Paul Magne Haakonsen Granted "A Perfect Vacation" (aka "Awaken") had scored relatively low here on IMDb and given the ensemble of cast that starred in this movie, I just wasn't sure whether or not I would sit down to watch it. I ended up doing so, solely because it had Daryl Hannah listed on the cast list.The movie starts out well enough, although the storyline didn't really make all that much sense in terms of being realistic or particularly entertaining. The storyline in "A Perfect Vacation" was weak and vague, and most often seemed like a muddy mess of random ideas thrown out there and put into a not particularly coherent order.The setting of the movie was quite good, with the jungle and the Island. So there were some nice enough visuals throughout the movie, although this was hardly enough to make up for the many shortcomings of the movie.There are some familiar names on the cast list, including Edward Furlong, Vinnie Jones, Christa Campbell and Jason London, although these are hardly talents that I am overly impressed with much less fan of these people. Alongside these were Daryl Hannah, Robert Davi and also David Keith, the two selling points for the movie in my opinion.25 minutes into the movie and I already found my interest in the movie quickly waning and my attention span started to drift elsewhere. But still I decided to stick with the movie and see how it would turn out.The movie is very predictable, and of course sharks would show up once people were getting off the Island to escape the horrible ordeal that takes place on the Island.The characters in the movie were adequate, although there was not much of any character development going on. But the characters have enough details and personalities to keep remaining interesting enough to bear witness to as the movie trotted on in a very monotone pace."A Perfect Vacation" was just barely entertaining enough for a single viewing, but trust me, it was a hard pressed one. More than once was I tempted to get up and find something else to watch. Should you make it through the entire movie the first time, chances of you returning to it a second time is as likely as snow on the sun.

Peppered_Productions This falls into the category of 'coulda been'. An oft-visited concept, this film had a potentially good plot, location, cast of knowns. But, unfortunately, it suffers from poor editing, acting, and day-for-nightmare.I agree with other reviewers' criticisms of jumpy cuts, direction, and it definitely has some moments of laughably unrealistic dialog. Also irksome is cinematography comes into play. Characters are in harsh daylight, then suddenly in the murky realm of day-for-dusk.The theme for this endeavor is 'unevenness'. It's a shame, because, with a solidified cohesive vision, it could have been a decent movie. But, as-is, it is a riff-fest waiting to happen.

blackwell4 I can't believe that inattention to common sense detail. Really awful direction. Very poorly crafted fight scenes. Awful tactics. Fingers inside trigger guards. Movements around corners like sleep walkers. Stupid stupid action. Could this movie really make money?How could people stranded on an island have such good hair? How was it possible that a guy on the island head was perfectly shaved every day for weeks? What is up with those pants on the protagonist ? Are we supposed to believe the pants just got ripped that way? And why was she wearing dog tags? She was never in the military? HIRE ME!I would provide the REAL LIFE direction to make this thing believable.Dear sweet Jesus, please please please, no one ever hire this director or writer again!

quincytheodore Five minutes into the movie, there's a random girl who falls three feet into the ground and breaks her neck. Then Vinnie Jones calls out how silly it is while the girl is literally looking like she's been run over by a truck. At this point you know Awaken doesn't play by any boundary of normal logic, nearly everything about it is either badly written or simply so bizarre, it becomes a legit comedy.Story follows a group of people stranded on an island like they are in poorly made survival reality show. Eventually they realize that there is an organization that harvests their organs. Now this premise already presents a dilemma in first act. These are supposedly rare individuals, and yet they are tossed into a random island rather than a simple jail.The mafia gets mad if these people are hurt or try to escape, even though those are the most possible outcomes. There's even a debate to select victim by their chi, since positive outlook on life fundamentally affects the organ. In one occasion a guy engages in gunfight, runs out of bullet, then decides to sprint across the yard and reload in front of the other guy's face.These are just few of the oddities. If that doesn't deter you, the acting will. Main female lead is looking like she's auditioning for America Next Top Model. She almost exclusively wears one icy expression. It's unsure if she's mad or sad, but damn does she look sternly stoic and ready for camera.None of the acting or writing is remotely believable. Other characters just seem shoehorned for the most awkward effect. The editing is choppy and creates unintentionally funny scenes, not that the pace is structured in the first place anyway.I could have listed the plot holes, and the space for reviews wouldn't be enough. If anything, Awaken is so silly, it may just work as an ironic comedy.