Falcon Rising (2014) User Reviews

Worth a watch

[chris-brown77 · 7/10 · 14 September 2014]

Having seen "Blood and Bone" I was interested to see MJW's latest outing, and with some minor reservations this movie is worth a look if the genre interests you. Its well shot, reasonable well acted throughout, with a good peppering of action sequences culminating in the standard "final battle". The fight scenes are well done, focusing on MJW's obvious skills without special effects or camera trickery. The plot moves along nicely, true its a little formulaic and maybe predicable, but name an action/revenge movie that is not....its more about the journey than the destination....hands up who wasn't sure if Liam Neeson would find his daughter in "Taken". The thing that impresses me the most is how good it it is considering the budget...$4.5 million, compare that to "The Expendables" $262 million...and it doesn't look cheap...think more "Transporter" than "Bourne".... ...now there's a thought MJW v Jason Stratham..

Solid action movie with the best, MJW

[designstudio609 · 7/10 · 20 November 2014]

7.5/10

I agree with A_Different_Drummer's review for this movie and his Blood and Bone review. MJW is one of the best action stars out there and is still under-utilized. While this movie started off slowly, the second half was very entertaining and worth it. Predictable story but who cares, it's all about the style for this movie.

MJW needs more roles, I will watch anything with him in it. If you haven't seen Blood and Bone or Black Dynamite yet, go ahead and do yourself the favor.

Though this one isn't his strongest movie it beats the usual 6's and 7's on IMDb that are churned out by Popllywood.

Above the ...

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 21 June 2019]

Maybe just a little bit above mediocre, which almost is a shame considering how captivating and how intriguing the character Michael Jai White is playing is. The beginning is quite strong, you get a strong character who is broken. So much so, that he questions his will to live.

And the way White is playing that is more than above average. White might not get too much credit from a lot of people, but he is a charismatic and at least good actor. See Black Dynamite if you question it. The action scenes are quite good and someone "stole" the summary I wanted to use "decent" - as in this is quite a decent movie. As I also say though it could have been more. If you like action movies, give this a try - just if you can do the uncut version. It might only be a few cuts towards the end, but if you watch a movie like this, you want the full impact

OK action movie but there is some confusion

[krajewskithomas · 7/10 · 19 September 2014]

OK action movie but there is some confusion concerning the place of action. You can clearly see the typical views of Rio DE Janeiro and not a word about Sao Paolo. Maybe it is a small detail to most viewers - thou I doubt it, but right is right. It happens in Rio and not in Sao Paolo, OK? Otherwise an entertaining movie, recommended. After that we can go on to say few words about the movie itself. It seemed a little like Jason Statham plot - remember Jason's "Homefront?" The Brazilian police couple for ex. was a little too obvious to me, but not surprising at all. The action is quite interesting as it takes us beyond the Favela and gets us to take an additional quick look into the world of trafficking. All in all really good acting on most characters and nicely photographed too, Thomas K.

Yakuza in Brazil, why not? So send in the falcon!...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 7 June 2018]

I had very little expectations to the movie, as I hadn't even heard about it prior to stumbling upon it by sheer luck on Netflix. I decided to watch it solely because Michael Jai White starred in it.

And it turned out that this action flick was actually rather entertaining. Sure, the storyline was generic and something that definitely has been seen before in other action movies. But the combination of the storyline, the action, the acting, and the cast, then the end result really worked out as an entertaining action movie with that late 1980's feel that action movies had back then.

The story, in all its simplistic glory, is about a an ex-marine (played by Michael Jai White) who travels to Brazil, where he takes up fighting the Yakuza in the slums of Brazil, because the Yakuza attacked her sister and left her for dead.

There is a lot of action and fighting throughout the course of "Falcon Rising", and I will say that the action sequences and the fight scenes were quite nicely choreographed and executed on the screen. Which only added to the enjoyment of the movie, of course.

"Falcon Rising" is definitely worth the time of watching if you are a fan of old school action movies.

I honestly don't know what the fuss is about

[yarik83 · 4/10 · 16 June 2015]

I am not going to label myself as a fan of anybody because I honestly don't know anyone in the movie except for Neal McDonough and one look at him and you know he is going to play some sort of CIA guy or ambassador guy or one of those office pencil pushers who is secretly a super agent.

Movie starts off on a dark note and I can understand how and why they chose to begin that way but the rest of the movie was so twice removed from the intro that you begin to wonder why even include it in the first place?!

Story was highly predictable. Some corrupt cops, some bad guys, some other bad guys who are just thugs and then some super bad guys.

