(Original Publication Date: December 5th, 2016) By: John M Jerva

Who’s in It: Scott Adkins, Stu Bennett a.k.a. WWE Superstar Wade Barrett

What’s It About: Former federal agent Thomas (Adkins) and his young daughter Carly are forced to abandon the witness protection program when their London home is mistakenly attacked by a group of thugs seeking drugs. Thomas has no choice and  to protect his child he kills all the assailants in the blink of an eye. The only problem is that now his face is plastered all over the news and the criminal organization that is looking for him now know where he is and are determined to get him at any cost. To make sure the job gets done right, they dispatch Europe’s most ruthless assassin Bishop (Bennett) to kill him. Bishop is a one man killing machine and just Like the Terminator, he will stop at nothing to complete his mission and will gladly kill anyone that gets in his way. Thomas is now forced to play a very lethal game of cat and mouse with the deadly killer and the city of London has just become a blood soaked battleground for these two highly trained professionals……winner takes all.

The Review-Watch It, Own it or Forget It: Eliminators re-teams action star Scott Adkins with director James Nunn. Both men worked together before on Green Street Hooligans: Underground back in 2013. This film is also another addition in the WWE Films series which puts their famous wrestlers into action films. With that said, Eliminators is a welcomed addition into the family and the main reason is because of the two leading man. Scott Adkins is basically action gold these days and he turns any movie that he is in into high-octane action extravaganzas. Anybody else in this movie and it’s still probably pretty entertaining, but with Adkins in the lead, it’s taken to a whole new level. WWE superstar Wade Barrett, whose real name is Stu Bennett, is a formidable opponent for our star. He is big, strong and imposing and he brings great physicality and excitement to the action scenes.  I would love to see these two men team up again.

Eliminators isn’t just an action movie, it’s a great suspense-thriller at the same time with Adkins and Barrett tearing through the streets of London. There is a great deal of suspense as Thomas tries to elude the ruthless Bishop and it’s tense because you know there is a lot on the line as Adkins tries to find his daughter and protect her. The main baddie in the film is arms dealer Cooper (James Cosmo). He wants Thomas dead in a big way and he wants his daughter and there is a nice twist as to why he does. Cosmo is a quiet and ruthless man and you know by looking at him that he is a man not be messed with.

 Adkins, once again, shows off some great acting range and just like Hard Target 2, he is given a chance to show a more vulnerable side to his ass-kicking character. We know Adkins can deliver on the action, so it’s great to see him prove once again that he can hold his own in the acting department. He’s a man on a quest and he is given great opportunity to shine in the dramatic scenes. As the villain, Barrett fills the role well. A lot of times, the bad guy in action films has to be over the top so it’s very refreshing to see Barrett’s low key personality. He doesn’t need to be over the top because you know he’s a bad ass. He’ll just politely smile at you and then shoot you in the head. 

Now Eliminators is an action movie above all so when it comes to that, it delivers in spades. Director James Nunn shoots the action in a great way that you can see all the wonderful chaos and he gives his two stars ample chances to shine. There’s a nice blend of shoot outs and hand to hand combat sequences. One particular exciting scene is in a hotel where Thomas and an ally must fend off Bishop with a blaze of gunfire. It’s a very tense and well choreographed shoot out with bullets flying and a wonderful amount of property damage. Now we must talk about the fight scenes because that’s the main reason why fans watch a Scott Adkins film…it’s for the fights! Adkins gets ample opportunity to tear through stunt men in a series of well executed fight scenes and just like I said, they are shot in a way that you can appreciate them. One standout scene has Adkins pummeling two men in a close quarters fight on a gondola. It has a great sense of claustrophobia to it and it’s very intense. Now,  I can’t tell you how many times I watched a film where they built up the fight between its two stars only to let you down with a super quick fight that was over before you knew it. That’s not the case here folks! In Eliminators we get not one, but two, awesome fight scenes between Adkins and Barrett. The first one takes place on a docked ship and it involves some great choreography which gives both men a chance to shine and we even get some slo-mo Adkins’ action moves. There’s one move where he does a back flip kick into Barrett that I had to rewind over and over again. We get our second match at the finale of the film and again it doesn’t disappoint. Both men go at each other and the audience is a winner because we are treated with some more breathtaking carnage from these two gladiators. 

Overall, Eliminators is a great addition to your Scott Adkins’ collection and it’s a great film to watch while we wait for the greatness that is Boyka: Undisputed to finally be released to the public. Adkins again proves to us that he is one of the greatest on screen fighters and makes another great argument to headline a big budget action movie. If you like your action with some meat on the bones then this is the film for you. Adkins and Barrett squiring off in the film is worth the price of admission alone, the rest is just icing on the cake.

Verdict: OWN IT!!!!!!!!

Eliminators is on Blu-Ray and DVD and is available now on Digital Download from Universal Home Entertainment. Check out the trailer below!