Revenge City

It's alright. 5/10 over all BUT for cinematography I'd give it about 8/10. Martial arts was halfway decent and the concept wasn't shabby. The highlight was the cinematography. It was shot very well, especially the final fight scene which showcased the actor's skills as a martial artist. One can tell some parts were sped up but all and all great choreography and cinematography. Acting was below standard however but it's an enjoyable enough movie with the action sequences.

I was less then halfway through before I realized that if some, more experienced, people were employed to create this film, it'd probably be a blockbuster. If everyone making it has the experience, then maybe hire some better people. This film smells like Canada, I think it must have been made with 'Canadian dollars'.

The acting was good, the story had a few holes in it, so as long as you don't pay too much attention, then you may not notice. Like when Sandy talks about it being her "first night on the job"

The editing was good, but the scene where he's running down the stairs. Good lighting though.

If you like fighting, and boobs this movie was made for you!

Late August and most of September is usually a crappy time of year for films at least for me. Sure there is Expendables 2 out and Lawless coming out Friday, but they aren't movies I desperately want to see or willing to fork at least ten bucks for to see, so this is usually the time I rent films, and that's what I did a few days ago. I rented The Raid: Redemption, Flowers of War and The Girl From The Naked Eye. The Naked Eye was a spur of the moment decision on my part. It's only a buck to rent at the Red Box and the summary sounded decent, so I decided to check it out which leads to my review of the film. This will be another relatively short review.

The film follows Jake (Jason Yee) a driver for high class escorts who seeks justice for Sandy (Samantha Streets) who he finds shot dead in her apartment; even though he's a driver, a recovering alcoholic and in debit to the mob. The story is a noir-mystery that was influenced by the films of the late 1930's, 1940's and the 1950's. Even for the direct to DVD you can tell the film didn't have that big of a budget. Still the story works pretty well as Jake gives us his internal monologue as he tries to find Sandy's killer. The flashbacks gives detail into the relationship of Jake and Sandy and also gives depth to these flawed characters trying to get out of the sh*tty lives they have. For me this was a surprisingly good story with a sad and fitting ending.

The acting by these C level stars was pretty good. Jason Yee was great as the lead showing depth of emotions that fit the role. I had never heard of the actor before this film. He's manly stared in direct to DVD films, but I was surprised he had an un-credited role in The Dark Knight Rises as one of Bane's mercenaries. Ron Yuan (Simon) did a decent job as Jake's boss. He's another actor I'd never heard off, but you might recognize his voice. He gets most of his work from video games. He's had roles in Command and Conquer, Prototype, Alpha Protocol, Fallout New Vegas and many others. Another unknown actor Gary Stretch plays Frank who has an interest in Jake and Samantha. He does a good job playing a bad guy, and apparently has had many roles in direct to DVD films. Samantha Streets is a beautiful actress and did a great job playing Sandy. She's only had guest roles on television shows and minor roles. I think some director or film studio should give her a chance. Samantha is attractive and is a pretty good actress. The overrated retired porn star Sasha Grey is on the cover of the DVD, but she's only in the film for a minute. I know why the studio did that so she could draw attention to the film, but like I said she's only in it for maybe a minute. On a side note I know some men find her attractive, but I don't see the appeal. In my opinion she's ugly and very flat chested. Sasha isn't Hollywood hot and she's not even street hot, and the majority of the women I see on the street are hotter than her. Anyway back to my review.

With such a low budget film you can't expect special effects action sequences, and that was probably the worst part of the film. The action was at best decent. The best scene for action was the climax in a hallway, which was surprisingly really good, but that's pretty much the highlight of the film action wise. David Ren wrote and directed this film and he does a good job with the budget he has. I didn't know this until I looked him up, but he also directed another decent direct to DVD film called Shanghai Kiss, which I enjoyed.

In my ratings you'll find I'm harsher in my criticism to films that I see in the theater then when I rent or download films. I expect more from films that are released in the theater, because they're supposed to be the higher quality films in writing, directing, acting and action/effects. I am a little more forgiving for films that are direct to DVD or films I rent. Would The Girl From The Naked Eye be worth paying at least ten bucks to see in the theater no, but overall the film is pretty good and I recommend that you rent it; it's worth the buck you'd spend to rent it at Red Box. It has a good story and characters with decent acting, below average action and good directing.

Jake (Jason Yee) takes it upon himself to catch the real killer of his friend Sandy, the type of prostitute with a heart of gold that only exists in the movies, when the police view him as the main suspect. He's hunted by his former boss, the most ineffectual pimp in the history of cinema in this "Sin City"-esque piece of film-nior.

I enjoyed the movie's style and the fight scenes were OK, if highly derivative of other better films. Actually the whole movie is highly derivative of other movies, but it does still retain a certain panache that keeps it watchable.

My grade: C

Eye Candy: Gina Jackson, Elizabeth McDonald, Angela Valentine, and some extras get topless; Brandy Grace bares her butt

Must admit the movie had moments that surprised me. The relationship between Jake and Sandy had moments that were quite heart warming. I thought the Sandy actress did a great job. Kinda reminds me a lil of the relationship in Leon: the Professional between Natalie Portman and Jean Reno's characters. There were some scenes that was actually quite funny where i found myself chuckling out loud. Jason Yee did a pretty good job playing a bad/good guy. The cigarette smoking was kinda a thing in the movie with his character for some reason. Some of the flow reminded me of sin city in the atmosphere they were trying to create. Also surprising was how humanized the characters were. The Simon character was very down to earth and didn't fit the typical bad guy portrayal. The movie felt like they put a lot of heart into it and did the best they could with what they had. Sure the fight scenes were't typical Hollywood style hyper edits and loud added explosive hitting sounds but for the movie it fight pretty well. More like early Steven Seagal fights. Like to see him more in movies.