ARENA WARS -- Cheap, Shlocky Action/Sci-fi Is a Fun Time Despite Its Flaws

Review by Cole Groth

The corny tagline of Arena Wars, "The only way to live… is to kill," nicely summarizes what to expect from this low-budget action/thriller: a fun concept, cheap effects, and a weak script. It won't check any boxes as a film with genuine merit, but it deserves praise for being a fun time.

In the dystopian world of Arena Wars, convicted criminals are offered a strange chance at redemption: a seven-tiered fight to the death. On each level, a trained killer, each more potent than the last. Most criminals are slaughtered almost immediately, meaning that ratings are down from the sickos who watch this type of program. It's up to our wrongly convicted hero, played by John Wells, to save the ratings, stand out above the bunch, and fight for his freedom. Violence and chaos ensue.​

The acting is a strange high point in the film. Most of it is pretty corny like you'd expect from the script, but many of the actors seemingly had a fun time behind the scenes, which radiates through the screen as the central group of fighters led their way through the Arena Wars. Most of the characters are douchey, but they're anchored by our lead, who brings a layer of sensitivity necessary to keep this film from not taking itself seriously enough.

Outside of bloody chaos and cheap thrills, Brandon Slagle's screenplay tries to elevate the premise through commentary on corporate greed and violence in the media. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't work very well. The dialogue is weak all across the board and entirely too on the nose. This film was meant for the action and not the story. Just because a movie has a low budget shouldn't mean that the script has to be so weak, though, so it can't be excused.

As far as the action goes, it's about what you'd expect — not great. It's mostly fun from its premise, but since the budget is so limited, the full vision of Slagle isn't matched. Most of the fighting consists of characters on a small stage engaging in hand-to-hand against a boring masked killer. That said, this maximizes its minimal budget, leading some of the action to work. The in-universe Arena Wars is a fascinating premise, and it would be pretty interesting to explore with a larger budget.

Given the clearly low budget, it's a little tricky to wage the same type of criticism on this film as you would on any other strange sci-fi film. Despite some bad line delivery, strange editing decisions, and a somewhat ugly look, this is pretty fun because of how ambitious it is. If you're a fan of ridiculous and campy sci-fi/horror, this is actually a somewhat worthwhile watch. You wouldn't expect the ending to be nearly as positive as it is, but it ties the film together very well and leaves everything off on a satisfying note. Arena Wars is a test of whether you can forget about most of the technical stuff in a movie if it's fun. This suffers in a lot of places, including writing, visual effects, and editing, but it's the type of corny action fun that works if you're not looking for something serious.

Arena Wars is now on VOD.
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Rating: 2.5/5