Awaken (2015)

Review: I must admit, I was expecting this movie to be worse than it was, mainly because it's a low budget Vinnie Jones film but I did stick with it until the end because I was intrigued with the storyline. Don't get me wrong, it isn't anything amazing and I doubt that I would watch it again but it still had a couple of decent action scenes and the wilderness backdrop wasn't too bad. Its about a group of people who wake up in the middle of Island, being chased by some mercenaries, led by Vinnie Jones (Sarge). There main goal is to harvest organs and sell them to an exclusive group of rich people, so when Mao (Daryl Hannah) finds out that her child is dying and needs organs to survive, she turns to Rich (Jason London), who is in charge of the organ harvesting group. When the perfect organs become available for Mao's daughter, the surgeon goes ahead with the operation, which fails and kills her. Meanwhile, Billie Kope (Natalie Burn) and two of the stranded individuals, fight to escape the island and come toe to toe with Rich's henchmen. Billie then finds out that her sister, has been working for Rich and they rekindle there relationship and try to escape together. It sounds quite interesting but it's cheaply made with some dodgy actors. The overall concept wasn't too bad but the script was awful and there wasn't any depth to the characters. Anyway, the movie isn't that great but I have definitely seen worse, with Vinnie Jones in the cast. Passable!Round-Up: This movie was written and directed by Mark Atkins, who is known for making movies that go straight to DVD, like Evil Eyes, Knight of the Dead, Android Cop and Road Wars. This film had low budget written all over it and the, non-heard of actors were pretty poor. Edward Furlong, who became famous after starring in Terminator 2, looked awful and Jason London wasn't the best choice for the villain. Daryl Hannah's career has also gone downhill of late and I haven't seen Robert Davi in a film for some time, so the director didn't really have a cast who are in there prime. Anyway, I doubt that this film will hurt there reputations because there all starring in these mediocre movies to pay bills. I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/horror/mystery/thrillers starring Edward Furlong, Daryl Hannah Vinnie Jones, Jason London, Natalie Burn, Robert Davi, David Keith and Michael Pare. 2/10

I can't believe that inattention to common sense detail. Really awful direction. Very poorly crafted fight scenes. Awful tactics. Fingers inside trigger guards. Movements around corners like sleep walkers. Stupid stupid action. Could this movie really make money?How could people stranded on an island have such good hair? How was it possible that a guy on the island head was perfectly shaved every day for weeks? What is up with those pants on the protagonist ? Are we supposed to believe the pants just got ripped that way? And why was she wearing dog tags? She was never in the military? HIRE ME!I would provide the REAL LIFE direction to make this thing believable.Dear sweet Jesus, please please please, no one ever hire this director or writer again!

This film takes its original title from the first action of its central characters, in particular they awaken on a tropical beach with a recollection of being in a fight or some such. The last arrival is our heroine, who is certainly no damsel. The first question is who or what is behind this bizarre set up? If you have seen films of this kind before - "Kingdom Come" or the classic TV series "The Prisoner" - you will know there are two broad explanations: supernatural or human artifice. It doesn't take long for it to become clear there is nothing supernatural about "A Perfect Vacation", although not everyone is who he appears to be.The bottom line is that an organisation - small but evil - is offering life-saving transplant operations to the rich and powerful. And guess who are the donors? They have been dumped here in the wilds so their bodies will be purified, purged of all the toxins us city dwellers have in every cell. That is about it, although the heroine has a hidden agenda, the search for her lost sister. The latest recipient is a young, desperately ill girl who is brought there by her mother. Suffice it to say, things don't go to plan. A few years from now, 3D printing will eliminate the need for transplant surgery as we know it, but we can still have a gorefest in the meantime.There is quite a bit of action, and although the plot is minimal, the film still manages to be a little confusing, but if you like films of this nature, you'll probably like this one.

What a bad movie. Bad plot, bad script, bad directing, bad acting, bad editing…just bad. Except for Daryl Hannah. But this movie is one of those movies that is bad, but good. This is one of those movies that can't be taken seriously, yet is interesting enough keep watching. It has all the clichéd moments and plot lines, yet is just far enough away from cliché to be worth watching. There is no nudity, the bathing scene is, in context of other movies of the genre, humorous rather than sexy. There were a couple of moments of Commando, but then Vinnie Jones reappeared on screen and I couldn't take the movie that seriously (and I tend to have a fondness for Vinnie Jones movies for some reason). Overall, this is one of those movies where details are almost completely unimportant, and evidenced by my texting throughout, and not feeling like I missed anything. Of course, as a fan of the Lost series, I did see a few similarities. And like that show, there were a few major story questions that went unanswered. But they did not take away from the overall entertainment. And as previously mentioned, the entertainment was provided by the just-off-cliché moments and plot twists (though one was clichéd). This is one of those movies that could be a hidden b-movie extravaganza. It has the cast, and the heroine, Natalie Burn, appears to be on the rise. If you really have nothing better to watch on a Saturday afternoon, this is the movie. But really, wait until Ms. Burn becomes well known to watch it. (btw - the rating I gave is for execution of apparent intent. Compared to much more serious-intent movies, and this is more of a 3 star.)