excuse to pit fighting actors against one another, each with their specialties and what makes them stand out. The film runs like a competition but set in a prison and with torture and exploitation of the fighters in between the fights. This is very much an excuse to have fights over and over, more complex than the previous one and more impressive from each other as they happen on the screen.
Of course, the film is meant to showcase fighting skills and some acting skills of the cast. In the lead, we get Scott Adkins, and his signature moves, kicks to the chest and face, fast punches to the body, and impressive jumps and spins. Playing the other fighters is a selection of actors with different fighting styles including Mykel Shannon Jenkins representing the USA, Ilram Choi representing North Korea, Lateef Crowder representing Brazil (and capoeira), and a few others. Most of them are set-up to be beaten by Boyka/Adkins or Dolor. Dolor is played by the imposing Marko Zaror who is not only physically imposing but also very skilled in fighting. Fans of John Wick will recognize him from part 4 if they weren’t familiar with him before. At this point, Zaror and Adkins have been in 4 films together and more coming, proving they are a good match skill-wise. The whole film here is built to bring these two face-to-face in a fight that is epic and entertaining. The villains here are the people putting the fights on, betting on them, not caring what happens to the fighters, and the cast for these men is quite predictable and cliché, but they are only there to set things up and watch the fight from their seats.
Undisputed 3 teams up write White, director Florentine, cinematographer Ross W. Clarkson, and editor Irit Raz, who all worked together on Ninja II as well. The film is well shot and well edited, allowing the action to be fully visible, something that works great with all the skilled actors involved here. This is a fight film and that is what the viewers are here for, so it provides. The flashback scenes are probably the only complaint here, just like with Ninja II. They are too bright, feel out of place stylistically, and they don’t bring all that much to the story.
Undisputed 3: Redemption is a solid fight film designed to showcase its cast’s skills and capacities. The fights are solid, they are well shot and edited, the film moves at a good pace, and that final fight is fantastic, allowing both Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror to show their skills and have a little fun in the brutal fight. This is another title that Big Bad Film Fest had a brand new DCP for and it was a very welcome sight considering how hard the film is the find at times.