Customer Reviews

Wake of Death

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I like this new mature Van Damme. First IN HELL and now WAKE OF DEATH they're the best films of his career and he's actually starting to show some genuine acting talent. I hope this trend continues.

Wife/family murdered and son kidnapped Van Damme (or V.D. as I like to call him) is out for revenge. He shoots up a bunch of stuff, runs a drill through a guy's kneecaps, wrecks some cars, cries a few times, drives a motorcycle through a mall, hugs some people, electrocutes a cop and shoots a triad who's tied up point blank in the face with a shotgun.

Honestly I liked this movie quite a bit, the ending was a little anti-climatic, but the cinematography was cool. I'd watch it again which is more than I could say for DOUBLE TEAM.

After nearly 7 years of straight to DVD Releases Van Damme finally makes a film thats up there with his old ones. Much like Desert Heat which ressurected his film making he makes another good one.

This movie is about a little girl who witnesses her father kill her mother. She is poorly cared for as are others in her countries when a woman takes her in as her own (Jean Claudes wife) for fear that she may be murdered herself. But when her father realizes what happens he takes action.

He has Jean Claude Van Dammes wife killed and is about to have his son killed when he escapes. When Van Damme gets back he finds his wife dead and he has his brother go searching for the kiler. Van Damme goes on a killing spree killing anyone who was in connection to his wifes death. And finally gets to the big man himself, the one who has his wife killed. In the end he kills him and gets wounded himself.

The main thing that sticks out in this film is Van Dammes acting, not his fighting. It seems like a blah blah story but if you would see his acting its magnificant. He really looks sad when he finds his wife dead, when he kills the people who killed his wife he has tears in his eyes why hes doing it. Like in one scene he beats a man over and over with a pistol and starts to cry why he does it, like getting all the anger out.

This has to be his best acting peroformance of his career. And anyone, and i mean anyone who likes action films needs to see this. Also this movie isnt directed by Jean Claude and it gets with the program for modern movies (it feels like it could of went to theaters) this movie gets a 10/10

The Jean Claude Van Damme Review Matrix (JCVD-RM)

1. Who is he? Ben Archer, a worn down bouncer with weatherbeaten features who's ready to quit his rugged life at high-profile clubs (think Swayze from Road House, but with an accent)
2. Which family member/friend must be avenged? His wife Cynthia (Lisa King) gets her throat slit (gruesome close-up afterwards), his father-in-law gets blasted, and his mother-in-law gets an explosive head-shot from close range (like popping a water balloon with a pin).
3. Does he take his shirt off? Because it's such an essential plot device, there is an early shower scene, a sex scene, and a bath scene in which JCVD is shirtless.
4. Does he have sex with a C-List actress? He gets to "say goodbye" to Cynthia very early in Cinemax-quality bawdy tryst.
5. Is there a tournament? This is a grisly, evil, realistic battle to the death. It's JCVD at his skull-crushing darkest. There is no time for a stupid tournament with rules.
6. Is training needed for this tournament? Didn't you hear me!? JCVD has people to maim, kill, and torture!
7. Does he do the splits in training or in the tournament? This is serious! Borderline psychotic executioners do not do the splits.
8. Does he punch someone in the balls? No, but his brother punches someone in the balls, and performs a free castration later.
9. Does he do a series of flying or 360 kicks? He's fighting the Chinese Triad. What do you think?
10. Is his enemy unbeatable? No. In fact, JCVD kills about 50 guys who previously thought they were unbeatable.
11. Does he overcome an injury or other hindrance? No hindrance, this is all about the revenge killing.
12. Does he win? JCVD does everything but cure cancer in this one. You're damn right he wins.

I think the message in this one is that JCVD is against human trafficking, drugs, and the Chinese Triad. Basically, a Chinese girl named Kim runs away after her mother is murdered, becomes an import into America, gets pseudo-adopted by an INS agent, Cynthia Archer, and is tracked down by her Chinese Triad father named Sun Quan - the same guy who killed Kim's mother. During the hunt for his daughter, Sun Quan's people kill everyone Archer knows, and in doing so, they unleash the Charles Bronson within JCVD.

The action rivals the blockbuster movies spewed forth by the biggest budget of Hollywood movies. Awesome fights and action, a motorcycle chase that could be in the X-Games, a few graphic, gruesome deaths, superb acting (JCVD's best acting to date), great cinematography, and one of the top five car chases in cinema history, there really isn't anything missing. A few of the deaths are stunning, and along with the ominous music, are almost Tarantinoesque. One particularly gory moment involves some angry associates of JCVD, a power-drill, and an unfortunate enemy with information.

I can't give this movie enough credit. It should have made it to theatres. It's better than the majority of action movies that have been produced in the last ten years. In my opinion, this could easily be considered the best of all JCVD movies. Wake of Death is highly recommended for not just JCVD-aholics, but action fans as well.

I had first heard about this movie over at action kings about 3 or 4 months ago, and after reading about who was directing and the production company, I had little hope for this. Then the trailer came and so did the plot. Wake of Death is Van Damme's latest movie and it is good!

The film takes place in LA. Van Damme plays Ben Archer who is an ex mob enforcer just quiting his job to protect his family. His wife is with the immigration and she takes in a little girl who has snuck onto a boat from China to the US. She ran away because she saw her dad kill her mother right in front of her. So Ben's wife takes her in for a week. Her dad comes to LA and is searching for her. He finds out that she is staying with this lady. He tracks the wife down and kills her brutally. Ben comes to find out what happened and from their he goes on a rampage. Im not going to get into all of the characters involved as from what I said above is the main plot of the movie.

