“When thinking of breakout performers, we rarely give action stars their due credit. We swoon when Tom Cruise runs down a building or does his own fights, but when a newcomer hits the scene we just shrug our shoulders. So let’s take a moment to give Gina Carano some well deserved credit – when Steven Soderbergh was looking for the perfect balance of unflappable grace and bone-breaking action for Haywire‘s Mallory Kane, she delivered in spades,” we remarked as 2012 winded down. “Her effortless fighting prowess more than highlighted the pugilistic deficiencies of her thespian counterparts, so long as you weren’t too busy feeling their pain to notice.”

After taking part in Fast & Furious 6, the mixed martial artist-turned-actress is now set for her first leading role since the aforementioned Soderbergh effort and the first trailer has landed today. In the Blood finds her on a path of vengeance after her husband goes missing while on their honeymoon. Without Soderbergh’s touch, however, it doesn’t look to stack up (and early reactions suggest as much), with direction coming from John Stockwell (Blue Crush, Dark Tide). Let us know what you think by checking out the trailer and synopsis below for the film also starring Cam Gigandet, Luis Guzmán, Amaury Nolasco, Ismael Cruz Cordoba, Treat Williams, Stephen Lang, and Danny Trejo.

Gina Carano stars as Ava, a trained fighter with a dark past. When her new husband (Cam Gigandet) vanishes during their Caribbean honeymoon, Ava uncovers a violent underworld of conspiracy in the middle of an island paradise. Armed with a deadly set of skills, Ava sets out to discover the truth – and to take down the men she thinks are responsible for his abduction, one by one.

In the Blood opens on April 4th, 2014.

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