Review: In The Blood (2014)

I like John Stockwell. I think he is as good a director as he is an actor. The same goes for Gina Carano, she is a convincing actress with a lethal center, I like to watch her. Sometimes though, a fun actor and director don’t add up to a great film.  Case in point: In The Blood. Now I’m not saying that the movie isn’t good. It is an exciting time. It just seems a little incomplete. 

Gina plays Ava, a woman with a bad history that falls in love with Derek (Cam Gigandet), a good man from a good family. On their honeymoon in the Caribbean, Derek disappears and with no help from the locals, Ava must venture into the seedy underworld to get him back. A job she is more than equipped for. 

Gina Carano has a lot of presence. She is extremely formidable in fight scenes which is of course a no brainer, but she has an emotional range as well. She holds her own in scenes with Treat Williams and Luis Guzman which proves she has what it takes. 

The world we are dropped into is dangerous. Not the picturesque Caribbean of travel brochures or the dream like world of the Pirates of yesteryear. This is a world of squalor more akin to Steven Segal’s Marked For Death. It’s a place I would not want to visit for even a day. That’s one thing I loved about the film. It feels alien and dangerous. No one will help you and though this is paranoid in real life (some what), it’s perfect for the film.

The problem I have with the film is that it just feels like a bigger story should have been told and wasn’t. It plays like the pilot of a TV show. This may be John Stockwell’s style since Turistas is like that too. Not sure but I just wanted more. Like I said, it’s a fun movie with a hint of danger so I do recommend checking it out for a quick action fix.