paulwaidelich I live in Mexico, and while this is the Caribbean, the blending of the bad guys and the cops was too real. The common people have no control, and the narcos and the police find a way to work together. They feel there is no reason to shoot each other when they can all make money the easy way. Everyone who has anything is corrupt in Latin America. They protect what's theirs and to hell with everyone else. In The Blood got that right.In The Blood is a boring, predictable story. It's a 4 or 5 star movie, except for 3 performances. Gina Carano is no Meryl Streep, but she is totally believable as the loyal, ass-kicking wife who will go to any lengths to protect her guy. The fight scenes are great, and worth slogging through the swamp of poor dialog and the formula plot. The second performance that exceeds expectations is Luis Guzman as the police chief. He is perfect as the malignant, corrupt official with a face of stone. Then he is perfect when things don't go his way. Both his arrogance and vulnerability capture the essence of the Latina male.The final excellent performance belongs to Stephen Lang as the Flashback Dad. How did Gina Carano's character get so tough? Stephen Lang plays Gina's outlaw dad. The tough love he gives her is intense and believable. He's only got a couple scenes, but then are intense. Whether he's playing a civil war general (Gettysburg), a mercenary trying to steal a planet from the nativesDanny Trejo also gets to play another knife wielding bad guy. Danny Trejo is always good, but he's like a Latin John Wayne. He plays himself perfectly every time. You can't watch In The Blood like a normal movie, because it doesn't work like that. It's a boring story. You watch it to see the lovely Gina Carano beat up the bad guys and look good doing it. You watch it to see Luis Guzman play a villain so despicable you feel no regret when things don't go his way. Most of all, you watch In The Blood for the brief moments that Stephan Lang dominates the screen. 3 great performances. Skip the rest.

bill-37-3753 Haywire was good, She looked good. The acting will get better at least we hope. Was she required to beef up put on a few pounds for this one or did she just not care she was starring in a movie. Even her facial expressions were changed by the weight. Heck she was bigger than her costar.......... The directing and writing was nothing to write home about but you are a action star. Look and act accordingly........Let's hope your next venture you at least look the part. Get into the gym and eat right. The female version of Steven Segal on its way......say it isn't so. Really how much do you have to write to get this published. 10 lines really.............. 10 lines really..............

quincytheodore This movie may not have Steven Soderbergh at the helm or the famous brand of Fast & Furious, and frankly it's not that good, but having Gina Carano as the lead brings some degree of entertainment. There is not much in term of production value, cinematography is subpar, as well as acting or writing. In the Blood simply offers the chance to witness Gina Carano goes on a wild rampage at exotic tourist location, and pretty much nothing else.Her character's story revolves around a missing husband and sheer determination to find him at all cost, mainly the cost of others' well-being. It looks a bit like Taken at some point, albeit in Caribbean. There, she deals with locals and uncovers shady conspiracy. It's all made in modest fashion, there is no high tech camera or refined composition involved. Occasionally the film almost seems like it's made with camcorder, but at least this drab look presents the rough atmosphere of the setting.Gina Carano as Ava isn't that well versed in term of acting. This is the first time she performs without more experienced or charismatic actors to aid her, and this shows the deficit in acting department. Thankfully, as an actual badass martial artist, Carano can produce real impact as she mauls down her foes with brash attitude. As a lead she also looks the part, strong and athletic, she is convincingly powerful as well as beautiful.For writing or cinematography, sadly In the Blood is severely lacking. Some jokes are fairly spot on, but for most part the dialogues are plain. Sequences are partially shot with many locals in the area, the movie want to incorporate that for authenticity, but they turn out looking like behind the scene shots where onlookers gather in horde. At some points the contrast in lighting are a bit disturbing and out of focus. It has little choreography either, but Carano makes up for this. If Carano has better cinematography and choreography like those of John Wick or The Raid that could utilize her talent better, she could be utterly impressive.A real action star alone can't make a great action movie, unfortunately In the Blood is mediocre at best.

siderite This film is something else. The normal beat-em-up movie involves some hunk a man who needs to save some girl. In this film the action star is a girl and, man, does she kick ass! Also, normally a lot of effort is put in faking the fight scenes so that you cannot see how bad the fighters really are. In this one, Gina Carano punches, elbows, kicks people, hits them with bats, knives, shoots them, breaks arms and legs. This is no fake, it is truly an action movie.The plot itself is also rather interesting, the only problem that I have being the ending where they let the villain go just so that they can have an epic chase and fight afterwards. If this film doesn't make you not want to go to South-American islands, I don't know what will :)As acting goes, Carano didn't have a very complex role, she just kicks everybody's ass, but also I didn't spot any moments in which I would say she acted badly. Danny Trejo has a very minor role, while Amaury Nolasco plays the villain really well. The husband, which I vaguely recognize, doesn't have any role, he is worse than the customary damsel, he does nothing the entire film. That was sort of amusing.Bottom line: if you want to see really good fighting scenes in an action film that doesn't make you cringe at the idiocy of the script, this is the film for you. If you are looking for Oscar type acting and special effects, you are out of luck.