'Locked Down' review: not as good as its cover

This prison underground fighting movie definitely had promise. It looks like a clone of the "Undisputed" trilogy, except with mixed martial arts stars including Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Cheick Kongo and Kimbo Slice in major roles. Those four stars are in the movie for about a minute each, and mostly get their butts kicked. The majority of the action revolves around Danny (Tony Schiena), a character who is in almost every scene but inexplicably doesn't appear anywhere on the DVD packaging. Danny is an ex-cop who gets framed by mob boss Anton Vargas (Vinnie Jones), an inmate at Blackwater State Penitentiary who orders the guards and warden around as if they work for him. Why he doesn't just order them to let him go is not explained. As Danny rises through the ranks of prison tough guys, the fight scenes are choreographed poorly, especially when the UFC stars are involved. The movie also sets what must be a straight-to-video misogyny record: Out of the five women featured in the cast, four exhibit frontal nudity during a racy sex scene. (There will be viewers of "Locked Down" who are upset that the movie didn't achieve a perfect score.) Discriminating exploitation movie fans should look elsewhere.

LOCKED DOWN

2010

RATED R

DECO ENTERTAINMENT

$18.99

This article appeared on page Q - 24 of the San Francisco Chronicle