Falcon Rising | Movie Review

Back in the 80s, cinematic action heroes had it easy. All they needed to justify killing dozens – if not hundreds – of faceless bad guys was righteous revenge. Their motives didn’t need to be convoluted, the villains didn’t require an ounce of sympathetic humanity, and justice was dealt at the end of a gun, a roundhouse kick, or hopefully both. Life was simple back then, straightforward.

Then the 90s came, followed by the 00s, and things got complicated. Suddenly our heroes were troubled and our villains were shades of gray. And the action got even more complicated, with every fight needing wirework, and a million cameras took it in from every angle imaginable, all of which we had to see in a rapid volley of quick cuts. Sure, the movies looked good, but often I wished for the occasional return to yesteryear, when I could sit back and watch a good guy kill a bad guy in a flurry of punches and hollow point ammo.

So, you can imagine how please I was to watch FALCON RISING, a straight-up action movie staring Michael Jai White (SPAWN, BLACK DYNAMITE) and directed by Ernie Barbarash (6 BULLETS, HARDWIRED). White plays John “Falcon” Chapman, a former soldier and PTSD sufferer whose sister is badly beaten by unknown evildoers in the favelas of Sao Paolo, Brazil. Knowing those bastards have to pay, he hops a plane and, with the help of his old military friend Manny (Neal McDonough), begins the search. When he eventually discovers who the true forces are behind his sister’s attack, it’s an enemy he never saw coming. And when his fists start flying, neither do they.

FALCON RISING is a mixture of old and new action styles. The story is simple, the acting proficient, and the locations exotic, all of which pleases my inner 80s child, but the action…oh the action is what you really came for, and it does not disappoint. White is a powerhouse, his size matched only by his speed. It’s amazing to see a guy so covered in muscle leap and spin as quickly as he does.

But what I really enjoyed was how well the gunplay was integrated into the fights. At times I was reminded of EQUILBRIUM’s gun-kata style, with punches followed by well placed shots, followed by kicks and then another shot. There were no indiscriminate sprays of bullets, no machine guns going clacka-clacka-clacka for minutes on end. Each shot counted, which brought a real life feel to the movie. Every fight was as brutal as it was entertaining. My hat is off to director Barbarash for keeping the film exciting without every overdoing it with quick cut edits. That made me very happy.

Is FALCON RISING going to win any Oscars? No. Should that matter? Not at all. This film knows what it is, knows what you want, and it isn’t bashful about giving you exactly that with no filler or attempts at shaking up the cinematic world. There are no pretenses here. So, if you like action films and you want to see droves of bad guys get the beatdown they so desperately deserve, then give this movie a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

If $10 is the full price of admission, FALCON RISING is worth $7

 

Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Michael Jai White HERE!

Falcon Rising arrives in theaters September 5th (Available on iTunes, DirecTV, and OnDemand Sept. 4th)
Starring Michael Jai White, Neal McDonough, Laila Ali
Directed by Ernie Barbarash
Written by Y.T. Parazi

 

Justin Macumber
The Hollywood Outsider