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It’s only March, and we already have a heavyweight contender for best action picture of the year. No surprise, it comes from veteran action masters Luke LaFontaine and Jesse V. Johnson, with premiere action star Bren Foster leading the charge. The film is Mexicali, and it has already earned a place among the great bruisers of adrenaline cinema before its release. I was locked in from the moment this movie was announced, and the talent involved doesn’t just deliver—they raise the bar for modern action.
Mexicali unleashes extreme martial arts action, multiple combat disciplines, body-shredding impact, and gun-blazing firepower for one visceral, immersive assault on the senses. Foster goes full one-man army, reinvigorating the action-hero tradition that Jean-Claude Van Damme helped define back in the late ’80s. That’s the short version of my verdict, but there’s plenty more to break down—so buckle up. When Foster explodes across the screen, action fans know they’re getting their money’s worth in spades.
Foster plays Joe, a sympathetic, good-hearted man helping his girlfriend Estrelle, played by Tania Raymonde, run an avocado farm. But Joe carries a darker history. He was once a soldier for hire—an elite mercenary—and that buried past foreshadows a violent transformation when the pressure becomes impossible to ignore.
The avocado season has been brutal, and Joe will do anything to keep the plantation alive. That includes stepping into savage pit fights to bring in enough money to keep the farm afloat. It’s a hard-hitting introduction, with the first ten minutes throwing Foster’s Joe into a gauntlet of elite fighters before he can collect enough greenbacks to secure the farm’s future. LaFontaine, making his directorial debut after years as one of action cinema’s elite fight choreographers and stunt designers, establishes the tone immediately. The opening matches showcase Foster’s unique skill set from the first explosive exchange.
But pit fighting is only the opening salvo. A trip into town for groceries with his friend Marco puts Joe in the crosshairs of a brutal cartel that rules the area through fear and violence. When Joe crosses paths with Chavez, the pompous and vicious son of the crime boss known as The General, the confrontation goes sideways fast. Joe’s special-ops training comes roaring back to the surface as he kills Chavez and his men in self-defense.
Joe and Marco bury the evidence, hoping the nightmare will disappear. It doesn’t. Baptiste, played by Plutarco Haza, arrives asking pointed questions, and it quickly becomes clear that he is working with the cartel. He brings muscle in the form of Kris Van Damme, son of action icon Jean-Claude Van Damme, and during a tense, controlled conversation, Joe realizes that trouble has found its way to the farm.
From there, Mexicali hits full throttle. Joe launches into action to protect the people he loves and save the farm, turning the film into a nonstop barrage of crowd-pleasing beatdowns, ultra-violent standoffs, heavy weaponry, and hard-charging shootouts that would make John Woo grin. There’s barely time to breathe as Joe tears through the cartel, revealing the ruthless side that made him so effective at his former job.
I’ve championed Bren Foster for years, and anyone who follows my work knows I consider him one of the most underrated action stars in the business. He owns every frame, and in recent years he has also become a formidable filmmaker. In 2024’s Life After Fighting, he starred, wrote, produced, and directed. With Joe, Foster may have found his strongest character yet. He shifts from quiet and sympathetic to cold-blooded and ruthless with frightening ease, creating an antihero who may be more dangerous than the men hunting him. That layered performance gives Joe the throwback power of the action heroes—and antiheroes—of the ’80s and ’90s. And when the fights erupt, Foster delivers another master class in martial-arts movement.
The supporting cast brings serious firepower as well. Tania Raymonde’s Estrelle is every bit as tough as the men around her. She is no damsel in distress, and the film gives her room to prove it, including a standout moment where she lets loose with a massive machine gun. Her scenes with Foster have genuine warmth, and it’s refreshing to see how fully she stands with Joe when everything goes sideways.
As Baptiste, Plutarco Haza steals every scene, and his entrance is one of the film’s highlights. He plays the character with quiet menace, making his table conversation with Joe every bit as compelling as the physical punishment elsewhere in the movie. Kris Van Damme also makes the most of his screen time as Baptiste’s right-hand man. The resemblance to his father is obvious in both his look and his movement, and after appearances in many of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s films, he proves he has the presence to headline his own projects. My only complaint is that the film doesn’t give him enough room to fully unleash what we know he can do when the fists and feet start flying.
This is also where I have to show major respect to action star and indie filmmaker Louis Mandylor. Though his role is small, he makes every second count, especially in his scene with Foster. I quickly caught what LaFontaine and Johnson were doing with his character’s name, Sue. It feels deliberate, and it hints at a possible crossover with characters from their other films. At one point, after Joe drops a massive opponent, Sue says he reminds him of somebody. Spoiler alert: I’m fairly sure he is referencing French from The Debt Collector, played by Scott Adkins. If these filmmakers want to bring those characters together in the future, I’m completely on board.
As I said earlier, Mexicali is a serious contender for the best action movie of 2026, and it will be difficult to knock it from the top spot. The action is first-rate, packed with savage martial-arts design, bladed weapons, brutal gunplay, and sequences built to make genre fans erupt. Foster is completely in his element, turning every fight into a brutal, bombastic ballet of bone-crunching impact. He moves like water, shifting from extreme aerial choreography to intricate ground-and-pound MMA combat with total control. Any action movie that delivers not one but two machete fights already has my attention—and these alone are worth the price of admission.
This is LaFontaine’s directorial debut, but you would never know it from the command on display. His years in the action business are evident in every setup, every impact, and every choice of movement. He understands how to present different styles of combat so the audience can follow the action and savor the mayhem. The practical stunt work, blood squibs, and old-school intensity throw the film back to the glory days of the ’80s and ’90s. After a debut this confident, the next challenge will be topping it—but I have every confidence that LaFontaine can do exactly that.
LaFontaine also has veteran action filmmaker Jesse V. Johnson in his corner. Johnson wrote the script, which pays tribute to the classic lone hero with a violent past who is forced to take up arms again. He also serves as executive producer alongside Foster, and his fingerprints are all over the production. But this is LaFontaine’s moment to shine—and shine he does.
Overall, what else can be said about Mexicali except this: support it when it drops this Friday, March 13th. This is exactly the kind of film action fans crave—a blood-, spit-, and sweat-soaked blast that delivers on every level. Bren Foster is an elite action star who deserves to be mentioned alongside JCVD, Stallone, Arnie, Statham, and Norris. Luke LaFontaine and longtime collaborator Jesse V. Johnson bring an undying passion for action cinema, and it shows in every frame. Mexicali is visceral, brutal, and gloriously direct, honoring the action movies of the past while carving out its own path. This is action cinema at its best.
VERDICT: 5 Out of 5 Stars
Mexicali Cements Bren Foster as an Elite Action Star in a Film That Takes No Prisoners
MEXICALI is in Theaters and on Digital March 13!
