Game of Death (2010)

Tagline:

They picked the wrong man to cross.

Movie Review:

Wesley Snipes has churned out quite a few DTV films in recent years since his tax issues, though they have generally all been okay at best. The Marksman, Unstoppable, The Detonator.. all okay but nothing amazing. Chaos with Jason Statham was probably the best one with lot's of twists and decent action to boot. Undisputed went to cinema so doesn't count, but that's a really good one. His most recent effort is Game of Death; how does it fare?

Snipes plays Agent Marcus, a CIA agent given an undercover job to do. He's been instructed to get in good with Frank Smith (Robert Davi), a powerful but corrupt businessman, earn his trust then take him out. Six months later Agent Marcus has done just that and is the personal bodyguard to Smith. On a routine drive, Smith suffers a heart attack. As well as that the car is being followed on the ground and in the sky by Agent's Zander (Gary Daniels) and Floria (Zoe Bell). It's soon apparent that Zander and Bell have turned to the dark side as they kill the chopper pilot and infiltrate the hospital where Smith has been taken by Marcus.

At gunpoint, Zander and Floria demand that Smith and his treating nurse Rachel (Aunjanue Ellis) take them to the bank vault of wealthy business associate Redvale (Quinn Duffy). Snipe has no real love for Smith but he is determined to stop Zander and Floria from taking advantage of their undercover positions for their own financial gain. That, and they keep shooting at him. By the way the whole movie is told as a retrospective in a church by Snipes to priest Ernie Hudson.

I really enjoyed this one. I would go as far as to say this would be the best Wesley Snipes direct-to-video release so far. The plot wasn't overly ambitious - at it's heart this is a heist movie - and the acting was good across the board. More importantly the action quotient was solid, with equal amounts of shootouts (bringing back the silenced pistols was refreshing after a lot of machine gun shootout movies I've reviewed recently) to punchups. Snipes doesn't even actually have that many lines when it comes down to it. The movie is more interested in stealth action than constant babbling, which worked for me.

There's been a change of plan Marcus. We're taking the fucking money.

The only real downside I found was the usual frenetic directing that is so favourable these days. I've seen far worse but there was a lot of avid farts and scenes that go black and white for no real reason ("art"?) and some of the fights are shot too close, but not all of them. There's a couple of good kickfights and firefights that are easily seen and it's great to see that Snipes and Daniels still thrown down properly when given the opportunity. I guess also the retrospective way of telling this story could be seen as a downer, but it does let us see Ernie Hudson as a priest taking confession from Snipes which is fairly amusing. Hudson is always the fourth Ghostbuster to me.

Actually I was really surprised as to how much Gary Daniels features in this. He is the main bad guy but I was still expecting his role to be limited to ten minutes somehow. Gary probably has the same amount of screen time as Snipes. His portrayal of Zander the rogue CIA agent was cool, calm and ruthless - he shoots anyone that even looks sideways at him - and makes for a great bad guy. He also gets a pretty damned good final bout with Snipes on the top of a building that doesn't hold back any punches.

Equally good was Zoe Bell, best known for her stunt work in Kill Bill and then as a character actor in Death Proof. She has started getting decent roles in Bitch Slap, Gamer and her own starring vehicle Angel of Death. She put on an American accent for us in Game of Death which blended well with the others though after hearing her strong kiwi accent in Death Proof it came as a bit of a shock. Her best scene here is a standoff in the hospital with Snipes, both shooting at each other from behind walls as Bell explains to him the details of the plot as yet unrevealed.

This is a good one and worth your time. If all you had seen of recent Snipes work was 7 Seconds and The Contractor and wasn't convinced, I say give him another go. This is 85 solid minutes of entertainment with only a few minor drawbacks. I'm really hanging out for Snipe's Zombie action/western Gallowwalker which seemed to have been stuck in post-production hell for years, and even it's official website seems to be down now. Apparently it has had a DVD release in Scandinavia just last April so hopefully a more easily accessible DVD will eventuate shortly.

The Video:

Sharp as a pin prick with lot's of colour, strong detail and deep blacks. High definition goodness filmed in scope. Runtime around 90 minutes.

Sourced From:

Zone A blu-ray release from Amazon.

Trailer:

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Undisputed (2002)

Tagline:

At Sweetwater Prison, The World Heavyweight Champion is about to meet his match.

Movie Review:

Undisputed is not an action movie, it is a boxing movie. The cover on the DVD (different to the poster above) has a helicopter flying through an explosion and the tag line "A smart action movie". It also has a comparison quote "the butt-kicker that XXX should have been". Nothing could be further from the truth here except the 'smart movie' part. I was expecting a prison action movie with shivs in the bathroom, brawls in the mess hall (although there were the beginnings of a riot), prison snitches being hung from their cells by their linen, corrupt wardens and beatings from officers. There was none of that and it was so, so refreshing.

