'Everly' review: This action flick is all noise and no substance

Film: Everly
Director: Joe Lynch
Cast: Salma Hayek, Akie Kotabe, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Togo Igawa
Rating: **1/2

What it's about: In a nutshell? A woman struggling to get out of an apartment complex alive even as a man who has trafficked her, keeps an eye on all her activities, and eventually exhausts all means to get her killed.

When we first meet Everly (Hayek), she is a nervous wreck. She has been tortured and gang-raped at the bidding of a feared crime lord known simply as Taiko (Watanabe) who wants nothing more than to break her spirit after he discovers that she tried to get a detective's help to escape his clutches. With no one left to turn to but herself, she first kills her rapists and then tries to make it out alive. Easier said than done.

What's hot: The film has nothing going for it except Salma's bravado. She lives Everly. Take her out of the equation and all this film has is a quickly rising body count and a brief acquaintance with the other characters in this film. Akie Kotabe as 'The Dead Man' is creepy enough to catch your attention but doesn't last too long.

What's not: Kill Bill this is not. Everly is in a rather hopeless situation and there is no redemption in sight for anyone concerned. The rest of the supporting acts are only there for shock value, they add nothing of histrionic value.

What to do: An action flick that's all noise and no substance, they might be firing for all they're worth, but all they're shooting are blanks.