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Rise:
Blood Hunter
(2007)
Lucy Liu as a vampire turned vampire slayer?
What should have been an entertaining distaff version of Blade turns
out to be a rather bloodless cinematic exercise.
Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) is an up-and-coming reporter known for
investigating the dark corners of modern life. After a young woman
(Margo Harshman) she interviewed turns up dead, Sadie looks into some
more dark corners and discovers a group of vampires preying on people.
After she falls victim to them and becomes a vampire herself, her
motivation becomes one of seeking revenge on the group and their
leader (James D'Arcy), with the assistance of a bereaved detective
(Michael Chiklis) whose daughter was Sadie's interviewee.
Writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez (writer of last summer's cult hit Snakes on a Plane and
both writer and director of the underrated Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She
Creature) had a good idea, but his execution of that idea leaves much
to be desired. It needed to have the action of the Blade films and
the humor of Snakes on a Plane, but instead it takes itself far too
seriously and the action scenes are rather tame. Remove the strong language
and multiple scenes of Liu in her birthday suit, and it could easily
be a pilot for a television series. One wonders if the nudity was
added simply because someone realized there wouldn't be any other
selling point. Its technical aspects are all high quality, though,
including the stylish cinematography by John Toll (Braveheart, The
Last Samurai) and the atmospheric score by Nathan Barr (Cabin
Fever, Hostel).
Liu is game as the sexy victim turned avenger, but the script simply
doesn't give her much to work with. Chiklis is good as the grieving
detective who wants revenge for his daughter's death, while D'Arcy
isn't very compelling as the superficially charming vampire leader.
Solid enough for the material are Harshman as the detective's
daughter, Carla Gugino as the vampire who turns Sadie, and Mako as one
of the vampire leader's henchmen. Marilyn Manson and Nick Lachey have
small roles as a bartender (I didn't even recognize Manson at first)
and a thug for hire, respectively.
There's so much that could be done with the story's basic concept, but
Rise: Blood Hunter is too sedate and by-the-numbers for its own
good, and is disappointing in light of Gutierrez's previous work.
It's not a truly bad film as much as it's simply not a very
interesting one.
-Danielle
Ní Dhighe
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2004-2009 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
Sebastian Gutierrez
Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez
Starring: Lucy
Liu, Michael Chiklis, James D'Arcy, Margo Harshman, Carla Gugino,
Mako, Marilyn Manson, Nick Lachey
Distributor: Samuel
Goldwyn Films
Runtime: 94
min
Rating: R
Release Date: June
1, 2007
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