JUNGLEGROUND is an action vehicle for wrestling star Roddy Piper, the man who shot to cult fame with his role in John Carpenter's superlative THEY LIVE. This one was shot in Canada on a low budget which doesn't stop it from depicting a convincing run-down city full of post-apocalyptic stylings and the like. The plot is another variant on the old 'hunting humans' theme as done in the likes of THE RUNNING MAN and HARD TARGET, and there's absolutely nothing here that hasn't been done better elsewhere.

Nonetheless, this is a fun film, and B-movie lovers will find it a treat. The villains are over the top goons while Piper pulls out the stops by using his wrestling moves on various one-on-one bouts with henchmen; there are throws and clotheslines galore. The first half of the story is all set up, but once we get to the action-dominated second half this doesn't disappoint, and it certainly delivers the goods for action fans.

Lt. Jake Cornell (Roddy) is a Canadian cop who is somewhat on the edge, but he gets pushed to his limits when he must survive in a ruthless, lawless urban center of the Great White North called Jungleground. The gang that controls Jungleground are a bunch of Norse mythology-inspired baddies called the "Ragnarockers" or just "Rockers" for short. Members include Thor (Wood) and Loki (Johnston), but the leader is of course Odin (Bourne). When Odin kidnaps Jake's girlfriend Sammy (Higginson of Airborne (1998) fame) - just as he was about to propose to her, no less - he proposes to Cornell that if he can survive the night in Jungleground, he will free Sammy. So Jake must use all his survival instincts to fight through a night fraught with all sorts of obstacles. Will he make it? Jungleground, not to be confused with Thunderground (1989), is a decent Roddy outing. Some of the most entertaining aspects of the movie are just how 90's it is, and just how Canadian it is. Sure, Roddy is charming as usual, but how can he compete with Boy Meets World-style hair, rollerblades and high-waisted jeans? Marry that to the Canadian DTV vibe we've all seen many times before, and you get the general sense about the proceedings. This was back in the day when all Roddy had to do was flash his million-dollar smile and wear a pre-Trenchcoat Mafia trenchcoat, and you had half the movie right there. One of the flaws of the movie is that Roddy didn't get a cool intro to his character. You're just kind of thrown in - there should have been an action scene or at least a scene where his Chief was screaming at him because of his rogue ways. But ultimately Roddy carries the movie, so it all smooths out later.

It has all the clichés we know and love, some of which include yelling while shooting a machine gun, and the prerequisite torture. There are plenty of chases, shootouts and blow-ups, not to mention Roddy executing some classic wrestling-style moves on the baddies, so all the right ingredients are there. But as is often the case, the movie starts to lose steam before the climax. More than likely that's because this is a DTV version of The Ultimate Warrior (1975), The Warriors (1979), Escape From New York (1981), or any other movie where someone has to survive/escape through a treacherous urban environment. There's not much more to the movie than that, but do we really need any more? But to the movie's credit, characters do say the word "Jungleground" a lot...it's not just a movie title, it's the name of the place - and a way of life.

While Back In Action (1993) and Tough and Deadly (1995) remain our favorite Roddy's that we've seen to date, Jungleground is not bad and is probably a one-time watch.

Roddy Piper does good action scenes and bone crunching maneuvers, but not all his films turn out that great. But this one is fun and exciting. It isnt however up there with They Live, but Jungleground is a good way to kill time watching an action flick.