It definitely felt like a busier week for me. Going out to see fireworks, that is definitely busy work.
Please pardon my lack of patriotism. Forgive me for watching fireworks
with my English Football tattoos exposed due to my Marty Scurll and Zack
Zabre Jr. tank top. But listen to me about how The American Revolution
was nothing more than a ploy to serve the rich. I do not know if I can
flush that one out into a great piece of satire at this point, so that
indoctrination will be for another time.
Regardless, God Save the Queen and Fuck the Video Assisted Referee (any good ref could have seen the offsides and the penalty).
On the topic of great foreign things that have fallen on hard time (I
cannot wait for the Prince Charles take on "JVCD"), Jean-Claude Van
Damme was one of those. As an action star, not an actor of course. If
you have a writer as wise as David S. Goyer who knows how to justify an
Los Angeles cop with an accent, you are in for some good stuff. If only I
had those details before I accidentally came across the ridiculous
finale of "Death Warrant" on cable.
10 years later, as someone who appreciates the Zack Snyder's DC trilogy,
I can revel in the ridiculous premises that Goyer lays out. If only
"Superman" had Van Damme's personality, I think everyone would agree
with me that "Dawn of Justice" and "Death Warrant" can only be regarded
as classics.
After single-handedly avenging his fallen partner, Quebec-transplant
Louis Burke is the buzz of the L.A.P.D.'s homicide division. Being able
to defeat the psychotic giant known as the Sandman, the governor and
attorney general believe he can handle an undercover assignment in a
state prison. He is a Quebecer. How would any inmates know who he was?
This makes him the ideal person to determine who and why the new
straight-laced inmates keep getting murdered. Or does this make him the
ideal target.
The guards are in on this game and the governor may be as well. With
Burke only being able to trust Amanda, his liaison, and Tisdale, his
adolescent hacker pal, he will need to stick his neck out and ally
himself with the wisest and most ambitious inmates to take down this
conspiracy. All while praying that no seemingly invincible cons who he
had busted get transferred to this clink.
"Death Warrant" might be the last great crazy script from the 80's era
of action. Eventual TV great, Deran Sarafian's direction is the only
thing that hinders the film. Well, that and most of Van Damme's costars
acting down to his level. Acting to the lead's capabilities is great
when it is Keanu Reeve in a "John Wick" film, and you are portraying a
criminal mastermind. Doing so as a somewhat ordinary person against a
Belgian martial artist is comical.
But with all the stuff Goyer throws into his script, comical is not
necessarily bad. It is like "Commando" with a lead who has more to say
than just one liners. That either means we have a better story than the
Schwarzenegger vehicle or far too low of a body count. Whatever you
think, both are ridiculous, and that is what you want from 80's action,
provided the effects are up to par, which they are.
To further get your attention, you get great supporting characters, some
of whom you are just glad to see. Like Joshua John Miller, the boy who
played Homer from "Near Dark." It is just good to see he did not leave
his talent behind.
Robert Guillaume is not as powerful as Morgan Freeman's Red, but he
gives a wise performance that is wise in so many ways. Wise that knew
what kind of movie he was in. Wise that he knew how to be a relatable
every man to help guide us through this tale. This wisdom must have
passed on to his role as the original Rafiki.
This feature also has the best villain in a Van Damme film next to
"Bloodsports's" Chung Li. Patrick Kilpatrick as the Sandman is like have
an actual speaking version of Li. He is huge and menacing and his
dialogue makes about as much sense as Bolo Yeung's most iconic role.
Fortunately, the creepiness gives him a supernatural nature that you buy
in on. Not until JVCD faces Dolph Lundgren do we get such a
satisfactory adversary, and I love "Lionheart."
If I am overlooking one flaw, it may be the trangender prisoners
portrayal, but this was a prison movie from before we considered all
rape to be bad. What I am saying is, it is from a time where we had no
clue on how to be woke. Should we remake this flick (with Van Damme as
the Guillame role), I am sure we would find performers who can make this
work. Would they want to is a totally different question.
Transgender hooker, hormone-driven hackers, inflammable giants and
Jean-Claude Van Damme make "Death Warrant" a spectacle not to be missed.
It is good for noise and it must be great with a few drinks. The story
is something to be awed by and I am surprised there has not been a new
take on this.
It is "Bloodsport" meets "Batman vs Superman." Who would not want to see
an hour and over done CGI removed from that? Feel free to use that for
the "4K 30th Anniversary Edition of Death Warrant." And email me at russthebus07@gmail.com for a treatment of my Pro-Wrestling Zom-Com, "Main Event of the Dead" while you are at.
I mean, Orion/MGM did distribute "Mac and Me." Surely I can do better.
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| imdb.com |
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