THE GIRL FROM THE NAKED EYE is one of those movies of which I'm torn between high and low ratings, because even though it excels on all levels of DTV cinema, it does so unevenly. It's one of the few movies I had actively anticipated to see, and the fact that I waited for so long probably raised my expectations to counterproductive levels...but rest assured, it's a good film. A very good film, if you're thinking strictly in terms of DTV action. Oh what the heck - have four stars, movie.The story: when a young call girl (Samantha Streets) is mysteriously killed, her only friend (Jason Yee) must untangle a deadly urban web to find the murderer.Be aware, folks, that this is basically an action-packed neo noir flick - something like SIN CITY without superhuman characters but with a lot more martial arts. It's pulled off surprisingly well, by a surprisingly good cast: Jason Yee is yards ahead of Seagal or Statham as a dramatic action hero, and Samantha Streets is no mere pretty face; and along with an expectedly good performance by Gary Stretch as a dirty cop and an amazingly adept portrayal by Ron Yuan as a pimp, there's a pretty good ensemble to be had here. The script has obviously also been given a good deal of attention, as it feels more like a genuine feature nearly ready for a theatrical release than the typical made-for-DVD dreck. However, regardless of how skillfully it handles the drama throughout its first three-quarters of runtime, the finale disappoints by more or less dropping the solution of the mystery into your lap and then ending sort of unenthusiastically. I'm not sure whether the script writers (including Yee himself) ran out of steam or just couldn't get the ending filmed properly, but I was disappointed either way.The film's trailer gave the impression that the movie's action content would be one I could really sink my teeth into, and it's true...for the most part. I've admired choreographer Ron Yuan's work ever since watching Angel of Death, and I daresay that NAKED EYE here is his best offering to date. Sadly, it's not as consistent as I would have liked. Twenty minutes in, the film first displays its adrenaline clout via a series of brief exchanges that expertly showcase Yuan's convincing yet liberal style: the vast majority of the fights look realistic enough to actually happen, yet there's no skimping on impressive kicks. A few minor scuffles here and there keep things alive until an ultimately disappointing club brawl. I thought for sure that the movie had failed in its action content when Yee's two battles with the usually-amazing Lateef Crowder didn't exactly do either man justice, but then the film threw a fastball at me in the form of an incredibly pleasing four-on-one fight in a hallway filmed in a single shot with a single camera - easily one of the best fights I've seen this year.The occasional digital backdrop and digital blood during the fights give the impression that this is a cheap movie, but don't be fooled - it's classier than most things on the market with a similar budget, with swell cinematography and a memorable soundtrack. Having expected neither, I'm happy to say that while the film didn't meet some of my expectations, it outdid others just by being much more competent than anticipated. There's a good chance that people who don't view it on its terms won't have as much fun with it as me, but general martial arts fans, leisurely noir aficionados, and people who've spent the last five years waiting for a new Jason Yee vehicle should definitely be entertained.

Jake (Jason Yee) takes it upon himself to catch the real killer of his friend Sandy, the type of prostitute with a heart of gold that only exists in the movies, when the police view him as the main suspect. He's hunted by his former boss, the most ineffectual pimp in the history of cinema in this "Sin City"-esque piece of film-nior.I enjoyed the movie's style and the fight scenes were OK, if highly derivative of other better films. Actually the whole movie is highly derivative of other movies, but it does still retain a certain panache that keeps it watchable.My grade: CEye Candy: Gina Jackson, Elizabeth McDonald, Angela Valentine, and some extras get topless; Brandy Grace bares her butt

