Really Surprised!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A woman named Billie Kope (Burn) wakes up on a tropical island and has no memory of how she got there. She eventually meets other people held captive in this mysterious place, including Quentin (Davi), Berto (Furlong), and Stitch (Crawford), among others. While Billie relies on her combat training - by her father, played by Benny The Jet - to stay alive, she does remember she's searching for her missing sister. Unfortunately, the island dwellers are at the mercy of Rich (London), and his goons such as Sarge (Jones) and Xander (Pare) - who are holding them there so they can harvest their organs. When an important client, a woman inexplicably named Mao (Hannah), shows up with her ailing daughter, Rich tells the island doctor, Walsh (Keith) to snap into action. However, by this time Billie and her compatriots are fighting mad and are intending to get off the island by using lethal force against their captors. Much like Gilligan's Island and/or The Prisoner, will our heroes get off the island? Awaken is sort of a modern-day DTV cross between Avenging Force (1986), The Condemned (2007), and Death Ring (1992). We're glad movies like this are still being made, but it seems the only place for them to go are cable channels (some might describe them as "deep cable" channels) such as Showtime Extreme. The solid B-Movie cast goes a long way towards sustaining its entertainment value, and main star Natalie Burn certainly has the potential to go far, in our opinion. Not only did she star in the movie, she has co-story, co-producer, and stunt credits, and even is solely credited with casting. So I guess we have her to thank for getting all these familiar faces together. She even sings the end titles song, "Awaken", and is/was a ballerina, just like Assassins Run's Sofya Skya. Is this becoming the new trend in DTV action? Hopefully Skya and Burn will be co-stars in a movie together soon. They could be ex-ballerinas/cops who bust a lot of heads and fight their way up a drug ring to the evil mastermind. If anyone reading this produces these types of movies, give us a call.  There are also some similarities to Gina Carano's In the Blood (2014) - and even the recent Van Damme movie Pound of Flesh (2015). Maybe it's not just ballerinas turned action stars that are the new trend, evidently organ donation is hot now too. Thankfully, Awaken combines the two. While the movie as a whole looks good, and you can see Burn's fights well, there are some poor editing choices which mar the overall pretty cinematography. These are especially evident when someone gets tasered, the scene with the shark attack, and the Michael Pare-Vinnie Jones fight. Sadly, not only was the latter edited badly, but it should have gone on longer and been more built up in the movie. That's the match-up we've been waiting for, and it's over in a flash.Fan favorite Robert Davi wears a John Travolta/Nicholas Cage-style wig, Daz Crawford is likable, and Vinnie Jones is his usual head-butting self that we all love and enjoy. Pare isn't in it all that much, nor is Edward Furlong, who...let's just say it's a good thing that people stranded on the island are supposed to look disheveled and tired. Daryl Hannah, fresh off of Death Squad (2014) adds...something, but we're not sure what. It looks like she's finally joined the ranks of us lowly DTV dwellers. But I blame Hollywood for that. Because Hollywood sucks and seemingly only releases remakes, sequels, and superhero movies, there's no place for actresses like Hannah there anymore. And if Hannah's not going to the theater any longer, Furlong et al. certainly aren't either. But they'll always have a home in DTV - surely they can give Natalie Burn a call anytime.It all ends with a very, very silly shootout, just as the audience's patience is wearing thin. Awaken is by no means a bad movie, but it ultimately fails to capitalize on all the assets it had at its disposal. We're hoping Burn goes up to the next level for her next outing.

The Three Acts:The initial tableaux: Billie wakes up on a beach, battered and covered with sand. Her short term memory is shot, but she remembers to find her dog tags before proceeding inland. She soon joins a chase where one side is armed, and she is among the chased. Erin is separated and killed by Sarge, the leader of the armed uniformed men. Billie escapes with Berto, Chloe, Nick, and Todd, who lead her to Quentin, the de facto leader of the prisoners. Billie swaps kidnapping stories with the others.Rich seems to be the straw boss of the island. He's disappointed with Sarge that Erin is dead. Mao is coming the next day.Delineation of conflicts: The gang of kidnappers/murderers would like to keep the human traffic flowing, since there is a lot of money in organ harvesting. The prisoners would like to escape with their lives. If possible, hurting the efforts of the traffickers would be nice. The gang has weapons, transportation, radios, money, and contacts. The prisoners have their good health, for a while, at least. Billie tries to figure out the connections among them.Resolution: Do the prisoners find a weakness?

Luckily I was able to catch this one on cable, for free. I can not imagine having to have paid for this garbage and waste of reel and time. wow.. some 'once upon a time actors' like Daryl Hannah and Ed Furlong have really been desperate for work lately. Both seem to be grasping for any part the can secure. Second movie recently where you see Daryl Hannah play an overweight psychopath (poorly). Yet another movie where the main character (Billie) who was 'home trained' by her dad how to fight, manages to take out high ranking, special forces trained, killing machine military boys with just her fists and kicks that daddy taught her. Right. Pathetically unrealistic. Should have been an animated cartoon, not a movie. Place it at the bottom of your 'to watch' list, because that is where it belongs.

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.