Writer: Jeane Reveendran

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Watch this if you liked: "Blade", "Underworld", "Ultraviolet" and "Constantine".

A splash of cleavage here, and a cameo appearance of Lucy Liu's naked profile sums up the novelty of this movie. Lacking in vital organs like originality and substance, "Rise" is left looking as lifeless as the victims of hungry vampires.

When another movie about vampires is released onto the big screen, one can only be wary of the quality of such a flick. We've already witnessed the moral struggle that newly-transformed vampires go through of killing innocent people to feed themselves ("Interview With The Vampire"). It also doesn't help that the inadequate roles played by each character weaken the intensity of this movie, only adding to the demise of it with an already decrepit plot.

Lucy Liu plays a vengeful ex-reporter who wastes no time in taking justice into her own hands. It's safe to say that Liu passes with flying colours when it comes to the portrayal of the confident, edgy and feisty woman. Nevertheless, her talent is not well utilised as the script skims important events like the embracing of her new status and focuses more on blood and gore. Hence, she moves swiftly from being a confused, guilt-strickened rookie vampire into the lethal vampire-fighting machine.

This speedy promotion happens when she falls into the hands of Arturo (Julio Oscar Mechoso), an apparently hospitable vampire who gives her a crash course into the immortal world. He becomes her teacher and educates her about her enemies, Eve (Carla Gugino) and Bishop (James D'Arcy), and speaks of training her to take them on with a crossbow and get the revenge she so desires. Unfortunately for us, we see nothing of this so-called training, and are immediately thrown into a quick makeover (a haircut) and a quicker first kill to mark the beginning of her quest for revenge.

Carla Gugino (Eve), a skilled actress, is stripped of her chance to shine, and her performance is reduced to a short and lame entry and exit. This leaves us wondering about the relevance of her role, as it is almost unnecessary. A collaboration of Bishop, the weak villain boss (James D'arcy) and fleeting moments of belligerent cop (Michael Chiklis) with a vendetta against the clan who murdered his teenage daughter, adds only to the lack of depth in this movie.

To make things worse, the dismal cinematography and lack of special effects highlighted the poorly-written script of this low-budget movie. The editing is haphazard, thus the flow of the movie is disrupted. Nonetheless, the play of shadows helped revive the movie slightly, but not enough to raise it from the dead.

In all fairness, this movie can be highly gruesome, hence gore-indulging enthusiasts would definitely appreciate the ripping apart of bodies and distinct sounds of blood-sucking. It also has moments that leave you holding your breath in anxiety, especially when Sadie contemplates feasting on an unsuspecting hitchhiker. Lastly, the surprising and amusing appearances by Marilyn Manson and Nick Lachey (Jessica Simpson's ex-husband) give the movie the novelty it lacks.

This movie doesn't fall short of bad combinations, negligent cinematography, cheesy characters and a non-existent plot, thus there is nothing novel to jolt the senses. Nevertheless, if detached limbs and a naked Lucy Liu is your thing, then this movie will entertain you.

Cinema Online, 23 September 2008