Condemned, The

Dr. Chauntelle does not use a rating system. Five stars is a default setting only.

Question: whataya get if you put I Spit On Your Grave (1978), La Femme Nikita (1990), and Girlfight (2000) into a movie blender with a bunch of hott chics and nine hardcore sex scenes?

Answer: Vivid's The Condemned (2010)!!

The Condemned has been described as "an epic adult film with a conscience" (reference here), which is a pretty interesting way of putting it. In the film, once up-and-coming fighter Jesse (Nikki Jayne) has drifted into semi-retirement and bare-knuckles underground ass kicking after surviving a brutal sexual assault. Things seem to be going pretty well for her, but then she's and taken to some sort of girl-fight vigilante training center!! Therein, the group's mission is to exact justice upon men who have committed violent crimes against women that have somehow gone unpunished - fuck. yes.
Jesse is slowly indoctrinated into the group via an interesting method of pleasure-and-pain association therapy. First, watch some asshole getting beat to shit by the vigilante ladies; then, randomly come across people fucking; and voilá - vigilante Jesse!! Although she is reticent at first, the process seems to work; and by the end-ish of the film Jesse is ready to do her own spitting on some graves... until the identity of her first beat down is revealed. What happens next is pretty darn surprising, so I shall say no more - you're just going to have to watch it for yourself.

This film has a strong "when conventional forms of justice fail..."-type message and many deep and interesting points. David Stanley's script work is ordinarily a little too convoluted for me, but this story is pretty great; there's forgiveness involved (I don't necessarily agree with how it's incorporated, but I like that it's there); and I dig the fact that women survivors (not "victims") are taking matters into their own hands - grrl power!! Plus, the performances are stellar. Ben English is great as Jesse's harrowed husband/lover, Krissy Lynn is just fantastic as the ladies' rabble rousing leader, and Faye Reagan plays flippant girl/street justice ass kicker to a tee.

But The Condemned is not all strength-beyond-strength vigilante seriousness - it has its fun moments too! For example, Nikki Jayne runs around in a tank top and trainers (no pants, no panties - why? who cares!) for a good half and hour; English accents are always entertaining; and there's a seemingly endless shower scene and braless weightlifting/boxing to enjoy. All this, and I haven't even gotten to the sex!!

As I said, there are nine total sex scenes, the apparent highlight of which is Nikki Jayne's POV bj to DP three-way in a weight room. In addition, Kimberly Kane lends her Kimberly Kane-ness* to a bj with Anthony Rosano and a three-way with Krissy Lynn and Mr. Pete; and Mr. Marcus does some serious stairwell acrobatics with Vanessa Leon.

But... well, here's the thing: some of the sex in this film left me feeling rather meh. I found the sex performances from some of the more prominently featured girls in this film to be a little lackluster and kinda off-putting. For example, although she was badass in the (proverbial) ring, Nikki Jayne looked downright bored during her scenes; even though she was playing a cop helping out the vigilante girls (so, tough?), I felt a little dirty after watching timid kitten/baby bunny Meggan Malone bang her partner (Randy Spears); and Faye Reagan was great in her non-sex scenes, but she did a little too much fuck-simpering for my taste (although boy feedback attests to this being hott). Her scene with James Deen was particularly ambivalence-inducing as I wasn't in to her performance at all, but I just loved (seriously, loved) his.

In sum, The Condemned was pretty damn solid. It's an excellent film, well made with a great story. Just because the sex didn't necessarily do it for me at every moment, these scenes have gotten excellent reviews elsewhere. In my opinion, the film as a whole is not to be missed.

*I am still trying to come up with a way to describe Kimberly Kane-ness in terms of performance. It's something akin to "autistic sociopath whore," and this is not meant to be insulting - Kimberly Kane is an excellent performer. The blend of detachment with fascination and enthusiasm exhibited in many of her scenes is captivating ...and somewhat unsettling.

Recommended for: dudes ready to enjoy some street justice/girl fight/women in prison-type awesome (with a little "you better be nice, or we'll kick your ass" thrown in for good measure)

An epic adult movie with a social and political conscience, B. Skow's The Condemned traces a secret society where women fighters enact vigilante revenge on rapists, murderers and all sorts of scummy criminals who attack women. With incredible sex, career-topping acting performances, production values that rival mainstream Hollywood, and realistic violence that punctuates the textured and compelling storyline, not only is this one of the best adult titles of 2010, but it's a modern classic that should stand the test of time.

From the opening credits of this four-hour saga, we are thrust into a female Fight Club, where hot, sweaty women kick the shit out of their opponents for the pleasure of some sleazy gamblers. Nikki Jayne, a world champion fighter, comes out of the battle with swelled fists and the concern of husband Ben English, who lustfully seduces her in the locker room, jamming his cock into her mouth, pussy and asshole in a riveting sex scene that sets the tone for the entire feature.

Later that evening, English is beaten to a pulp and Nikki gets . She is transported into a world where strong, nasty women beat and kill the men they have captured, all of whom have been tagged as perpetrators of violence against women. Nikki's eventual acclimation to this underground clan makes up the bulk of the plot.

Along the way, director B. Skow shoots some of the best sex scenes of his career. Kimberly Kane's raw blowjob of Anthony Rosano at the fight club begins slowly and seductively, with Kane masterfully bringing him to orgasm. In a hospital bed, Faye Reagan and James Deen get extremely nasty in an excellent fuck-and-suck scene, where nipple-slapping, pussy-spanking and raucous hardcore highlight the long, hot and detailed scene.

Kane joins vigilante team leader Krissy Lynn and Mr. Pete for a sweaty three-way scene. Lynn is indefatigable as she's fucked while Mr. Pete sucks Kane's pussy. Then he fucks Kane's asshole and puts his dick right into Lynn's pussy and back into Kane's mouth, where the cum drips from her face onto Lynn's large tits.

Kagney Linn Karter and Tory Lane exchange saliva in a nasty lesbian scene; Mr. Marcus slams Vanessa Leon on a stairwell; Nikki Jayne gets double penetrated by Marco Banderas and Jerry in an amazing scene; Jayne and Lynn fuck; Meggan Mallone and Randy Spears get riled up in a sex scene as the two cops look for the missing Nikki...it goes on and on.

David Stanley's superb screenplay, which includes a great twist that I never saw coming, allows for terrific acting achievement all around. Nikki Jayne, looking beautiful, blonde and fit, shows chops never before witnessed, both physically in her fight sequences and in the quieter dialogue scenes. It's a tough, nuanced interpretation. Ben English turns in a typically strong performance. But the superb work of the two leads doesn't take away from excellent supporting actor realizations from Krissy Lynn, Anthony Rosano, Kimberly Kane, Faye Reagan and an entire array of non-porn performers who add depth to the movie.

The Condemned looks and feels like the best of mainstream independent films, with riveting action sequences (one particular scene where the girls beat the crap out of a criminal and twist his neck to kill him is particularly shocking), great cinematography and editing, and a pace that never gets dull, despite the long running time and lengthy sexual encounters.

It's nice to see superior work from a veteran director and to learn that, even in a down economy, the porn epic is alive and well. Among the ample extras are a long BTS and a couple of bonus scenes.