Skunkyrate
Gripping story with well-crafted characters
Ginger
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Yazmin
Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Leofwine_draca
ARENA is a straight-to-video fight flick with a predictable storyline about a young man who is kidnapped and forced to fight to the death in an arena for the enjoyment of Internet audiences. The thing that spoils it is some really shabby direction from an inexperienced director best known for his work in the visual effects field. The various fight scenes, although very gruesome, are shot with stupid-looking filters and the like which robs the viewer's enjoyment and renders them near unwatchable. The rest of the film is familiar from beginning to end, with trite dialogue and tired performances. I've seen Kellan Lutz in a few things now and he fails to impress in all of them, while Samuel L. Jackson is only here to grab the paycheque. The only actors who seem to be trying are those in smaller roles, namely genre veterans Derek Mears and James Remar.
bowmanblue
Some guy (who cares - he's the hero) gets abducted by one of those sinister organisations who stage online fights to the death to amuse the masses when X-Factor isn't on telly. He has to fight for his freedom, or escape, or do something like that.Let's face it, the only reason this got made is because Samuel L Jackson is in it. By and large, the acting is terrible from everyone - even the man himself. He's okay, but he could act his way through this with his eyes closed. Although why he chose to do this film while he is still being offered projects like The Avengers in anyone's guess! The fight scenes aren't bad. They have added 'cool' effect to them thanks to some trendy slow-mo, but the story (and I use the word 'story' in its loosest possible terms) is predictable and riddled with clichés (and 'twists' you can see coming a mile off). However, despite all this, the film isn't totally unwatchable.For some reason it's not that bad. If you don't mind your films pretty dumbed down and badly acted then get a couple of beers in plus an extra large bucket of popcorn, put your mind on hold and watch the (CGI) blood flow.
nikicam
This surely is the worst movie I have seen so far. I don't know where to start. I really can't decide what was more annoying in this movie. Bad characters/actors, fights with Galons of gore or spoiled Facebook generation who were enjoying and laughing when they saw blood all over their screens. The plot is so terrible that I just can't figure out how did an actor like Samuel L. Jackson accepted to act in this movie??? The violence is way to sick. I honestly don't wonder why this was not showed in the theaters. As someone already said, this movie is brainless and from now on I will pass movies from its authors. Do yourself a favor and do not watch this movie.
mini-abm
I always knew this would be some dumb action crab, but hey that is what we want right..? The idea is kind of cool, put a bunch of men into an arena, and force them to fight to their death. Then I realized, that it is based on the idea of the Hunger Games. (The Hunger Games is a book I read some time ago) That is also about a reality show, where there are chosen 1 boy and 1 girl between 12 and 18 to fight in an arena until a single victor remains.The idea of Arena is stolen from the Hunger Games books.If you want to see the real deal, watch The Hunger games. It is more deep, and original. But it is also (unfortunately) a teenage movie, where all the blood is cut out. (takes some of the fun out of it)See Arena if you absolutely must, but really I'd just pass.
