Awaken
Awaken
R | 07 July 2015 (USA)
Awaken Trailers

A random group of people wake up on an Island where they are being hunted down in a sinister plot to harvest their organs.

Reviews
Halopinero

The term is "campy". Everyone needs a campy movie now and then and this one offers laughs (unintentional or not) as well as drama and just enough whamos to keep you interested. You can't beat the scenery. Filmed in California....but I can't determine where. Jungle scenes are studio work since we don't have jungles here. Some of the acting is weak but there are a few good scenes. Vinnie Jones is always a hoot to watch. I've always liked Daryl Hannah and she doesn't disappoint as the mysterious Mao.It was refreshing to see an action, kick $#?% type of movie without gratuitous "f" bombs. Definitely stronger than most "B" movies.

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karjens

Personally I liked the movie. It was an interesting plot, one that has been done before but not enough to make it tired. Unlike others, I thought it was well acted. Natalie Burn is excellent in the very rare roll of a woman who kicks @ss. I think she has the potential to do a lot more action roles, if more people would write lead action roles for women that is.It did drag in spots and the music really didn't help with that but I find that to be true with a pretty much any movie or show set in a forest. All in all, I found it to be an entertaining movie for a lazy day.

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leonblackwood

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

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blaynebittner

The movie seems predictable. The predictable twists were taken out early in the movie to surprise us with the unpredictable twists. This makes the film more enjoyable as the plot unwinds further into the movie. There were some solid acting performances such as Darryl Hannah and Robert Davi.After about half an hour in, we think we're still watching a b movie. Because of this intentional yet enjoyable section of the movie, we think we know how the movie will end. Some of the watchers of this movie may get frustrated because they wanted a different ending or wanted to see more skin.As an adult viewer, I respect when movies are created with far less nudity. The movie is still a great action thriller without showing boobs, and I applaud that. Some men may not like it and rate it low for this reason.The acting where needed from the cast was spot on. We got to know our characters and actually care about them before the killing starts. Each moment where someone we care about dies, it hurts. This brings the emotional element necessary in good thrillers to immerse us into the movie entirely.The climax is later in the movie than most aggressive action thrillers, which makes this movie refreshing and different.There has been a longstanding trend of overly happy every after endings, and while the ending isn't the most sad, its not typical and its a lot more realistic. I'm remaining vague and neutral to prevent spoiling the plot. What I am getting at here is that the ending and the second half of the movie venture far off stereotypical Hollywoood in a lot of the plot twists.A great thing about this movie is we don't know if who we care about are going to die nor live, both antagonists and protagonists die in this movie. Rather than people walking away without a scratch from gun fights, they're getting torn apart.In a lot of movies of this type, we feel distanced from the characters and are distracting by them overacting. However, we feel immersed into the film by the halfway through point whether we enjoy their individual performances or not.A lot of the best movies being released in 2014 and 2015 have action scenes that are so long and repetitive that the action becomes boring. The action in this movie has quite a large variation. When one takes all parts of the movie into consideration, this movie deserves a lot higher than 4.5/10.The action style early into the movie was a lot more simplistic. When Darryl Hannah's back story is told, we believe she can fight as well as she does. That's why being patient with the first 30 minutes of the movie is important to enjoy this film. The action is very smart in the way that it builds up to a thrilling conclusion we didn't expect because of how the movie's pace immerses us by the middle of the movie.I will enjoy re-watching this with friends who share the taste of this movie with me. I may even buy a couple copies as birthday gifts for those who I know will like it. Not everyone will be happy with this movie. Some people will not enjoy this movie until they watch it a second time. This movie will grow on people who give it a chance.Another positive subtle use of special effects was using colors to set the mood of the film, and help immerse us into the movie more as the movie continued.At the end of the day, its an action movie that will never be nominated for Academy awards. Its more tailored to men's enjoyment more than women, but most girlfriends will prefer it over the action movies men usually make them watch.

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