One of the biggest issues I had with this movie is that fights looked very believable but the rest of the movie did not. You could practically recite every single line for every single person in the movie if you had it on mute. I thought it was a poor choice of decision to make this movie anglo-latino bilingual. Make Latin culture communicate in their native tongue, none of this cross bridging nonsense. Naturally they did not film in Brazil so it was very obvious by location shoot, accents, languages used and more.

If you can generally survive predictable dialogue and somewhat of a predictable story line and poor acting and highly predictable characters... this movie is a decent watch while waiting for something more substantial to arrive in a netflix queue.

One of the biggest problems with this movie is that it could have been ohh so much more. Instead we have an unstoppable machine that was a little too powerful for the movie itself. If you remember a movie like Elite Squad and Elite Squad Enemy Within... that gets you a general ballpark of quality of movies that could have come out of this whole thing. Even on a low budget it is possible to produce such an amazing movie like Juan of the dead or Una Noche (granted I felt this movie had a lot of flaws but at the very least quality of film stood out).

One of the biggest issues of shoving a big brute into a movie and not giving him appropriate competition is that he or she will inevitably turn into Steven Segal that pretty much plows through anything and anyone and you quickly lose interest. You need to have right opponents and this movie, honestly, did not deliver that. Even in closing scenes there was no sitting on the edge of your seat.

The story of a veteran is a story that was re-told about a zillion times. The face of a Neal is telling enough to let you know that there will be politics and corruption involved. The cheesy detectives let you know what the movie is about as soon as camera pans to them.

I gave this movie a 4 and I honestly think it could get a 6 if it tried a little harder.

Decent.

[cousbrojs · 6/10 · 7 September 2014]

I like Michael Jae White. I really do. It's just a shame that he doesn't necessarily have the best movies. Blood And Bone and Black Dynamite are probably two of his best movies. So is Falcon Rising up there? No, not exactly. For the most part, it's a pretty decent movie to watch, especially if you're a MJW fan. Think too hard and you'll start noticing flaws and soon you'll picking apart the film. The film is cheesy, but thankfully it knows that is. The humor can be off at times and the dramatic tones can come off as soap opera like. The dialogue can be a little so-so at times and the action sequences are, for most part, watchable. Even if the sound effects are a bit odd. The acting is okay at times and the pacing can be a bit of a drag, the characters can be clichéd and cartoony at times but for the most part you know their role in the film. All in all, it's not Jae's best movie, but it's something we can gnaw on as we wait for the highly anticipated Skin Trade coming next year.

6/10

The action scenes are quite good. The movie around it, not so much.

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 16 August 2017]

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.

Michael Jai White makes the movie...

[destroyerwod · 7/10 · 12 October 2014]

Well, this enter the "you seen that before" category from the get go. There is nothing original about the plot. Ex Marine Falcon is out of the battlefield with post war trauma, the only thing he care for in this world is his sister. She get attacked and left for dead in Brazil and he goes after the people doing it.

The rest is your typical plot of any movies of that sub genra... BUT the main focus here is that this movie star Michael Jai White, the guy can be pretty impressive on screen. Not only does he has an intimidating presence and know how to act, but he fight really good too.

This is what makes the movie. Its true there is not as many fights as one would like, but when they happen, they are pretty good, and its really what i consider a very cool B action movie. If you like what veterans like Lundgren, Van Damme, Seagal or such do these days, you will love this one as its a bit above in my book. The thing is, MJW can fight, and its obvious the only reason why this movie does not shine more is the lack of fighting sequence for a plot development, which can't be seen badly either.

I had fun watching this, and i heard they plan it to be a series of movies, so i am interest to see what Falcon has in store next.

Not filmed in Brazil

[atendimento-261-551135 · 5/10 · 21 September 2019]

With the exception of a few landscape shots, its clear the producers passed miles away from Rio. Why they don't use brazilian actors rather than using spanish speakers trying to emulate something that is anything but portuguese?

Other reviewers are too hard on this film

[jwb001 · 10/10 · 21 November 2015]

I've watched most films on the IMDb list "Best action movies in 2014/2015" (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075110196/), from the highest rated down to "Falcon Rising".

I really do not understand why other users have given "Falcon Rising" such a low rating (at present, 5.7/10 from 4,359 users). In fact, I gave the film 10/10 simply to counterbalance the naysayers.

During the film, a character states that Brazil has the second-largest population of Japanese people besides Japan. I noted to myself, "After the film finishes, I will try to verify this statement; if it's true, I will write a review on IMDb".