As soon as I saw Michael Rooker playing A. J. Merker, second-in-charge to the warden, I expected him to be aligned with one of the prison gangs, taking money on the side and sneaking in drugs. In reality the man doesn't lay a hand on anyone and only upholds the prison law respectfully. The fights themselves are in the grey-area of legality but the warden allows it and no-one is forced to fight in any kind of Battle Royale; so in that regard it is quite different from any prison action movie you will normally find on Explosive Action. The only explosive action here is fists against fists and ego against ego.

The basic plot is George 'Iceman' Chambers (Ving Rhames), the heavyweight champion of the world, has been convicted of rape and sentenced to 6-8 years in a prison reserved for the worst of the worst. He denies the charge but as his lawyer so bluntly puts it, there is a difference between justice and the law. He demands specialty treatment and to an extent it is rewarded to him but he does try to play it cool with the other prisoners. That is, until he hears about the inter-jail twice-yearly bouts and the reigning "champion" Monroe Hutchen (Wesley Snipes). He is the undisputed jail champion of 168 fights and Rhames is the undisputed champion of the world so of course there is tension. Snipes would happily go about his day and ignore the new arrival, however the gauntlet is thrown down by Rhames and the bear repeatedly poked until a match is set.

In the special features, Wesley Snipes says his character is "Reserved, Cerebral and Internal" which I think is very accurate and adds to the 'smart' tag used on the DVD cover. Snipes barely says any words throughout the movie and puts on a very strong performance as a man doing time for a crime he does not deny, keeping to himself and fighting only for his own respect. That's the key word to Undisputed - R.E.S.P.E.C.K, as ring announcer Marvin says. The movie also could have also descended into a crude display of thuggery - not that there is anything wrong with that, I enjoy an over-the-top beatings movie more than anyone - but instead it focussed on the mind and the preparation for one single fight, without resorting to montages (well, just one or two glimpses of the guys exercising). Snipes spends most of his time in solitary confinement for his own protection, building model Japanese buildings from match sticks and contemplating his past and his future.

The obvious comparison of Rocky is unavoidable; Snipes playing the Rocky Balboa character and Rhames playing a re-interpretation of Carl Weather's Apollo Creed. But really the only similarities are with the Iceman having a serious case of untouchable FIGJAM ("Fuck I'm good, just ask me") the same way Apollo Creed does and Snipes being portrayed as the 'people's hero' like Rocky is. The truth is both men have committed violent crimes (which Rhames disputes until the end) and are just trying to get by with what they've been handed. Snipes, it is revealed via flashbacks, killed a man by beating him to death in the course of protecting his girl. The only real flaw I found with the movie was that there was no resolution to Rhames' crime either way, aside from his early parole due to the agreements founded for the final bout. You never know if he actually raped that girl or if she was the gold digger that had been suggested. That, and Michael Rooker didn't have enough scenes.

Some of the other characters are worthy of mention; Mendy Ripstein is the partially senile mob equivalent of Rocky's Mickey Goldmill and is the organiser of the fights, having watched fights since the 50's, and commands a lot of respect in jail even from the warden. "Ratbag" is the manager of Snipes and get's winded by Rhame's in one of his show-off moments. Mingo is cellmates with Rhames and acts, quietly, as his eyes and ears. All serve their purpose admirably and do not take away from the main show of Snipes vs. Rhames.

It was an each way bet with me as to who would win in the end. Logically you think it would be Snipes as he is the bigger actor and has the title role, but Rhames' character Iceman does go on to be in the sequel (acted by Michael Jai White), which I haven't seen yet. Like Rocky before it, I was glued to the screen for the final bout to see how it would play out. A great movie and I really look forward to checking out the sequels. Highly recommended.

The Video:

Nice and sharp picture presented in scope, mainly dark and concentrating on the hues of a prison facility. Good clear sound that really drives home every bone-crunching punch to the chest. Runtime 94 minutes. Comes with two short interviews with the two stars that really separate actor from character; Ving Rhames is a very well spoken man.

Sourced From:

R1 Miramax DVD from eBay for a buck or two. Does not have an R4 release it seems (or it's out of print) which is strange as the two sequels do.

Trailer:

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The Contractor (2007)

Tagline:

The world's greatest marksman is now a marked man.

Back of DVD:

When retired marksman James Jackson Dial (Snipes) is given the chance to finish the one assignment the never completed, it's an opportunity he can't resist. Agreeing to fly to London and exterminate a deadly terrorist held in police custody, Dial soon finds this routine assignment quickly dissolves in to a nightmare...when he discovers he's been double-crossed and set up by his former employer. With the British police closing in and the Agency wanting to tie up any 'loose ends', Dial's only hope is a 12 year-old girl whom he reluctantly befriends as he desperately searches for a way out and the truth behind his betrayal.

