{"id":17581,"date":"2014-08-14T13:05:26","date_gmt":"2014-08-14T17:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=17581"},"modified":"2015-12-03T13:08:09","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T18:08:09","slug":"agency-of-vengeance-dark-rising-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/14\/agency-of-vengeance-dark-rising-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Agency of Vengeance: Dark Rising (2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Surely, \u201cAgency of Vengeance\u201d is a silly movie, but one that\u2019s often really indecisive about itself. Sometimes it aims for a straight forward horror actioner, and then other times it seems to mock its own premise, with goofy meta-storytelling. When a character is confronted with an evil minion asking \u201cWhy are you doing this?\u201d he responds \u201cBecause. I\u2019m the bad guy.\u201d In either case, I wasn\u2019t aware this is a sequel of a 2007 movie called \u201cDark Rising: Bring Your Battle Axe\u201d which seemed more fantasy oriented. Thankfully you don\u2019t have to track down that film, to see this one, as there are flashbacks and a lot of exposition to play catch up with.<\/p>\n

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Truth be told the fact this is a sequel didn\u2019t hinder my enjoyment, and I didn\u2019t notice that it was a follow up or continuation to another production altogether. The\u201cRising Dark Agency\u201d is a covert program of the government that tracks supernatural phenomenon and have been tracking a sudden rise in supernatural activity. They\u2019ve suspected a new Demon God has been gathering forces, and now they have to ask for help from super powered soldier and warrior Summer Vale. After a tragic end to her wedding via a giant sand worm, Summer picks herself up again to help find out what the new Demon God intends, and tries to prevent Armageddon, along with her army. \u201cAgency of Vengeance\u201d is a silly and campy action flick, but I was more than willing to forgive its faults, since it\u2019s an apparent low budget production with no real aspirations to be taken as anything other a silly monster movie.<\/p>\n

You have our heroine in lingerie brandishing a gigantic gun that looks like it came from the Rob Liefeld weapons catalogue, so you can\u2019t really fault it for not being high art. One of the other reasons the film is so easy to sit through is mainly for Cory Lee. I don\u2019t care how or why, but I hope she comes back for a sequel, if there ever is one. The woman is incredibly sexy and has only become more gorgeous since \u201cDegrassi.\u201d Brigitte Kingsley is also damn fine as heroine Summer Vale, and while she will never really win an Oscar, she makes up for it with quick comic timing, and convincing choreography. Director Andrew Cymek really knows how to grab for the exploitation tone well, flaunting the skin and cleavage of his female stars quite often.<\/p>\n

This gives the movie the atmosphere of a Fred Olen Ray picture, but thankfully that\u2019s not much of a caveat, especially since stars Lee and Brigitte Kingsley are beautiful. There\u2019s a running gag where Summer can never really seem to keep any article of clothing on for long, which is fine since she only really seems comfortable in battle wearing a two piece. There\u2019s also a fun walk on by Michael Ironside, and some entertaining pop culture references that would normally be annoying, but Cymek has enough restraint to make the nods clever. Director Andrew Cymek\u2019s movie is a fine distraction that mixes horror, science fiction, HP Lovecraft themed fantasy, and high tech action for one big fun B movie stew.<\/p>\n