The Dragon Unleashed

I had to skip through it, however the action scenes were basically all 100% authentic grindhouse thriller. The lens effect was obviously a part of this.

The main problem is that it sometimes went down "days of our lives" street. Some scenes lacked character intention/motivation. There was one scene were a guy rode a bicycle into shot for a good 10 - 20 seconds with no emotion... there was a reason for him to feel either excited or upset, even if he is mentally unstable... but there was just aimless riding. Other scenes had too many blank stares.

Another issue is lack of interesting characters that you'd want to see more of (or even could relate to in some way).

Horror movie director Rene Perez "The Dragon Unleashed"! Rene is no stranger for his love of the 80's action movies. His last was a tribute to Charles Bronson's Death Wish. It was well received and a tribute that was well executed. That was called Death Kiss. And the lead (Robert Bronzi)was a spitting image and a truly convincing Charles Bronson reincarnation. Now Rene is back behind the camera with a new Action star making a name for himself. A well casted Chase Bloomquist. He is a killing machine trained by the military. Chase is a trained martial artist Ninja working for a top secret agency. He is dispatched on his assignments from his secret hideaway tucked away in the woods. He is there top guy and is the one dispatched for those big jobs by his boss (John Schneider). Killing with no conscience and with such skill is a joy to watch. All his skills of a highly trained assassin are executed and even though he catches a beating, he prevails and completes his assignments. A new neighbor (Emily Sweet) who inherits a near by house wanders on his property and quickly friends him. This begins to soften him and mellow him out. Her innocence and continually good deeds start getting the better of him. What really does him in his her 3 steps on how to be a better person. Little does she know who she is becoming involved with. Her good deeds continue when a single mom with a sick child is tricked into taking money from her. The waitresses son has a deadly disease and can not afford the medical bills. But after a convincing pitch buys a piece of art she has. She claims her husband is a rock star and she has a work of art and is worth the money she has of offered! All this has him second guessing now all his actions. Images of himself when he was 5 years old start haunting him and have him confused. Did he think and be proud of what he has become through the innocent eyes of a younger self? Now the next assignment is a assassin of a women with the cure for Malaria. It doesn't sit rite with him and he is not 100% on completing this kill. But with some convincing it is executed and completed. What seems like a continuous cycle of how far can we push our guy, it finally reaches a breaking point. A request for a murder of a young son of a politician proves to much for him to do! But no is not An option! Rene has a unique style and knows how to entertain. He accomplishes with a limited budget , what the million dollar backed Hollywood movies so often fail. But where they fail he doesn't. All his movies after a popular formula the fans of this genre want. Fun stunts and fights, pretty lead actresses, a solid action script, and well choreographed scenes in general. Everyone involved puts out a solid entertaining movie. The two leads (Chase Bloomquis and Emily Sweet) have great chemistry and really fun to watch. Emily has such presence in her scenes you can't help but fall in love with her kindness. Chase perfectly handles the lead and is convincing is the role he plays. Always great to see Iconic legend John Schneider chewing up the scenery and also well casted! Locations are always another character and add to his movies. They are perfectly scouted out before hand. It adds to the building of the scenes and the actors characters! Beautifully lensed and edited are so important with an action movie. Over the top fights are filmed rite and edited flawlessly to make the action believable. Not everyone a fun fight but a good ole fight to the death with swords, knives even stones. Some cool blood FX and head bashing show Rene roots of horror films. But is not overdone and flows well within the content of the story. I thoroughly enjoy and feel so many times this is a lost Genre that has been rediscovered by Rene. The Director handles with the utmost respect and rewarding payoff at the conclusion. He made a successful transfer of a mindless killing machine back into a human with feelings and Consciousness! Highly recommended and will be patiently waiting for the next Rene Perez's movie!

Starring: Chase Bloomquist, John Schneider, Emily Sweet, Charlie Glackin, Eva Hamilton, Tony Jackson, John Ozuna

Writer/Director: Rene Perez

I must say this movie tears me apart. There is something here. You see the talent involved and perhaps with a higher budget, they could achieve a bit more.

I am not sure exactly what really is happening. I assume he's a higher gun/assassin and he kills bad people. Things just needed to be fleshed out more. The movie had some potential and everything taking place in the daytime was less dramatic. You want to see battles at night. It's when heroes are needed and the bad people truly do bad things.

There is also a love story there, but needs to be fleshed out more. No kissing or hand holding, just very dry dialogue.

The action scenes were decent, a bit basic, but there is potential.

The movie has potential and seems a bit incomplete. What is the motivation? Why should we care about the character?

The movie has one great line about the boy you were, would be disappointed in the man you became or something along those lines. It's a nice line, but needed to be expanded.

The movie is a 6 from me. The director and the writer has something there. Same with the actor and the camera guy. The movie has a heavy lens flare, but I chalked that up to a stylistic choice. It could have worked, but the movie simply needs more substance.

All in all not too terrible and the potential for something great is there. Perhaps the movie also lacked humor.....which would have made the character(s) more relatable. With a bit more of everything, there is a good movie here. Watchable, but most people will find it a bit bland and boring. The hero has a cool costume and you keep thinking, there is something greater down the line. That promise is never reached unfortunately.

Decent watch....but nothing memorable.

Wow, I couldn't even get past the 35 min mark of the 77 min length.

Writer and director Rene Perez has a bunch of films on his resume (most look like knock-offs from popular films), and all rated pretty much below a 3. I get these are all D-grade low budget independent films, but how about sitting out a few films and taking that money to go to film school. I've seen better writing and directing from a 5th grade drama class.

Right from the start, the outdoor scenes were all truncated from the suns flares. There's a thing called a lens cup, and it has an obvious use. Plus I'm pretty sure the lens needed a good spit and clean lol.

The scenes were all dragged out, mainly pointless, and the plot a huge mess. Way too obvious scene to scene, or jumping into a new scene out of nowhere. Bad editing. The fight (if I can even call it that) scenes' choreography was a joke. The slow motion was lame. The dialogue was even lamer. The acting was just terrible.

I'm giving this film a very generous 2/10 instead of a 1/10 only because I couldn't stop laughing at how bad it was, and because Emily Sweet was looking, well, sweet. Also because I do admire Rene's tenaciousness to keep making films even though they suck. Seriously, please Rene, no more films; save up the money and go to film school.

1. Weapons sound like kid's cap-guns 2. Blood wounds effect; high school level 3. Army Officer uniform built incorrectly. APOLOGIES...I lefr after 15-minutes.