Movie Review:

It's high time I got some Snipes action onto this blog so why not start with a more recent DTV effort, The Contractor. Poor Wesley hasn't had a great deal of luck lately what with his well known tax issues, so he has had to make do with a whole stack of DTV actioners since 2004's Blade Trinity - some good (Chaos), some not so good (7 Seconds was pretty silly). The Contractor falls somewhere in between.

In Montana, Snipes is taking care of his horses on his ranch while he wears the full cowboy getup. Two black cars approach and Snipes goes inside to talk business. It seems Snipes once was a tops marksman for the CIA and has retired, but is now being offered 'one last mission' by his old boss Collins to assassinate a terrorist as he is being transported to jail in the UK. This mission is obviously off the radar so he has to get in and get out as quick as possible. Snipes has had a run in with this terrorist before so gladly accepts the chance to off him.

He arrives in the UK and meets his driver who takes him on a cab ride to his hotel, briefly stopping to take photos of a clock tower (presumably going to be used for the assassination). After reviewing the plans with his associate, the next morning Snipes dons a priest outfit and takes his place in the tower with a sniper rifle, his associate on the ground on a walkie-talkie back to him. The prisoner exchange takes place and Snipes is ready to fire, but with all the cops around he misses his opportunity and the prisoner is taken into a building. Luckily he stands clear in the path of a window and Snipes pulls off his shot, knocking the guy dead. Snipes packs up and flees to the awaiting cab and driver but the cops are on to them and pursue. The cops get a lucky shot in and shoot the driver in the back of the head, the car loses control and flies into a flower stand. Snipes manages to free himself and plant a bomb, detonating the car behind him as he vanishes to the safe-house, an injured man.

The police investigate the scene of the crash, and the chick from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Lena Headey) and her father the Superintendent are among them. Now I only knew her from T:TSCC and little horror movie Broken so I was surprised to hear her with an English accent. I thought she was hamming it up but I was wrong, she was in fact putting on an American accent in Terminator. Her Superintendent father is Charles Dance who has been in every British movie and show ever made but you might know him as Dr. Clemence from Alien 3.

As Snipes sleeps off his injury in the safe-house, a little girl about 14, Emily, sneaks in through the window. She sees the injured Snipes who refuses help, but she comes back again and again providing food and clothes. The two form a sweet bond; really she forms one with him, and he just doesn't tell her to get out louder than he should have. She sees a news report on TV that features Snipes and his dead accomplice, who she also knew as a neighbour. Meanwhile the Superintendent has a meeting with a member of the US Department of Justice who, via a dick-swinging competition, demands to be the lead on this case. What the Super doesn't know however is that the guy from the DOJ is the same guy that assigned Snipes the hit in the first place; Collins. OOH THE PLOT THICKENS.

Wesley Snipes has played the fugitive role before in movies like Murder at 1600 and U.S. Marshals. I swear he never smiles once in this movie either, even when humouring Emily. He gets his sorely underused martial arts out a couple of times towards the end, but don't think that this movie is in any way Explosive Action. It's an action thriller, just like the aforementioned movies, but it's not a bad one. It does suffer from the same editing techniques that a lot of modern DTV action movies do; the programmed, quick-snap motions, intentionally out of focus shots, wobbly cameras and flashing bright white lights. These are referred to as Avid Farts by Vern and I couldn't agree more. They are little blurts of filming that are meant to hasten the pace of the movie but really just get on your nerves after a while.

Lena Headey plays her role well as the pursuer of Snipes. It gets personal for her when her father is killed, presumed to be by Snipes as he is caught by him, but this is in fact incorrect and only leads to Snipes being made public enemy number one. There's a lot of near-catches throughout the movie that Snipes manages to get away from, sometimes by the help of his new teenage friend who is simply looking for a father figure. He tries to buy an illegal passport so he can get home but even that guy cannot be trusted and dobs him in for a reward, yet still Snipes squirms away. It goes on like this for a while until finally ending in a three way shootout between Snipes, the 'good' cop Lena Headey and the 'bad' cop Collins. The most action is in this scene and one of the subsequent scenes where Snipes has a smackdown with one of Collins' associates and breaks his neck.

All in all not a bad little thriller (though it's nothing new), and all players act very well, even the girl who plays Emily wasn't as precocious as many other young actors. But it wouldn't have killed them to blow up a building or two. And I really think Snipes needs to do a movie like a sequel to Black Dynamite or something, where he can smile a bit and pull out some jive talk. He was offered Terry Crews' role on The Expendables but had to drop out due to some conflict with the tax office. The lesson here kids: always pay your tax!

The Video:

Typical modern DTV movie; excellent sharpness and colours, though bright scenes are too bright and dark scenes are too dark. I am not sure why being shot on video generally results in this but it's common among most films of this variety. Sound is clear and solid. Runtime 94 minutes.

Sourced From:

eBay for a buck or two.

Trailer:

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