Review of Everly (2015) by Mirza Mohd S — 01 Feb 2015

It seems most of the people who saw this film were either annoyed because Salma Hayek didn't do what they wanted to (*wink*) or because they were obviously expecting a totally different film than what they saw.

There's nothing new here, we've seen it all before, it's fairly low budget, there's going to be no Oscars for acting no brilliant script or ground breaking special FX but that doesn't make it a bad film! Of course not! The story follows Everly (Salma Hayek), a Mexican prostitute, call girl by trade, not choice, who has to face down assassins sent by her ex, a mob boss, Taiko, for snitching on him, while holed up in her apartment.

Taiko has put out a hit on Everly and her family. Soon, every criminal in town wants to cash in. Everly's survival instincts quickly kick in as she matches wits and firepower with Taiko and a seemingly endless stream of killers.

It starts off serious enough, Hayek has just been abused by a group of gangsters, and just when you think she is about to take her own life, she let's hell loose on her attackers. After a visceral opening, I was prepared for thriller about a woman on the run from her gangster ex, but when the shooting stops, there is a knock on the floor, with a voice screaming 'Keep it Down', and all Everly can say is 'Really?'.

Then I knew the makers were going down the exploitation route. And what a route it is. From torturers, to masked assassins, to attack dogs, to psychotic call girls, to limbs being lopped off, it's like the Salma Hayek video game, after she defeats one wave of bad guys, the challenge gets greater, and gorier, hence the Game Of Death (a Bruce Lee film) reference.

If you like Hayek, its heaven. She's in almost every scene and doesn't look a day older than Wild, Wild West or Desperado. Salma Hayek plays her role well and looks unbelievable. She's the sole focus here, but some of the side characters are pretty interesting.

Director Joe Lynch, a pretty small time filmmaker best known for directing Wrong Turn 2, has delivered a solid action film with plenty of energy and interesting angles and colors for the scenes. Yes! The movie is very predictable & reminds you of every other action movie out there, especially the the ones produced by Luc Beeson.

Even some of the dramatic portions fall flat and the climax tends to drag a bit with some drawn out dialogue that weakens the ending. On the whole "Everly" is pretty much a fun filled B grade action movie, that doesn't take itself too seriously, but mainly for its psychotic narrative, its sure to garner a lot of fans over the years.