WFG RATING: B+

Tubi presents a production of The Asylum. Directed by Jose Montesinos. Produced by David Michael Latt. Written by Jose Montesinos and Jacob David Smith. Cinematography by Michael Street. Editing by Sam Tarr.

Stars Ryan Padilla, Lorenzo Lamas, Quentin “Rampage” Jackson, Paula Rae Taylor, Rylan Williams, Zhan Wang, Craig Ryan Ng, and Alyssa Leanne So.

A man sets out for revenge in this action thriller from the director of Barrio Brawler (aka American Brawler).

Youngster Diego Padilla had watched his parents killed by land developer Blaine Richtefield after they refused to give up their land to him. However, Richtefield’s driver Silas Hsing, originally meant to kill the kid, offers another motive. Silas, out of the goodness of his heart, sends Diego to China to stay with his dad Bingwen and daughter Xin Yi. When Diego sees Xin Yi training in martial arts, Bingwen offers to teach Diego. 

Ten years has passed and Diego has become an expert martial artist. Still reeling from what had happened, he intends to go back to Texas to avenge his parents. Despite a plea from Bingwen, Diego is ready. Along the way, he meets William, a former drug runner who used to work for Richtefield until his sister was killed; and Blanca, a knife expert who almost was forced to join Richtefield’s brothel until she was saved. With agendas against a common enemy, these three intend to do what’s right and put an end to Richtefield and his organization.

From Jose Montesinos, the director of Barrio Brawler aka American Brawler, comes another martial arts action film that goes the revenge route of things and adds quite a twist of not just focusing on one central character, but develops the likes of that character’s allies, who also have a common enemy. This goes to show that this brand of character development is important alongside the action sequences. 

Ryan Padilla is tops as Diego, a young man who as a kid, witnessed his parents murdered under the order of the mastermind Blaine Richtefield, played by Lorenzo Lamas. Lamas plays the villain with a bit of charm and even has a right hand man in local pimp Ryan Fruitwood, played by MMA legend Quentin “Rampage” Jackson, who runs the brothel. Padilla shows off some pretty good moves in the fight department, getting to show some nice kickboxing style action. 

One to look out for is newcomer Paula Rae Taylor, who takes on the role of Blanca, a knife expert who is hoping to bust down the brothel after she was nearly forced into becoming one of the girls. Taylor has some pretty nifty skills herself and proves to be an ally alongside Rylan Williams’ William, an ex-drug runner who holds a grudge against the villain, blaming him for his sister’s death. Williams also provides a bit of comic relief in the role and it helps ease the tension of the film, showing what a smart aleck he can be. 

Dominic Fernandes and Scott MacNab handled the fight choreography and they are akin to the late 1990s and 2000s martial arts films where there is loads of kickboxing style action as well as some nice knife action courtesy of Taylor. One would think Jackson, a MMA legend, would get to take on Padilla, but actually that honor goes to Taylor and it’s quite nice to see this go down as well as a surprise in the final climactic fight between Padilla and Lamas, who is a veteran of the genre and a martial artist himself. 

Prepare to Die is actually a pretty decent throwback to the B-movie era of martial arts action films with great performances by lead Ryan Padilla and newcomer Paula Rae Taylor, who should she continue doing the genre, could be a force to reckon with. Definitely worth checking out.