It's true. (See the article "Japanese Brazilian" on Wikipedia.) Such attention to accuracy reflects well on the film to me.

"Falcon Rising" is an excellent action film. Definitely better than "Non-Stop" (7.0/10), "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" (6.2/10), and "Taken 3" (6.0/10).

Passable B-movie actioner

[Wizard-8 · 6/10 · 18 March 2018]

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.

Predictable!

[damien_74 · 3/10 · 19 November 2014]

Very, very predictable. There's actually nothing in this movie that comes as a surprise or you can't foretell.

Very cliché also. The language, the face expressions, the story and even the small, pretty bad jokes.

So is there anything good with this movie? Well.. the acting isn't terrible all the time and some of the actors are actually good. I know some thinks Mr Michael Jai White is good but take one more look and you realize he's doing the same thing he did in any other movie, he looks serious and sounds dangerous.

But the choreography in the fights are nice and if you like to see just a simple action movie this is watchable. That's the extent of it's value though.

nice flick for MJW fans :)

[aliabbas_04 · 7/10 · 9 September 2014]

Well...what can i say. It was fun to watch Michael Jai White in Action since i saw his movie "Blood and Bone". Script was nice and White's acting & especially action scenes were amazing. Like Steven Seagal's movies, Michael Jai White's movies also don't get that much of a rating that they normally deserve but overall it was entertaining. Action/Fight scenes are worth watching and movie was a low budget but still it kept me on my seat till the end because of the main actor in leading role. i don't know what to say here in the review because you all know the plot, so just watch it by yourself & then decide. But yeah...i can guarantee one thing that you won't get bored out of this movie because whenever you feel like it's gonna get a little boring; that's where an action/fight scene pops in. :D

so, have fun watching this movie. i give it 6 out of 10, and yeah...plus 1 bonus point for Michael Jai White. :P

Cheers :)

Entertaining

[forayof · 6/10 · 19 May 2016]

Falcon Rising is an action thriller from 2014 starring Michael Jai White in the title role, John 'Falcon' Chapman. Falcon is US Marine veteran and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. Film picks up momentum when Falcon receives a call from his old buddy Ridley who works in US Consulate in Brazil that Falcon's Sister Cindy is beaten badly and left for dead in the Brazilian Favela. Falcon travels to Brazil and visits his sister in the hospital. He also meets up with Santo and Carlo who are in-charge of investigating his sister's case. Something goes wrong right in front of Falcon in the hospital and from then on he wants to conduct his own investigation. What did Falcon's sister Cindy find and who was responsible for her state and what is actually happening in Brazilian Favela is told in an interesting mode which keeps the viewers engrossed to the screen. Director Ernie Barbarash needs to be complimented for pulling off an action yarn of this standard. Cinematographer Yaron Levy had captured the action and Brazilian favela nicely. Falcon Rising is an entertaining, thrilling and unsentimental action movie where you will be seeing good old-fashioned fight choreography done brilliantly. Good treat for action lovers.

The favela is not from Rio

[mf_pinto · 4/10 · 13 January 2019]

The lacation used in the movie is "La Perla" in Puerto Rico.

South-of-the-border fight flick

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 15 September 2019]

FALCON RISING is a south-of-the-border fight flick starring everyone's favourite man mountain, Michael Jai White, of BLOOD AND BONE fame. This one's a pared-down thriller with join-the-dots plotting (about rogue cops) and a Yakuza conspiracy involving the usual corruption and murder. White is our PTSD-suffering war hero who walks straight into the middle of the situation and proceeds to kick backside in various violent intervals. This one's really low budget but manages to stage a sequence of decent fights, and it helps that the likes of Capoeira fighter Lateef Crowder play in support. Director Ernie Barbarash cut his teeth on CUBE ZERO and various Van Damme vehicles and does a commendable job here.

Not in Rio, not portuguese

[andrejurado-1 · 4/10 · 22 October 2020]

Being Brazilian myself, it's painful to hear evidently fake accents. And what about the names they give people and places? Laughable. The main character is good, no doubt about it. But the acting overall hurts my feelings. But whenever there's some action, they're well done. But it's not enough to make it a good flick. Try harder next time.

White finds attackers of his sister.

