Dragon Eyes

2012
4.4| 1h28m| R| en
Details

In St. Jude, drug dealers and corrupt cops have destroyed an urban neighborhood. But newcomer, Hong, has the fighting skills and moral vision to save this town from itself.

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Reviews

Wordiezett So much average
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Paul Magne Haakonsen For an action and martial arts movie then "Dragon Eyes" was unfathomably boring and devoid of a proper storyline. And whatever storyline was present was weak and laughable at best.I must admit that it was because of Jean Claude Van Damme that I bought this movie, but he only had a small supportive role, and his performance wasn't fully there. Which leads me on to the lead actor Cung Le, who is stripped of acting talent and didn't really put on any particular impressive display of martial arts prowess. Peter Weller was the one who carried the movie.It was like watching a mid-Eighties to early-Nineties action movie; one man who seeks justice and takes on a heap of opponents by himself and conquers all against impossible odds. Just your average 'man cleans up crime-ridden neighborhood with martial arts' type of movie really.Action-wise and martial arts-wise then "Dragon Eyes" was a pale and weak experience, which was nowhere near movies by martial arts performers such as Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Jackie Chan, and so on and so on."Dragon Eyes" is a less than mediocre movie that was a struggle to sit through to the end.
Comeuppance Reviews A man named Hong (Le) comes to a gang, drug, and crime-infested 'hood called St. Jude and rents a small apartment. It seems a gang war is brewing between the Devil Dogs, the 6th Street Kings and the Eastsiders. A corrupt cop named Mr. V (Weller) is orchestrating all the mayhem from behind the scenes. But the introduction of Hong into this milieu shakes things up for everyone. To innocent residents like Rosanna (Mantecon), he's a godsend, because he helps clean up the neighborhood (in a classic "cleaning up the neighborhood" montage that we always love to see) - but to his enemies, he's a thorn in their side. All Hong has to rely on is the Martial Arts training he received from his mentor, a man named Tiano (Van Damme). But what is Hong's true motivation? He will be put to the ultimate test - will he be the savior of the streets? Find out today...Dragon Eyes is more or less a "Homie Movie", but with a difference. The difference being that it is competently acted, directed, edited and has some tough, brutal and engaging fight scenes. But we wouldn't expect anything less from our new favorite director, Mr. Hyams, who delivered the utterly brilliant Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009) immediately preceding Dragon Eyes. Throwback-style action, but perhaps with some added brutality, seems to be Hyams' trademark. After all, this movie is about a loner who comes to a harsh new town, pits two gangs against one another, and contains the casual racism of the old days - as well as the Prerequisite Torture of the hero and the final fight in the...you guessed it, the abandoned warehouse. So all the proper elements are present and accounted for. But this movie has the first instance we can recall of Rakefighting, and Hong wields that rake like nobody's business. We applaud that.With the casting of Peter Weller and Van Damme, we finally have Robocop vs. Timecop. Well, not really, as they don't share any scenes together. Van Damme's role is extremely limited, he only appears in dark, shadowy flashbacks as Hong's mentor. It's more about the mysterious Hong in a setup that's like Blood and Bone (2009) meets Urban Justice (2007). Peter Weller, as Mr. V - not to be confused with Danny G from the previous year's Forced To Fight (2011) - because in Dragon Eyes Mr. V wears a hat. Otherwise the roles are very, very similar. But Weller has a ton of screen presence, so you want to see him do roles like this. It seems just a few years ago, you wouldn't see stars like Weller in down-and-dirty DTV product like this and Forced To Fight. But if Robert De Niro is going straight to video now, that signals the way for the movie industry, and all actors beneath his stature.Mr. Hyams is clearly a talented director and knows how to direct a quality fight scene. The movie overall has some good grit and basically delivers what you want. While we prefer Regeneration, Dragon Eyes is certainly worth watching.
callanvass Call me lame, but I still love me some Van Damage. Every time he has a new film coming out, I go out of my way to see it. I can't help it. I grew up with the guy, and he means a lot to me, but this was so disappointing, it's not even funny. Cung Lee certainly has some movies, there is no doubt about that, but he needs to start picking better scripts, so he can utilize his talents for maximum effect. For big Van Damme fans like myself, prepare to feel slightly ripped off and ultimately disappointed. Despite his top billing, he is barely in this film, and is reduced to a glorified cameo as a mentor to Cung Lee in prison, and the scenes between them are quite forgettable. When the fighting scenes happen, they are actually fairly exciting and violent. Cung Lee is terrific when it comes to action, but he needs work on charisma and personality as well. He is not yet able to carry a movie on his own. Peter Weller makes for a solid villain. He's usually dependable and here was no different. We also get Kristopher Van Varenberg (Van Damme's real life son) and he is proving to be quite the solid actorFinal Thoughts: It's too boring for its own good. It does have some good action sequences, but the boredom that frequently comes in between all that kills any momentum. Cung Lee has potential. I just hope he chooses a little more wisely in the future3.5/10
kosmasp Storywise this really aims high. Something that people might not really be into that much, but whatever the case, you have to admire the filmmakers for trying at least. There are some very fine ideas in this movie (loyalty, friendship, respect amongst them), but none get explored too much. Not to mention that the emotional connection between the viewer and the main character unfortunately isn't the strongest. And that has nothing to do with the storyline, but has more to do with the way the movie is handled.The action scenes are decent enough (some are even spectacular), but hopefully you're not renting this to watch van Damme fight. He's playing a major part, but is a supporting player. But Cung Le knows how to fight. In the charisma department on the other hand ... One really good coup the movie made is installing Peter Weller as the main bad guy. He is terrific and shows what Charisma really is!