"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" -- at least according to an old saying we've heard time and time again. But when it comes to shoving professional wrestlers into movies like The Condemned, Hollywood should give up the ghost. Aside from The Rock, wrestlers haven't generated much compelling screen presence in recent years, and with his leading debut here, Steve Austin (dropping the "Stone Cold" part of his moniker) is no exception.

If you thought Survivor was as tough as reality television could get, wait until you see what millionaire producer Ian Breckel (Robert Mammone) has in store for you. Taking the game show to its most extreme and morally-shifty level yet, Breckel is hours away from broadcasting live over the Internet a fight to the death among ten death-row inmates, plucked from third-world prisons and dropped onto an island in the middle of nowhere. The winner will be the last one standing, and the prize for that person involves being released back into the world as a free person.

Among this collection of killers, rapists, and various criminal ilk is one innocent man: Jack Conrad (Austin), a former Special Forces agent left to rot in jail after a mission went awry. With the number of "contestants" dwindling, mostly thanks to a particularly psychotic player (Vinnie Jones), it's up to Jack to take charge and fight back in order to return home to his girlfriend.

Usually, something like The Condemned would be written off as a by-the-book action flick, brainless but ultimately harmless. However, this film insists on being bigger than its britches, calling attention to itself with a stab at social commentary not seen often in B-action movies. This is all well and good, since I always appreciate a flick striving to be smarter -- but not when the results are so goofy. The Condemned tries to come across with a satirical edge, making a jab or two at the world's growing obsession with violent entertainment. Hypocritically, the movie itself serves up exactly what it's decrying: lots of explosions plus people biting the dust left and right. Because the parent studio Lionsgate is also behind the brutal Saw series, I can't resist saying, "Irony, thy name is The Condemned."

Aside from some a heavy-handed lesson on pop culture, The Condemned offers pretty standard action fare. The "plot" is essentially a mash-up of The Running Man and Battle Royale, a ten-member deathmatch where the only two people who matter are the designated hero and the really unbalanced bad guy. The supporting characters are all too inconsequential, walking stereotypes meant to fill up the running time. Austin boasts the muscle and physical force fitting for his role -- but he doesn't project the most exciting personality (although he does have oodles more charisma than John Cena in The Marine). Mammone is your standard-issue, Evil McBadguy type, and as mentioned before, the other contestants on the island just bide their time until it's their turn to meet a grisly end. Only Vinnie Jones comes across with a good sense of ferocity, doing a fine job as a bloodthirsty killer who's not prepared to lose the competition.

Instead of a movie, The Condemned would've made a great video game. Just imagine that you're an innocent man stuck on an island, going up against nine cold-hearted killers who want you dead at all costs.

With its laughable attempts to give the movie an emotional backbone and to flesh out the characters, The Condemned doesn't reach its potential for intensity, but as a two-dollar rental, it will deliver a quick action fix. Viewers won't be condemned to a horrible movie -- just underwhelmed by a mediocre one.

MY RATING: ** (out of ****)

(Released by Lionsgate and rated "R" for pervasive strong brutal violence and for language.)