"The Girl from the Naked Eye" is a bizarre but not altogether unsuccessful cross between an action comedy and a pulp detective story. Of it duel personalities, the latter is made especially evident through amusing stylistic homages, not the least of which are bookending shots of a weathered hard crime novel opening and closing. We also have several glimpses of an anonymous city skyline bathed in perpetual moonlight, city lights reflected in wet streets, and numerous characters whose faces are constantly veiled in a fog of their own cigarette smoke. Most importantly, we have an ongoing interior monologue narration provided by the main character; he may not physically or chronologically be the archetype of the private eye, but he certainly has the cynical, hardboiled dialogue down to a tee.His name is Jake (Jason Yee). When we first see him, he's on his knees on the floor of a hotel room, tearfully clutching the bloody, lifeless body of a young woman, who we soon learn was named Sandy. Consumed with grief and anger, he goes on a citywide manhunt to find her killer. Sporadic flashback sequences give us some context. Jake, a heavy gambler, owed $100,000 to a mobster after losing his car in a poker game. In order to pay his debt, he took a job at The Naked Eye, a local strip club presided over by the lecherous Simon (Ron Yuan). Although officially a bouncer, Jake's real job was to transport girls to and from the club for private liaisons with wealthy customers. This is how he met Sandy (Samantha Streets), a runaway who claimed she was "old enough" to know what she was doing.I'm sure you can already see how this movie is in part supposed to work. Sandy and Jake, both loners stuck in a rut through a combination of bad decisions and rotten luck, found each other and were able to bond. Although they obviously felt a sexual attraction towards one another, their relationship can better be described as pseudo-father/daughter – or, at the very least, student/mentor. Jake genuinely cared for Sandy, and the more he got to know her, the more he tried to make her see that she could do so much better for herself. She was tough, in her own way, but she did not belong in the world of prostitution. The tragedy runs deeper than the fact that she ends up dead; even if she had lived, they each made life mistakes that were too costly for them to conceivably end up together. There are only so many roads one can learn to walk down.You might think I'm trying to make a case for how compelling this movie is, but in fact, I'm merely exemplifying how effectively the filmmakers utilize noir-like conventions. It doesn't matter if we believe these characters; what does matter is that we see and understand the mechanics of the genre. We must do the same thing for the action comedy side of the film's personality, during which Jake gets into plenty of highly improbable shootouts and fistfights. Ron Yuan, who also worked behind the camera as the action director and stunt choreographer, stages several scenes that are violently fun, if a little too dependent on showy displays of martial arts. Even then, they're prevented from inundating the visual landscape; we're made to focus more on the tone than on the body slams.As Jake digs deeper into the mystery of the dead prostitute, he must evade Sonny's henchmen, a ragtag band of clueless thugs. Using Sonny's little black book, he also crosses paths with several of Sandy's clients, each of whom provides one piece of the puzzle. Meanwhile, Sonny has several meetings a corrupt cop named Frank (Gary Stretch), who Sonny regularly bribes in order to carry on with business. The prospect of Jake never getting his money is repeatedly thrown in his face, although I'm really not sure why; the film makes it quite clear, fairly early on, that Jake's mission is strictly about justice for Sandy and has long since stopped being about money. It would be too much to say that this is a story of Jake's redemption, although he certainly is much more decent at the end of the film than he was at the beginning.In spite of the narrative and visual stylistic throwbacks to noir thrillers, including a final cigarette-lighting scene vaguely reminiscent of the last shot of "Double Indemnity," "The Girl from the Naked Eye" is very much a contemporary film. This means that, in certain instances, it's rather exploitative. There's some graphic sexual content, including female toplessness, although it's evident mainly in the dialogue, which contains so many four-letter words that even a sailor is liable to blush. Although its plot is not as engaging as it could have been given the genre influences, and while it's not as technically fearless or innovative as films such as "Sin City" and "The Spirit," this is a competent, entertaining film – good looking, decently cast, nicely performed, and amusingly written.-- Chris Pandolfi (www.atatheaternearyou.net)

When Sandy, a young, 16-year old prostitute gets killed, her only friend in this world, her driver Jake, tries to find her murderer.Told in narration from Jake and with many flashbacks we get a modern film noir with a real dark and depressive atmosphere that tells the story of real friendship. The visual style is brilliant and the acting is excellent: Samantha Streets gives a fine performance as Sandy, especially in the scene, when she reads her poems to Jake, Gary Stretch as Frank makes a great villain, Dominique Swain shows up for a few but much too short guest appearances but my favorite was Jason Yee as Jake.Jason Yee not only gives a great performance as desperate revenger, his acting and fighting really reminds at Bruce Lee. Charismatic and full of energy he fights against his enemies.But this leads us to the bad side of this film: Jake loses himself in too many endless fight scenes. Although Yee is a great fighter the fighting scenes start getting boring after 40 minutes. And when one fight is over the next one starts. This slows the whole story down.Anyway, this is an interesting movie, told as modern film noir and especially for the acting and the visual style really worth to watch.