The Prisoner (1990)

In theory, this Jackie Chan movie is about a warden who fakes the execution of his prisoners, then promises them a new identity and freedom if they perform a simple job for him. In practice, that gets almost entirely ignored after the start of the movie, when a cop gets himself arrested for assault and thrown in prison, until the last twenty minutes. 

A lot of the film gets taken up with Sammo Hung's character, who keeps making escapes to see his son briefly, and is trying to figure out some way to get away for good. On top of that, Jackie Chan ends up in prison after a truly ludicrous sequence of events that had nothing to do with the "use convicts as mercs" thing.

As an aside, I like some of the odd professions Jackie gets in his movies, when he's not being a cop or secret agent. Like how he was a TV chef in Mister Nice Guy. In this one, he's a professional pool player who dates a fashion model. 

Jackie ends up in prison, dodging assassination attempts set up by the scumbag brother of the scumbag Jackie was convicted of killing. Really, the guy fell on his own knife like a dumbass, but try telling his brother that. 

So the movie jumps back and forth between those, and takes time to introduce the cop's roommate, a geeky guy who keeps a mouse he calls Goliath, and who dies horribly in an attempt on the cop. There's also one particular inmate who looks like an accountant, but apparently is a serious hardass. Although that's undercut when the warden threatens him and he responds, 'You're the kind of guy who farts, but ain't got the shit to back it up.' Um, OK?

I wouldn't say everything comes together at the end, but they at least remember what the movie started with, and make an attempt. Of course, the attempt comes via a wild shootout at an airport, where four men with handguns hold of dozens of soldiers with machine guns through the magic of killing someone with every single shot. But it's still an attempt.