Falcon Rising

7.5/10

I agree with A_Different_Drummer's review for this movie and his Blood and Bone review. MJW is one of the best action stars out there and is still under-utilized. While this movie started off slowly, the second half was very entertaining and worth it. Predictable story but who cares, it's all about the style for this movie.

MJW needs more roles, I will watch anything with him in it. If you haven't seen Blood and Bone or Black Dynamite yet, go ahead and do yourself the favor.

Though this one isn't his strongest movie it beats the usual 6's and 7's on IMDb that are churned out by Popllywood.

I had very little expectations to the movie, as I hadn't even heard about it prior to stumbling upon it by sheer luck on Netflix. I decided to watch it solely because Michael Jai White starred in it.

And it turned out that this action flick was actually rather entertaining. Sure, the storyline was generic and something that definitely has been seen before in other action movies. But the combination of the storyline, the action, the acting, and the cast, then the end result really worked out as an entertaining action movie with that late 1980's feel that action movies had back then.

The story, in all its simplistic glory, is about a an ex-marine (played by Michael Jai White) who travels to Brazil, where he takes up fighting the Yakuza in the slums of Brazil, because the Yakuza attacked her sister and left her for dead.

There is a lot of action and fighting throughout the course of "Falcon Rising", and I will say that the action sequences and the fight scenes were quite nicely choreographed and executed on the screen. Which only added to the enjoyment of the movie, of course.

"Falcon Rising" is definitely worth the time of watching if you are a fan of old school action movies.

With the exception of a few landscape shots, its clear the producers passed miles away from Rio. Why they don't use brazilian actors rather than using spanish speakers trying to emulate something that is anything but portuguese?

After watching two Steven Seagal movies this weekend, I have a basis for comparison to say that this is fine action entertainment. Surely, the plot/story could have been better, but it's far from boring, and one does get to care for the characters. Most of the actors playing Brazilian didn't quite speak proper Brazilian Portuguese, but unless you speak Portuguese you won't notice it, and I didn't care that much, although it does take away some of the authenticity. There's some predictability, so if you're expecting something very original, you'd be disappointed.

This movie delivers different scenes and locations, a story that makes you wonder a bit what's going to happen next, great martial arts fighting from Michael Jai White and even some cool Capoeira moves from Lateef Crowder. The gun fights are also pretty good. If you love action, this movie is fun and leaves you wanting more. Wish there was a sequel...

I like Michael Jae White. I really do. It's just a shame that he doesn't necessarily have the best movies. Blood And Bone and Black Dynamite are probably two of his best movies. So is Falcon Rising up there? No, not exactly. For the most part, it's a pretty decent movie to watch, especially if you're a MJW fan. Think too hard and you'll start noticing flaws and soon you'll picking apart the film. The film is cheesy, but thankfully it knows that is. The humor can be off at times and the dramatic tones can come off as soap opera like. The dialogue can be a little so-so at times and the action sequences are, for most part, watchable. Even if the sound effects are a bit odd. The acting is okay at times and the pacing can be a bit of a drag, the characters can be clichéd and cartoony at times but for the most part you know their role in the film. All in all, it's not Jae's best movie, but it's something we can gnaw on as we wait for the highly anticipated Skin Trade coming next year.

6/10