Diablo (2025), a pretty fun and pretty over-the-top Scott Adkins action romp.

MY CALL: Definitely an above average direct-to-streaming action movie complete with solid production value in the form of beaten goon count and quality explosions and gunplay. Big plus if you’re a fan of Adkins or Zaror. MOVIES LIKE Diablo: For an Adkins lead, this movie falls somewhere between the quality of El Gringo or Assassination Games and Hard Target 2.

After his release from prison, ex-convict Kris Chaney (Scott Adkins; John Wick Chapter 4, Triple Threat, Boyka: Undisputed IV, Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, The Expendables 2, Universal Solder: Day of Reckoning, El Gringo, Assassination Games, Hard Target 2) kidnaps the daughter of a wealthy Colombian gangster. But when her father calls out all hit men with a price on Kris’ head and for the return of his daughter, Kris ends up with his hands full.

In the spirit of Enter the Dragon (1973), our psychopathic villain has a deadly prosthesis… sometimes a steel fist, sometimes a blade. El Corvo (Marko Zaror; John Wick Chapter 4, Fight or Flight, Affinity, Undisputed III, The Fist of the Condor, Redeemer) is the most capable of these mercenaries. Corvo is a bite-a-chunk-out-of-your-face animal, while also an incredibly precise combat tactician who always maintains his neurodivergent cool.

Until the bouts between Adkins and Zaror, the fight choreography is simpler than I’d prefer. Not bad, and actually well-performed. But Adkins and Zaror are often limited by the prowess of their on-screen adversaries. So most of their mook fights are simpler, with fewer combinations of less complicated moves—but wows still come in the form of brutal single-strike executions. It just gets notably better when Adkins and Zaror share the screen.

This may not rank as highly as Adkins’ Undisputed films. But this is still fun, and a satisfying action movie nonetheless. I may never choose to watch it again. But it definitely scratched the itch for this Adkins fan. It’s also a good over-the-top romp while still maintaining some well-produced integrity. Director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza (The Fist of the Condor, Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman, Redeemer) may have found a good niche.