This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

You will probably find "Falcon Rising" to be entertaining the more that you are in an undemanding mood when you sit down to watch it. I'm not saying that it is a bad movie, but there are several things holding it back from being a great B movie. The faults with the movie do not concern its star, Michael Jai White. Although his acting is only adequate, he does make up for it by his strong presence and animal magnetism, and when he thrown into an action scene, he acquits himself very well. The main problems with the movie generally fall with the script. The story (which is to a large degree very predictable) is kind of padded out, and takes forever to get going (over a third of the movie goes by before White's character really starts to get down to business.) Also, the movie gives White less of a chance to show off his martial art skills or gunplay than you might think. But when the action does come, it's pretty decent, not the best I've seen but also far from the worst. So the movie ends up being an okay effort, best saved for a casual viewing experience rather than when you are really craving a lot of gratuitous violent action.

John "Falcon" Chapman (MJW) is a suicidally depressed ex-Marine with PTSD whose emotional problems are exacerbated by alcohol abuse. That may seem dark, but things start to look up for Falcon when a new mission gives him renewed purpose in his life. Unfortunately, though, the mission involves his sister Cindy (Ali), who was attacked and hospitalized while in the favelas of Brazil. Falcon arrives in Sao Paulo and proceeds to beat up a bunch of people in his quest for answers. Teaming up with old contact Manny Ridley (McDonough), as well as gaining some new friends and foes along the way, Falcon discovers some surprising revelations about the crime syndicates of Brazil - the Japanese Yakuza is all over the place. Will Falcon find out who his sister's attackers were without getting himself killed in the process? We love Michael Jai White, or MJW as we call him, and we're happy to report he's still "got it". His Martial Arts abilities are cool, brutal, and top-notch. By far the best thing about Falcon Rising are the fight scenes, all of which involve White. Unfortunately, the movie AROUND it isn't so hot. The plot is paint-by-numbers and you don't get hooked in to the storyline like you could or should. We know a lot of people criticize action movies, saying that they're dumb and the plots are perfunctory window dressing so that the action setpieces can exist. In the case of Falcon Rising, that's a valid observation.If you take another DTV movie we watched recently, Green Street 3, it doesn't compare to Falcon Rising at all, because GS3 works any way you slice it - with action, without action, low budget, high budget, whatever. It's just a good movie that satisfies the viewer. The acid test for action is - would the movie be good if you took out the action scenes? In the case of GS3 the answer is yes. In the case of Falcon Rising it's no. Director Barbarash was responsible for the Van Damme films Assassination Games (2011) and 6 Bullets (2012) so he should know the rules by now. And he commits another no-no… We don't like CGI bullet hits. We don't like CGI blood. We don't like CGI anything. "Speeding up" the action to cover it up doesn't work, and turning the blood into a "mist" is not a valid masking device either. Is doing this less expensive than squibs? Is it somehow an improvement in the development of mankind that nerds on a computer can now hit Alt-B for blood and Alt-E for explosion? This is considered acceptable and good? Especially when you have a charismatic and talented Martial Artist like MJW at the helm, CGI stuff should be eschewed.Michael Jai White fans - and action fans in general - will appreciate the action scenes, which are quite good. The movie around it, not so much.

I knew I'd seen Michael Jai White from somewhere else, so a quick check on here and voilà - The Dark Knight.Well I was impressed with Michael Jai White and his moves but and there's always a but...the fight scenes could have been a little more choreographed. As far as fresh new moves for a movie, it didn't hold back one bit. There are some great one-liners in there but it just lacked something.On the hole, I was kept watching, didn't flinch and fell into the film. It's a good movie despite some peoples low rating but what it does clearly show are the very low and dark sides of Brazil...every country has them!!! Enjoy :-)

Falcon Rising is a movie that aims to be a franchise but fails to be interesting enough. It had many elements to help it get right. It had the martial arts talent of Michael Jai White and Lateef Crowder, the plot sounded like a no-holds barred revenge flick and I can imagine White wreaking vengeance on all the bad guys. Sadly, the story has a weak script, poor action choreography, and bad acting. This is a movie that tries to be a drama, thriller, and action but failing on all counts. The only parts that are enjoyable are some of the fight sequences. In fact, MJW fails to shine through in the fight scenes and seems to hold back a lot. When you see him effortlessly wield two sticks against a sword, and how he dispatched off a goon who was choking him, do you remember how talented a martial artist he is. Lateef Crowder on the other hand does not seem to be able to stretch his skills enough. If you had seen him in Ong Bak, then you would know what I mean. However, I blame the script and direction for this mess. When two of the most talented on-screen fighters cannot shine in an action movie, you know there is a problem.