The Redemption

(2011) House of the Rising Sun CRIME THRILLER

Adapted from the novel by Chuck Hustmyre co-written and directed by Brian A Miller, that has Ray (Dave Bautista) as security guard of an illegal gambling racket. When Ray presumed one guy was throwing up, he then pulls up a gun, others follow him into the club to steal money from it's proceeds. As it turns out the entire thing had been fixed set up by someone working in the inside.

I had seen bad movies in my life but this movie is amongst the worst. This must be during the time when former WWE wrestler was dipping his toes into acting, and it's one of the worse performances. There is barely any action nor anything excitement for the few stars I am giving it is the result of the few breast scenes that looked real.

This movie after watching 10 minutes myself also realized that it was a very bad b class movie that had no real story line to it. Then if you watch the movie you will see almost every time you see Batista, he has a smoke sticking out of his face.After sitting and watching the entire movie, I wondered one question, "WHY". It was very very bad to watch and even consider as a good movie. This shows me with the quality of movie, why it was or never made it to he theater. It is almost the same as watching a class b movie in Canada. I give it about a 4/10 rating for it's quality.This movie should have been left without even being done.

Well, "House of the Rising Sun" proves to be no grand thespian experience. I mean, just look at the cast ensemble, and you essentially know what you are in for.

The story is about former dirty police officer Ray who is now working security detail at an illegal casino and brothel. After a robbery Ray finds himself framed for the robbery and murder and must go to extreme lengths to clear his name.

It should be said that the movie is entertaining enough for what it was; a somewhat bland action movie that was running on autopilot and offering nothing to challenge the intellect of the audience.

Now, I mentioned that this is not a grand thespian experience earlier, and with names like Dave Bautista and Dominic Purcell at the lead, well, enough said. Bautista moves about with the grace of a bull in a China shop, and Dominic Purcells hair just gets taller and taller with each movie.

There were a couple of adequate action sequences here and there, but it was not sufficient to lift up the movie and bring it above mediocrity.

If you enjoy action movies, then your money is better spent elsewhere if you want a movie with just an ounce of content. However, if you enjoy pointless and predictable movies that are devoid of anything to stimulate your intellect, then by all means spend an hour and a half on "House of the Rising Sun".

In the very beginning, say, maybe 10 minutes, the movie seemed to be quite promising and I really thought at that moment, Bautista might pull through like Stone Austin or the 'Rock' to become the next WWE superstar turned movie star. But after ten minutes, I have realized that this was a very hollow boring movie due to a very weak elementary level screenplay so boring, so clichéd and so contrived. What I saw was a chain-smoking down-and-out ex-cop and ex-con who could not find a decent job after a 9 years sentence and was released from prison. So of course he became a mob's night club's doorman+bouncer+floor manager, got the authority to give credit to gambling loser. And of course, lousy things always happened to bad luck chain smoker, the night joint was robbed by a bunch of ....then, of course....then, "you lost my money on your watch, and my son was killed during your watch. I want you find out who did this, who killed my son and, I want my 300G back!" Wow, what a junior high school script. The only thing I liked in that movie is the leather coat that Bautista wore and some of the pretty night scenes of the city. That's all.

Well, I tried. I sat right thru 'til the end. For a while, I was OK with the script, and then, for a while, I thought it was the directing that made this pretty mediocre effort work. 'Til I saw him trying to sneak about, which made him look like a gorilla...

OK. Off the fence. It doesn't work. Reviews have said the first bit is slow - well, it is. Slow but pretty tight.

Then there's a long, (a really long), pause, then, well, it finishes.

And, well, it's really all down to casting. I mean, if it's not script (thin, but, well, OK), or direction, (transparent, after about 40 mins in), it's gonna be casting.

Danny Trejo. Lazy casting? Hmmm. You decide....

In the end, I was honestly looking forward to Craig Fairbrass being on screen, 'cos at least he can act... And I'm a Brit, and usually I think he's rubbish, but this time he took all the scenes he was in, which said, well, something...

So. Dave Bautista. Better than some ex WWF debuts, but learn to act, get a better fight coreog, and stop creeping around like a gorilla who filled his pants. Oh, and Amy Smart? (who did a passable job), she's tiny. A third your weight. I mean, what were you THINKING?