Awaken: Natalie Burn Rocks in Action Film (Update)

It has just been announced, via actress Natalie Burn’s Facebook page, that Awaken has just gotten its first festival award at the 2015 Artemis Action Film Festival. According to Natalie, the picture picked up the Best Film Award. The movie is still being shown via the festival circuit.

Awaken stars Natalie Burn in her first action film after Expendables 3 where she played Mel Gibson’s other half. She rocks in the movie as a young Russian girl looking for her ne’er-do-well sister who has gone missing from a prison. Burn’s character is called Bille Kope and the name indicates her nature. Taught to fight by her father, the young lady takes on every obstacle placed in her path.

The film, directed by Mark Atkins (Haunting of Winchester House, Android Cop) looks spectacular. The cinematography is crisp and the lighting is spot on. Not too surprising as Atkins is an accomplished cinematographer. The movie’s script was co-written by Burn, Atkins, two producers and Ryan Priest; it deals with organ trafficking, two tropic islands, human captives and a well known cast.

With a cast that features Daryl Hannah, Edward Furlong, Vinnie Jones, Michael Pare, Robert Davi and David Keith Awaken may hit a few, very few, sour notes but overall does exactly what it sets out to do; entertain. The film showcases the abilities of Natalie Burn brilliantly, she does her own stunts and is even listed in the credits as doing so.

The choice of allowing Burn to perform her own stunts gives the former choreographer and dancer a chance to really shine in the fight scenes. The action sequences are impressive and look good, while a lot of the credit should go to stunt coordinator Philip Tan, the fact that Natalie could do her own fight scenes with such a stamp of authority helped a great deal.

Actor Jason London plays Nick, the chap who sets up an expensive and illegal clinic dealing with stolen organs for the rich out in the middle of the ocean. His mission statement consists of kidnapping unwilling donors, who match the bloodtypes required, and then holding them on an adjacent island. The captor’s diet consists of healthy fruit and veg which helps to detox their systems. Clients needs are fulfilled by these unlucky individuals.

When clients arrive, Vinnie Jones, who plays Sarge, goes with his men and grabs a donor for surgery…and death. Daryl Hannah plays Mao, who is determined to save her young daughter’s life, regardless of the cost. She arrives at the island with a small army of what seem to be Chinese Triad gunmen.

There are things in Awaken that “jar,” one of which is why Edward Furlong, who gets top billing on IMDb, disappears without a trace and is never referred to again. Another thing, that hurts the film’s star Burn, is giving Billie Kope actions and dialogue that are needless. That, however, is mostly down to the script. Natalie gives a star turn here as the fighting female who will stop at nothing to find her sister.

The film’s production company 7Heaven Productions is owned by Burn and the project itself is to be distributed via Tombstone Distribution who list the film’s release date as TBD. Until Awaken is released, those who are interested, and can gain access, the Facebook page announced on 1 March that the film will be screened at the Other Venice Film Festival.

Daryl Hannah is suitably creepy and scary as the devoted mum who wants to save her terminally ill child. It was a delight to see David Keith again on the big screen and to see so many great actors in one film. The movie itself entertains and is fast paced enough that there are no dull moments. Natalie Burn rocks in this action film and she will, no doubt, continue to make waves in the industry. The film earns a 3.5 out of 5 stars mainly for those jarring moments but is still quite a good film overall.