The Redemption

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?

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.

I'm not particularly a wrestling fan. However, there seems to be a growing trend introducing wrestlers to cinema. It's worked in the past for both Steve Austin and Dewayne Johnson, but it's not a set in stone formula.

This was not a flick that followed the formula of a successful action film. The plot moves quickly at the beginning, but then stops, takes a few sharp (and typical for this genre) turns. Stops, and then takes a few more wide turns before finally coming to a stop. For this being billed as an action/drama movie, it really doesn't have the characteristics of those.

The action and choreography is dull. Right down to it's core. I'd have rather them be too far out there than simply not enough, especially from a man like Bautista who has such a large physique, and a reputation in wrestling for being especially action-packed.

There were some cheesy moments with the action, as well. CGI rendered bullet holes, for instance - which I normally don't have a problem with if they're difficult to detect. However, these are laughably noticeable.

The acting was pretty atrocious for the most part. There were two saving graces: Amy Smart and Dominic Purcell (Danny Trejo's character doesn't have enough scenes to justify his role). Both Smart and Purcell played their parts very well. Their interaction with the main character is what you would expect for two seasoned actors talking to a dull brute.

Bautista cannot act. I'm sure he's excellent at tossing people around the ring and being overly intimidating (I have to admit, he is an incredibly large fellow). However - he should stick to the over dramatization of wrestling and leave acting to people who are actually good at it.

The plot was extremely cliché'. Nothing that I haven't seen before, this was just done much more poorly than previous renditions of the same story.

I'd suggest staying away from House of the Rising Sun.

(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.

The major issue with this film is the script. Its awkward, flabby dialogue, when played out by already-mediocre actors, results in something that is painful to watch. People just don't talk to each other in the way this film portrays. Its story is (by design, it seems) completely predictable.

The sad thing is Bautista comes across as one of the better actors in this. I haven't seen any of his wrestling but I'd have the guess that his signature move was diving over a table to escape bullets.

You occasionally get some okay music (but this is a film, not an album) and the camera work and production values are generally pretty good. It looks and sounds like it should be a good film but it's really just a well-polished turd.

Avoid it. You won't get that 80 minutes back.