American professional wrestling legend Dave Bautista (The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption) stars in House of The Rising Sun, a gritty action-thriller about an ex-cop turned ex-con who is trying to lay low after serving five years in prison.
– By Laura Walkinshaw –
American professional
wrestling legend Dave
Bautista (The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption) stars in House of The Rising Sun, a gritty
action-thriller about an ex-cop turned ex-con who is trying to lay low after
serving five years in prison.
Following his release, Ray Shane (Bautista) takes a low-key security job
at The House Of The Rising Sun, a strip club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to keep
on the straight and narrow. But one night all hell breaks loose when the club
is raided and robbed by an armed gang who open fire while making their getaway,
killing the son of the club’s owner, a well-connected Mob boss.
Before long, Ray is being blamed for the
security breach that led to the robbery and the murder by the club’s shifty
manager Tony (Dominic Purcell)
and is forced to track down
the gang members and deliver them to his boss.
But while he gets closer to finding out the
truth, Ray realises that his allies are disappearing one by one and that his
criminal past is catching up with him – framing him for a murder he is not
guilty of.
Forced to decide between running from the
mobsters at the club and his former police colleagues or face a life in prison,
Ray desperately tries to uncover the truth before it’s too late, with the help
of old flame Jenny, played by Amy Smart
(Crank: High Voltage).
Aside from the predictable love affair between
Bautista and Smart, House of The Rising Sun
certainly keeps viewers guessing with its constant twists and turns. There
is a multitude of fighting scenes, an unbelievable number of people get shot,
and Smart keeps us guessing about which side she’s on.
The ending, however, goes one step too far with
too many unanswered questions and leaves us wondering what the point of the
film was.
Although Bautista has been slated for his
boring and wooden performance, it’s hard not to feel for Ray and his portrayal
as a changed man. As for the plot, you can’t help but question how much bad
luck someone can have.
While we do get an insight into the violent
criminal underworld (be warned: you may feel like you’re going to get shot if
you go out of the house immediately after watching this), House of The Rising
Sun unfortunately lets itself down by
a lack of excitement between the gunshots.
Based on the novel by author, journalist,
screenwriter and formal federal agent Chuck
Hustmyre and directed
by Brian A. Miller (Caught In The Crossfire), the film also stars Danny Trejo (Sons Of Anarchy, Machete), Craig
Fairbrass (The Bank Job)
and Dominic Purcell (Straw Dogs, Prison Break).