DIABLO Review: Ernesto Diaz Espionza’s Newest Myth-Making Martial Arts Showpiece
Diablo opens in theaters, on digital and on demand from Lionsgate beginning June 13.
Diablo marks the latest reunion for actor/martial arts pair Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror following previous action cinema synods with the likes of Isaac Florentine, Jesse V. Johnson, and Chad Stahelski. To this, action fans now get to add celebrated director fave Ernesto Diaz Espinoza who gave glory aplenty to the genre with Zaror in toe with the kinds of feats seen in Kiltro, Mandrill, Redeemer, and Fist Of The Condor.
There’s at least one singular aspect that I admire between all four of those films, in conjunction with many other of Zaror’s screen credits, and that’s his ability to create characters that stick with you. This is precisely the case in Diablo for Zaror opposite Adkins who, while having accomplished similar extents of chacterizations in films like Avengement and the Accident Man films, Florentine’s three Undisputed follow-ups, and in 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4, largely gets reduced to what many of us have seen in past performances where the obligatory palatable American accent is applied.
That character, in this instance is ex-con Kris, a man on a mission to smuggle himself into Colombia to follow-up on a posthumous promise which, either way you slice it, involves kidnapping a young girl from her powerful crime boss father. That’s what the first half hour of the film would have you believe until the film’s various twists arise and we learn the true nature of what’s going on between Kris and the young Elisa (Alanna De La Rossa), while pertubed dad Vicente (Lucho Velasco) intends on turning the streets inside-out to find Elisa at any cost.
The call ultimately reaches out to any number of underworld goons within earshot of Vicente’s grip, including, and much to his chagrin, a man known only as “El Corvo” (Zaror), a feared underworld sociopath with a prosthetic removable iron fist that conceals a deadly blade. With very few places to hide, it’s only a matter of time before Kris and El Corvo cross paths, with Elisa forced to confront the unthinkable with her life at stake in more ways than one.
It’s no stretch to iterate how much of a seller a package like Diablo is. Fifteen years since Undisputed III: Redemption, the magic is as much there as is the high caliber action and brutality to accommodate expectant fans who clammor for more. The story also lends a feasible canvas for these characters in this kind of presentation with Adkins and De La Rossa chewing it up as two strangers finding their way to each other amid the danger.
Indeed though, the strongest aspect of the lot is the mythmaking sechel of Espinoza’s direction, particularly when it comes to Zaror. Diablo does a terrific job at setting up ample backstory between the featured cast of characters between Adkins, De La Rossa, Velasco and Zaror, but it’s the latter whose character holds the most weight. There are layers to El Corvo that make you feel like your watching something from an Adam Wingard or Kim Jee-woon film that contribute greatly to the character’s scintillating psychological brood and allure.
Between this and the film’s big finish, it actually drives me a bit stir-crazy to think that we might only get to observe these kinds of characters under Espinoza’s purview only once, which is why I’m hoping that we’ll get to see some more of that world-building in a Fist Of The Condor follow-up. At any rate, consider Diablo your next fanservice callback to the movies. If you’ve been waiting for another rematch after Savage Dog, you’re in luck.
