Avarice

I didn't have high hopes for this one, but... How many reviews have you read that start that way? Anyway, the pacing of this movie was glacial. Even fastforwarding through some of the real slow parts made this movie feel about twice as long as it needed to be. They also through in almost every trope and cliche for this sub-genre (unexpected female warrior). I think if the bad guys weren't so inept, it would have been more palatable. Also so many of the "twists" were forced into the script that it was like watching a Rube Goldberg device were someone needs to nudge each new prop to get it to work.

John V. Soto is an Australian indie auteur who likes to genre hop. That is, his productions to date tend to change category from release to release. What they all tend to have in common however are the tell-tales of a low-budget indie namely: the excessive use of strange background music to fill gaps; excessive use of garish lighting (greens, blues) to add excitement to unexciting scenes; wooden scripts; and wooden acting. What makes AVARICE stand out is the very smart idea of a professional archer caught in a DIE HARD situation, and then using her mad skills to overcome the predicament. It's a clever idea, but the cleverness lasts for about 10 minutes, tops, and then we are right back where we started.((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Not bad overall, as a low budget action thriller, Australian flavor at that. I'll let other reviewers give you the plot details. I'll focus on impressions.

Nice locales. Some menacing home invader bad guys. Acting is decent, not great. Story is but simplistic and done before in various flavors. But the movie will hold your interest.

And offers a real twist with archery action angle. Now can arrows really outfly bullets?? Of course not, but who wants to spoil the fun. Just enjoy.

The lead Gillian Alexa playing the archer Kate Matthews does a creditable job, but is slow at first to win you over in her character until the bad guys show up.

But I think she's kinda cute, so I give her a strong pass. Lol Heck, by the end of the movie, even the bad guys seem to have been impressed with her.

Check the movie score at the end, "Brave" by singer Candice Callaghan. Almost has a Christian rock type melody to it. Very nice.

Avarice 2? Who knows. But this one is not too bad as a fun action entertainment for 90 minutes.

Dumb and predictable but I've seen worse. Definitely a low budget project with less than stellar acting, but something if you're looking for a mindless movie that you can passively watch and know the ending before it starts, then this is the one.

This movie of course only works because people make bad decisions along the way (ie. Give the hero the plot and not kill them when they have the chance to etc)...and also because apparently military grade zip ties do not work on regular civilians as they escape their ties at least 4 to 5 times. Overall it's bad but strangely watchable. PS. Did I already say how bad the acting is, especially from the supporting cast?

The premise was simple enough. A dysfunctional family needs some help to work it all out. A home invasion might be just the trick. Expert archer Mom coming to the rescue could be very cool if not for her forgetting things all along the way. Especially the one thing her Dad tried to instill in her. What was that for if not to set-up her actions in the ensuing situations?? These lack of foresights are awkward ways of stalling the evitable. Shadow of a Doubt could have been Hitch's best if not for a graceless ending that insulted ones intelligence. Some cool kills, slick production values, a bad screenplay, lackluster direction, a boring score, bland villains and a Jessica Chastain wannabe in the lead adds up to only 5 stars. A moderate timewaster. In full agreement with IMDb consensus and completely befuddled by Rotten Tomatoes' 80 rating.