Where to watch Castle Falls
2 Stars
After decades of neglect, Castle Heights Hospital, this symbol of the city’s segregated past has been packed with dynamite and is ready to be demolished. No one knows that a gang leader, now in prison, hid the 3 million dollars in cash he stole from his rivals inside the abandoned building. Now, three desperate parties want the money – a blue collared ex-fighter (Adkins) who finds it while working as part of the demolition crew, a prison guard (Lundgren) willing to do anything to pay for his daughter’s cancer treatment and a ruthless gang who claim to be the rightful owners. The demolition charges are set, everyone clears out and the Castle is set to fall in 90 minutes. The clock is ticking. Who will find the cash and: will they get out alive?
I’ve been on a bit of a binge lately with regard to Dolph Lundgren’s movies. I started with 1989’s The Punisher (an early Marvel movie far better than the brand was getting at the time.) I had just revisited Dolph’s first directorial feature, The Defender (2004), so it was a perfect time to take a look at the latest effort from the Swedish beefcake, who once again take on double duty in front of and behind the camera. However, he is playing secondary to the film’s main protagonist, played by today’s premiere actor/martial artist Scott Adkins.
Castle Falls is a mixed bag. It feels both rushed and overly talkative. The production was halted due to the (at the time emerging) pandemic and the fact that it was completed at all is a major accomplishment. But the months-long delay may have also severely hurt the film as it lacks a real spark. Even the setting becomes dull, a surprise since Lundgren covered similar territory in the better Command Performance, and the threadbare production design leaves you to ponder on the countless number of films set in similar environments.
Directed by: Dolph Lundgren
Written by: Andrew Knauer
Starring: Scott Adkins, Dolph Lundgren, Vas Sanchez