[saptesh786 · 7/10 · 22 February 2020]

A good action movie, especially for brilliant fight sequences from Michael J White.

the only thing that was worth watching is the last 15 minutes or so the rest is rather relative

[jordondave-28085 · 5/10 · 23 April 2023]

(2014) Falcon Rising ACTION

The name "Falcon" as the movie is referring to is the character played by Michael Jai White, as he plays John Chapman that was the nickname he was given when he was a marine. The set up is roughly about 27 minutes, and while back at home, he attempted suicide as a result of PTSD he suffered while he was serving. Until one day his sister, Cindy Chapman (Laila Ali) comes to visit him coming from Brazil. And it is not long before his sister, Cindy as a social worker goes back, that she was discovered left for dead unconscious. And of course, he receives a call from his former marine friend, Manny (Neal McDonough) who works at the US consulate in Brazil, informing him about it. And upon his stay at Brazil, during his investigation, he clashes with a Yakuza child smuggling ring lead by ruthless gangster, and sword whirling, Hirmato (Masashi Odate)

There's like one fight scene in like the first half hour upon the Falcon entering into a small convenience store, before he fights some more upon his trip to Brazil. And there isn't anything impressive until the last 15 minutes or so, that consists of fights and gun fights looked it was inspired from a John Wick movie, except that this movie has less action than most high budgeted action movies.

Meet the most under-used action hero in film..

[A_Different_Drummer · 9/10 · 9 September 2014]

In my IMDb review of Blood and Bone, I not only top-rated the film (a no-brainer) but pointed out that Michael Jai White was probably the most entertaining action star out there, with split-second moves and a friendly gravitas that lets him connect with the viewer.

That second part was clearly NOT a no-brainer, because, other than the IMDb faithful, no one else seems to have caught the hint.

Now, a few years later, director Ernie Barbarash, who seems to have had a penchant for working with Van Damme, finally made the smart choice.

For all intents and purposes, this could be White's long-awaited sequel to Blood and Bone. It is a slow-starter but frankly to see White in an action scene is well worth the wait. And the benefit of a slow start is that it builds. Not a lot of films today can claim that.

I will close this review with a challenge to anyone in Hollywood with ears to hear and eyes to see. White seems in peak condition but history tells us that he probably has only so many of these films in him before he goes the way of Seagal and starts wearing designer clothes based on tents. Somebody should notice this guy and let him start making the films he was meant to make.

Entertaining And Entirely Worth Watching

[AlainAKoningverdraag · 7/10 · 3 February 2016]

This movie is not a cheap flick by any means. For some reason, people (myself included) seem to have been expecting a less than interesting B movie... well, it wasn't. Kind of like a short but satisfying Marvel comic. I really enjoyed watching this. Sure, it's produced with a small budget, but it does not come across that way at all. It was well put together, the story was coherent; and the acting was decent, as well as the character development. So that by the end of the movie, I was thinking to myself: "Wat? They're ending this on a cliffhanger... damn, now I want to see what happens next."

So yes, this movie is well worth the watch. Enjoy it ;)

Average movie, Definitely above average star

[percussion-24418 · 5/10 · 18 March 2021]

Michael Jai White is one of the best action stars of the 21st century, his extensive background in martial arts means that generally, a director and cinematographer can have fight scenes play out without relying on shaky cam or wire stunts (Not that wire stunts aren't awesome, but it's nice to see organic fight scenes) As for the review i'm gonna avoid spoilers but overall it;s... it's ok. there are a few things that are stupid (LOOKING AT YOU, SWITCHBLADE KATANA) but overall its entertaining enough to get drunk and watch with a few buddies

Falcon Rising

[AzureTay · 6/10 · 11 April 2022]

A 2014 action film, Falcon Rising is perfectly alright. If you are looking for good punchy beat outs, some fast cut and faster paced action scenes, it stands out. Strongly shot fight cinematography with a series of pretty strong looking guys. Falcon Rising lives up to being an 80s action movie made in 2014.

This movie was supposed to be the first in the CODENAME: FALCON franchise following a former marine named John Chapman, also known as the Falcon. Because all gritty marines must have the most bland name humanly possible. In broad strokes, it is a 'gritty' anti-hero movie about a man fighting both demons in human form, and his inner demons.

This movie takes place in the underbelly of Brazil, where Chapman's sister is attacked, and The Falcon is here for revenge, and takes on the drug cartels, sex trafficers, corrupt cops, and crime syndicates of South America. Honestly there isn't a lot to say about the movie, its biggest crime isn't being memorable.

It is alright. Also no south America orange tint which is a pretty nice and good choice, given that most if not all the movie takes place in South America, that orange filter would quickly overstay its welcome.

Overall: 6/10

Spoiler Stuff There is nothing really to say spoiler wise. It plays out pretty directly, except the Yakuza twist which is great.

Pretty good

[dotherightthing-79231 · 7/10 · 25 June 2020]

I was entertained. I love watching and supporting a good indie!