DIABLO Review: Scott Adkins And Marko Zaror Face Off in LatAm Action Throwdown

Kris, a recently released ex-con, sneaks into Colombia to kidnap Elisa, the daughter of Vicente, a powerful gangster. This puts them on the radar of not only every other gang in the country but also El Corvo, a psychopathic killer that even Vicente will not work with anymore.
Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with saying, If you want a thing done well, do it yourself. For long-time friends and adversaries, acclaimed stunt actors and action stars Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror, the opportunity arose to be very hands-on in this project, Diablo.
Adkins was involved as a producer, and Zaror was the fight choreographer. They teamed up with frequent Zaror collaborator, Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, the director responsible for helping Zaror burst onto the international action scene with films like Mirageman, Kiltro, and Mandrill. All three of them created the story with screenwriter Mat Sansom. Then Espinoza edited it all together. Whether by necessity or design, they were deeply involved in this project.
The story and the screenplay are familiar fare. You will have already figured out Kris’s reason for being there a couple of beats before it happens; nothing is really a surprise here. It all serves to propel the narrative forward and give characters motivation. We will admit, we were caught off guard by how this little independent action film managed to tug on our heartstrings towards the end. We don’t know if it found a vulnerable spot in us, a chink in our emotional armor, but we found ourselves welling up a couple of times in the back third. How dare you make us feel something when we are trying to appreciate the many levels of ass-kicking going on here!.
That also speaks to the chemistry between Adkins and their other lead, the young Colombian actress Alanna De La Rossa, in the role of Elisa. They play off of Adkins very well as their story progresses, as they have to stay together while her father, the assassin El Corvo, and other gangs are on the hunt for her. Their performance is terrific and truthful. Too often, when someone’s life is in danger, the fear feels forced. There was something specifically honest about the panic that she portrays in the climax, that they genuinely felt their life were in danger. Moments of forced emotional connection in the script, to the benefit of the plot, are handled with subtlety. Kudos to the young actress.
Let's get to the reason why we would watch any movie with Adkins or Zaror in it - the action. Their introductory scenes are just long enough to establish each of their characters: Kris has expert martial arts prowess, and El Corvo (Corvo is Crow or Raven en espanol. Because The Crow is rightfully taken, we will presume that Zaror’s character is The Raven) is a psychotic nutjob, mudering and maiming anyone they come across. He is, as they say, a proper bastard.
We don’t recall seeing Zaror in a character that goes entirely off the rails until now. Both he and Adkins were not necessarily angels in Undisputed III, and both were baddies in the fourth John Wick film, but this El Corvo character is deeply disturbed. Premature baldness can take a toll on a man. Zaror’s ‘creepy’ is too excellent not to point out.
It also seems too obvious to mention, but when your villain is a one-handed assassin with many attachments for the stump, including the obligatory knife, and their brown leather coat is similar to the brown tunic worn by a particular villain in the seminal martial arts film Enter the Dragon? Is this a tip of the hat to Shieh Ken’s character Han? It must be. At least in spirit.
Turning our attention back to the action, sequences down the middle of the story grow in size and scale, aiming to showcase the rising stunt profession in Latin America. Stunt men and women fling themselves at Adkins and Zaror just to take proper beatdowns. We are glad to see that the LatAm action is not just a boys' club as well. Adkins/Zaror knuckle sandwiches are for everyone!
Espinoza and their camera crew do an excellent job of framing all the action, something that aligns with our personal preference when it comes to shooting action, which is to stay back and let us see it all.
There is a nod in one of the major middle scenes that demonstrates what we can call the Gareth Evans effect. A couple of moves appear to shout out to the Welsh action director: the way the camera swung down with a head before it bounced off the bar countertop, and the way Espinoza framed Zaror when he raised a shotgun level with a gang member before pulling the trigger. Both are shots that have been part of Evans’s arsenal in their filmography (Sure, the shotgun framing could be anybody but that camera swing…).
As action-packed as Diablo is, the real highlight is the final fight between Adkins and Zaror. This was the promise, the inevitable showdown between our anti-hero and psycho villain. A rematch between two action stars. Like other great matchups before them, this final fight is simply two stunt professionals going at it fast and hard. This fight felt reminiscent of when Donnie Yen and Colin Chou went head to head in Flashpoint, when we first saw what including MMA fighting tactics into fight choreography could do.
There are a lot of low attacks, grappling, and attempts at takedowns to the legs. Adkins and Zaror have limbs for days, so of course, there are equal amounts of fists and feet flying around as well. It is a very satisfying clash of two international indie action titans.
One of the better indie action films to have come out recently. Diablo is the result of seasoned action veterans, in front and behind the camera, working together for a common goal, to make a movie with top-level, non-stop martial arts action, showcasing a growing stunt scene in the region. Worth taking a look at.
The film releases Friday, June 13, via Lionsgate.
Diablo
Director(s)
- Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Writer(s)
- Mat Sansom
- Scott Adkins
- Marko Zaror
Cast
- Scott Adkins
- Marko Zaror
- Lucho Velasco
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