Falcon Rising (2014) Reviews

• Worth a watch

  chris-brown772014-09-14

  Having seen "Blood and Bone" I was interested to see MJW's latest outing, and with some minor reservations this movie is worth a look if the genre interests you. Its well shot, reasonable well acted throughout, with a good peppering of action sequences culminating in the standard "final battle". The fight scenes are well done, focusing on MJW's obvious skills without special effects or camera trickery. The plot moves along nicely, true its a little formulaic and maybe predicable, but name an action/revenge movie that is not....its more about the journey than the destination....hands up who wasn't sure if Liam Neeson would find his daughter in "Taken". The thing that impresses me the most is how good it it is considering the budget...$4.5 million, compare that to "The Expendables" $262 million...and it doesn't look cheap...think more "Transporter" than "Bourne".... ...now there's a thought MJW v Jason Stratham..

• Other reviewers are too hard on this film

  jwb0012015-11-21

  I've watched most films on the IMDb list "Best action movies in 2014/2015" (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075110196/), from the highest rated down to "Falcon Rising". I really do not understand why other users have given "Falcon Rising" such a low rating (at present, 5.7/10 from 4,359 users). In fact, I gave the film 10/10 simply to counterbalance the naysayers. During the film, a character states that Brazil has the second-largest population of Japanese people besides Japan. I noted to myself, "After the film finishes, I will try to verify this statement; if it's true, I will write a review on IMDb". It's true. (See the article "Japanese Brazilian" on Wikipedia.) Such attention to accuracy reflects well on the film to me. "Falcon Rising" is an excellent action film. Definitely better than "Non-Stop" (7.0/10), "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" (6.2/10), and "Taken 3" (6.0/10).

• Solid action movie with the best, MJW

  designstudio6092014-11-20

  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.

• Meet the most under-used action hero in film..

  A_Different_Drummer2014-09-09

  In my IMDb review of Blood and Bone, I not only top-rated the film (a no-brainer) but pointed out that Michael Jai White was probably the most entertaining action star out there, with split-second moves and a friendly gravitas that lets him connect with the viewer. That second part was clearly NOT a no-brainer, because, other than the IMDb faithful, no one else seems to have caught the hint. Now, a few years later, director Ernie Barbarash, who seems to have had a penchant for working with Van Damme, finally made the smart choice. For all intents and purposes, this could be White's long-awaited sequel to Blood and Bone. It is a slow-starter but frankly to see White in an action scene is well worth the wait. And the benefit of a slow start is that it builds. Not a lot of films today can claim that. I will close this review with a challenge to anyone in Hollywood with ears to hear and eyes to see. White seems in peak condition but history tells us that he probably has only so many of these films in him before he goes the way of Seagal and starts wearing designer clothes based on tents. Somebody should notice this guy and let him start making the films he was meant to make.

• Dumb fun, though not quite heavy on action like you may believe

  QCTeamkill2014-09-07

  Falcon Rising is the kind of movie that is easy to sell with an action packed trailer. However, it has less action then what you may believe there is. That's not to say it's not an action movie, but the action scenes are quite few and far between. The movie starts with our hero drinking and playing Russian roulette. If he really wants to kill himself, he should have loaded his gun with all the bullets, but that's besides the point. The point is that he has a sister who cares about him. After a talking scene at the restaurant, they part ways. Suddenly, the movie is set up in Brazil-Rio de Janeiro, where most of the plot happens. His sister is a cop and she gets brutally attacked. Our hero discovers it and he goes to Brazil to investigate. During the first half of the movie, there were only 2 fight scenes ( one in the first five minutes and the other about halfway ). The second half gets better and it focus more on the action, which is what we came to see. When the action happens, it's cool. No cuts, no shaking cam, no implied deaths. It's everything clear and well filmed. The last fight is a little different because it's our hero against 3 guys at the same time. It sets up a sequel, if they want to make one. The action scenes and Michael Jay White are a must see.