Wake of Death
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Movie Reviews of Wake of Death
Movie Review: Not too shabby for direct to video.....
Summary: 4 Stars
This was better than a few of the dud Van Damme straight to dvd movies of the past. I actually felt for his character. And don't tell me he can't act just because he has an accent. Anyway, the movie is worth renting, or buying if you're a Van Damme fan. If you aren't, it's still not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.Movie Review: Van Damne's The Shit
Summary: 4 Stars
Yes Van Damne made a great performance in this movie, and making it a Van Damne classic pretty much the same thing has his other movies.Ive just seen it, and was really impressed,Great Action flick by Van Damne.Movie Review: [3.5] Nothing too original here
Summary: 3 Stars
It's another action movie with a story of revenge, but Wake of Death takes itself more seriously than one would expect of the typical Van Damme film. Realism has taken over (in most of Van Damme's recent films) resulting in better acting and plot details, and some bloodier action but less of it.
The directing and music set a tone that places Wake of Death in an action/revenge category a bit more sophisticated than the rest. However, if we wanted to see a beautiful epic drama there are plenty of other films out there with superb acting and stories, this is not that, but to see how far Van Damme is maturing in this sense is a bit of a treat, as is the bonus of some action that won't always be found in the other hollywood films. Wake of Death focuses more on story, though it is just a matter of revenge, it pays attention to some details keeping it interesting between action scenes, which there are not very many of until the last 30 minutes of the film.
I personally prefer watching Van Damme films for the action, and in the case of Wake of Death the action element is not completely satisfied. The good news is the action is contained in a certain reality, making things flow better with the story. However, the car chase scenes were a bit distracting to enjoy, as the scenes were not smooth but appeared choppy with fequent editing and directing. The hand to hand combat scenes were almost always over before they began, so do not expect any martial arts like in the good ole days (no Kickboxer of Bloodsport here).
The story focuses around a Chinese Triad member (Simon Yam) , and father, who's young 14 year old girl has fled to the U.S. after witnessing the death of her mother by her father's knife. Ben Archer's (Van Damme) wife takes her in out of kindess, but good deeds seem to go unrewarded as the father and his gang come to the U.S., very ticked off and will have nothing stand in their way. The worst occus (though predictable) and Ben Archer's son is also kidnapped. He thus sets out for revenge and to get his son back. Simon Yam (KillZone) does an ok job as appearing villainous but never overwhelmed me as a great opponent for Van Damme.
Wake of Death should be viewed by Van Damme fans. Action is there, though not as much as one would hope, but it's a neat watch to see how Van Damme has changed his film style around over the years, where the action has gone away, improved acting and well-created story (though unoriginal) have emerged.
Acting - 4
Action - 3
Characters - 3.5
Story - 3.5
Overall - 3.5
Movie Review: Part action/revenge, part gangster/drama=Good Van Damme!!!
Summary: 3 Stars
WAKE OF DEATH starts somewhat confusingly in the middle of a car chase as Van Damme and another car bash into eachother. We don't quite know what is going on or why at this short point in time. We DO know that the film cuts from one shot to the next VERY quickly which makes seeing and comprehending what's going on even more difficult. This pre-title sequence ends with Van Damme walking up to two corpses in a what looks like a morgue and then...the title song and credits roll.
This fast-cut confusion made me very worried that I was in for a disaster of a straight to DVD movie. Fortunately, I was wrong. Everything climbed uphill from there and eventually even that opening was brought back full circle, into context, and the entire film managed to make sense. There are flaws to be sure, most notably that the villain Simon Yam (a great Hong Kong action star) has a terrible English speaking voice, too high-pitched and thickly accented to be commanding (though he is commanding when silent). Other flaws include lack of character development (why is the villain so cold and why is Van Damme in the business he's in?) and minor quibbles like Van Damme's wife, an INS official, questioning a Chinese refugee in english when she herself speaks Chinese. There's also some dark lighting and quick editing that make it hard to see every detail of the action scenes, but...
These flaws, however, are outshone by a gritty performance by Van Damme (a better actor than anyone gives him credit for), some truly exciting stunt sequences (there's a great motorcycle jump in a mall), and suspenseful direction that will make you sweat (drills, guns, and a switchblade, oh my!), and some that will make you jump (Van Damme and a window is all I will say).
Overall, WAKE OF DEATH is a success for Van Damme. He gets to show off his dramatic acting side in this one as well as his trademark naked backside which he likes to show off in almost every movie he makes. Oh, and for those of you who like to see him kick people...he does that a few times as well!
Movie Review: Above average Van Damme flick, but extremely violent
Summary: 3 Stars
When the movie tag line reads "Revenge was all he had left" you could be forgiven for expecting a straight out of the box Van Damme / Seagal style beat em up, but like wine, Jean Claude seems to be improving with age. Although the script is dogged with formula trappings, gone are the complicated and annoyingly overlong martial art fight scenes where the heroes can take inhuman beatings, and take on a whole army single handed, replaced instead, with a great deal of gunfire and short graphic violent episodes. JCVD plays Ben Archer who gets mixed up in a drug trafficking, INS corruption, Oriental mafia style yarn, whose wife is murdered and son is kidnapped 10 minutes into the picture. Surprisingly though, we don't follow the standard pattern from here, and what follows is dark, gritty, and often extremely violent but reasonably plausible revenge story. Well deserving of an R rating, and probably bordered the NC17 rating especially in one scene where someone is tortured to death with an electric drill. The director cleverly leaves much to the subjective imagination of the viewer as a lot of violence happens just off screen, but there are also plenty of action sequences to balance the script, and please fans alike. I've always liked Van Damme movies (with a few exceptions) and it's nice to see him evolving and becoming more actor driven. With out a hint of an opportunity to do his trade mark "box splits" he instead almost quietly wades through the picture with a brooding menace that is both believable and engaging. Overall, and despite some sizeable plot holes, and lack of back story this is a good movie, and although (like the aforementioned Seagal) most of Jean Claudes movies are straight to video these days, this one at least probably deserved a theatrical release. Even though it has a small studio feel, and lacks the production polish of say "The Punisher" or "Man on Fire" it's not far behind in entertainment value. DVD quality is good but not exceptional, and "extra's" are a bit thin on the disc. Purchase if you are a big fan, otherwise rent first. Enjoy.