Raze – Movie Review

Remember the first time you sat through Enter the Dragon? When you first watched as Bruce Lee paced back and forth, waiting to strike his prey with lethal precision? There is a presence, an energy, in that film that is contagious. That essence which fixes your gaze, sucks you in and suddenly…YOU want to be in the fight. For me, Raze is this generation’s Enter the Dragon.

Renowned stuntwoman Zoe Bell stars as Sabrina, one of 50 other women who have been abducted and forced into a sadistic no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle fight to the death which will leave only one woman standing. If they refuse to fight, one of their loves ones will meet a horrific demise.

This premise pits woman-against-woman in a cage match style brawl that is the very definition of the film’s title. The benefactors (Doug Jones, Sherilyn Fenn) have nefarious reasons for their catch-and-release program, reasons which you will have to watch the film to fully understand.

The film’s greatest strength is its simplicity. This is not a complicated story, nor does it need to be. We spend enough time with several of the women to gain enough attachment to be invested in the outcome. Each fight is also not simply hero vs. villain. Most of these matches take place between two women who completely sympathize and understand each other’s situations, they appreciate their respective plights. But they HAVE to fight, and for their loved ones to live…they have to win.

Zoe Bell continues her transition from stunts to acting with the lead here and handles it with panache. The film sets up quite early that Sabrina is a badass, but Bell sells us on the soul inside. With little dialogue and a heavy reliance on mannerisms, she drags us through her journey to hell and we come to appreciate just who she is as a character.

Outside of Bell and Continuum star Rachel Nichols, the film is smartly cast with women not primarily seen as action stars. Tracie Thoms, Bailey Anne Borders and Rebecca Marshall all create characters that draw you in to the emotional toil of these women, before their respective fights put you back on the edge of your seat. Marshall in particular does wonders with very little screen time as the sadistic Phoebe. Watching Phoebe surround her prey like a panther waiting to pounce will curl your toes with palpable tension, and those are the characters films like this need.

A movie like Raze lives and dies by one thing: The fights. If you center a film around a secret fight to the bitter end tournament, you had better make those fights exciting or you will end up next to Van Damme on the video shelf. This is where my earlier celebration comes in, as director Josh Waller knows exactly how to choreograph a fight, as well as taunt you to stand up and wish you were in it. This is not a Jason Statham or Steven Seagal movie. This is not balletic action where everything looks magnificent, yet one-step shy of a dance number. These fights are vicious, cruel and not at all for the squeamish.

The plot description alone is going to make some scream ‘EXPLOITATION!’, yet I never felt it hit that mark at any point. These women are never sexualized, they are primal. Fighting for survival and willing to do anything to achieve it. Waller is an action director to watch, as this was the rare exception where a tournament style film was done right (I’m looking at you, Gymkata!). The only issue I had with the film was the final reel, as it took a bit for me to come around to appreciating the choices Waller & Co. made, though come around I did.

Is it too bold to proclaim that an independent film like Raze could step up to a classic like Enter the Dragon? Maybe. But the fighting tournament genre has fewer competitors than, say Alien Invasions, so I feel pretty safe in my analogy. Raze is a punch to the gut from beginning to end and should satisfy even the most hardcore of fighting enthusiasts.

If $10 is the full price of admission, Raze is worth $7.50

 

Aaron Peterson
The Hollywood Outsider
Aaron@thehollywoodoutsider.com