SYNOPSIS:
“Ashley Romano (Janet Miranda) a investigative reporter for the local news station, has been working on a story about an urban legend called “EL JARVE DE ESCOBAR”, The Keys of Escobar, for some time now looking to get her big break to become an anchor woman which is her goal. When her friend and a local urban informant, Brian Markowitz (Gerard Adimando), comes across the legendary urban legend which turns out to be true, he calls to let her know and gives her the flash drive which contains information on everyone who worked for Pablo Escobar during his reign due to him not trusting no one and also bank account numbers in Panama with fifty million dollars as start money just in case the government seized all his assets.
After his death, rumors spread on this story and people started killing one another to retrieve it until it turned into an urban legend, but now has resurfaced again. Brian coming across the flash drive feels he can only trust Ashley with the information to let the truth finally come out on it.
Things take a turn for the worse when the Mayor (John Calvanico), who was working for Pablo Escobar while being a FBI agent at the time the information is on the drive, sends a groups of assassins lead by a man known as Antonio (Emilio Pantero) to retrieve it at any cost. Ashely fearing for her life turns to her boyfriend Johnny Franco (Franklin Correa) a martial arts instructor to hold on to the information just in case anything goes awry.
After Ashley is murdered, Johnny will set out to seek revenge for her death as well as uncover the truth about the flash drive bringing it all to an end once and for all.”
Flash Drive star, executive producer and action director Franklin Correa has been acting since the age of eighteen, and an athlete since he was twelve, studying various forms of martial arts, but ultimately investing himself in Ninjitsu, which, to this day, he is now a 3rd degree black belt. After several acting stints and getting type-casted for rapist, thug, drug dealer or cop roles, he sought to step out on his own and write screenplays hoping to finally gain a little recognition and a little help from like-minded folks who share his dreams. For Correa, Flash Drive is just the beggining.
Being a low-budget independent picture, the film does bare its own set of flaws; audio, line delivery, lighting, some camerawork, continuity, pacing, etc. However, the story is very intriguing with heavy emphasis on drama and suspense, and a filmic effort to illustrate real-time action choreography through Ninjitsu, with a touch of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other styles.
The action sequences, though there are few, are reminiscent of fights you would see in films such as The Prodigy, the Bourne movies and the amazing action in David Mamet’s 2008 sports drama, Redbelt. The style and tone of these fights cater directly to films with stories that place higher emphasis on survival, which makes Correa’s application Ninjitsu a very exciting feat, on top of his passion to evolve as a filmmaker. On the subject of Ninjitsu in movies, Correa says, “A lot of people have this conception that ninjutsu is a bunch of people running around in black throwing high kicks and flips, wielding a sword. NO, it’s a devastating art; basically, whatever I see in front of me at the moment, anything that works, which is the truth. Because ninjas will do anything to survive.
Although Correa still experiments with other styles of martial arts here and there, he continues to devote himself to Ninjitsu as both part of his own personal life, and film philosophy. A mix of several styles of action while learning and evolving as filmmaker will definitely bring him closer to his dreams. Personally, I would love to see that one feature film come to pass, bringing forward his own style of ninja-action that will further display a grittiness and realism of fight choreography that can work on film for viewers to enjoy. It’s a challenge because not everything you can apply to real world combat will work on film. But for Correa, I think it is a challenge he has long-accepted.
Give him a bigger budget, and Franklin Correa will definitely flourish and bring the kind of independent martial arts cinema that fans can enjoy for years to come.
FLASH DRIVE also stars Emilio Pantero, Janet Miranda, Antonio San Miguel and Legend Damion Simmons, and is due out on DVD on August 20, 2013. Meantime, Correa is currently in production with his next feature, Mistaken, and will screen privately this November. Feel free to follow the film’s progress on Facebook.
To read Kung Fu Cinema’s coverage of the film by writer Albert Valentin, click HERE.