Now as to what I thought of the film. The movie itself is good. Never really slow or boring. The budget was 24 million, but it felt much more to me. This is Van Dammes best yet. His acting is great and he takes his role seriously. All of the other characters were good too! Van Dammes brother was a good actor. I would like to see him in more movies. Sure the plot is not original, but who cares, as it is still an entertaining movie. The movie is bloody throughout. There is one torture seen that is intense, and graphic. But very realistic. Yes there is a car chase, and 2 nice explosions. The explosions I loved because they were not computerized. In Wesley Snipe's latest movie "Unstoppable", they were computerized a little. Not in this movie they weren't and I was glad to see that.

Now my ONLY complaint is a simple one. In most of the DTV's, there is always at 1 thing wrong. Something in the movie is too short and should be expanded. The finale with Vandamme should have been a little bit longer. Even 5 minutes would do it, but the rest of the movie makes up for it. Wake of Death is certainly 1 of the best DTV movies I have every seen. I bought it the first chance I could. Van Damme make more movies like this!

The title 'Wake of Death,' new film of Jean-Claude Van Damme, is rightly given to the very violent contents. Van Damme plays a bouncer Ben Archer who is quitting his job after seeing what he doesn't want to see for 20 years. But he has a beautiful wife Cynthia (Lisa King, 'Home Alone 4') and a kid at home, and all he wants is just a quiet life.

Anyone who knows some rules about action flicks will detect what will happen to his family when kind-hearted Cynthia (who is an INS officer by the way) takes home a little Chinese girl found among the refugees from China. And the little girl is connected with a Chinese triad, in fact, a daughter of a ruthless boss Sun Quan (Simon Yam, 'Tomb Raider 2'). And these events occur at the night when Cynthia and Ben are sleeping together in bed, showing part of their bodies in the ill-lit room.

[TYPICAL REVENGE STORY] Yes, Van Damme is getting more and more serious these days, as you have seen 'In Hell' recently. 'Wake of Death' goes similar course, but this time it's a revenge story with more violent actions with shoot-outs and car-chases. Though the script is a standard one, one inventiveness is found in the relations between Van Damme's hero and his former associates French mafiosos. These French gangsters give a timely help or two to Van Damme's character in a more bloody fashion than the Italian guys who were seen helping Arnie in 'Eraser.'

So how good is this film? It depends on your expectaions. 'Wake of Death' shows fairly good car stunts and shoot-outs, but the lack of imagination on the director's side is too obvious. My opinion is, it is much better than 'Derailed' (his worst), far below 'Timecop' (arguably his best), on par with 'The Order.' But it's just my idea. The point is, Van Damme shows pretty good acting here, but the actions, or the logics behind them, look awfully disjointed. The bad guy's motive to bring back his daughter at any cost is never explained, and the relations between the characters are very confusing. (Case in point. You get a glimpse of two veteran actors Burt Kwouk, 'Cato' of 'Rerurn of Pink Panther' and Jacqui Chan, 'The World of Susie Wong,' but the moment they appear on the screen, they get killed, without leaving no impression on us.) But most damaging thing is the film's shoddy editing that virtually killed some of the good stunts such as two motorcycles running in a shoppoing mall. I still do not know what happened at certain point of the story.

Philip Martinez, formerly producer of B action films such as 'Dot Kill' or 'House of 9,' gives his second film as director. (Incidentally, his first feature was, the imdb says, 'Citizen Verdict'(03) starring Armand Assante and Jerry Springer!) As to 'Wake of Death' he decided to shoot this film in South Africa though the story is set in America.

Fans of Van Damme might hail the film as his come-back. I don't know, for I still fondly remember joyful thrills when I watched his 'Timecop' or 'Universal Soldiers.' 'Wake of Death' is good as Grade-B, straight-to-video actioner, but it's not good enough for me.

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

This movie was pretty good. If you are a big fan like me, you'll enjoy it. All the emotion he poured into this movie can be deeply felt. If you have a family it hits you harder. You know the heartbreak & the rage you would feel, holding your dead spouse in your arms & wondering what happened to your child.
Van Damme is a different kind of actor, but a good one. Different is good & so was this movie. Not to mention that he's in exellent shape for a 44 yr. old. Looking forward to more movies.

Now in this movie, the director decided to focus on van damme's actin abilites. ???????? It's ok though, he gets by. Not very good acting by any means, but I would put him over some one like dmx or some of these non movie stars trying to be in movies today. I can only give it a 3.5/5 at best, but it got really gory and the movie was all the better for it. What do you expect when you are dealing with gangsters? If the very end was a little stronger and the action was filmed a bit better, I would probably say it was a great movie.

Sorry not to give anything away, but it is the first time I have ever been able to recommend a van damme movie and want you to go experience it for yourself.

The picture is very clear, sound quality in 5.1 is pretty good, and while the music isn't the greatest, just like the movie, it is pretty good. And the making of featurette is, well, interesting.

Don't no why this movie made it to theaters but I really like it. For those who said that Jean-Claude Van Damme can't act, they are wrong. This movie is very emotional if you have a family, you can see his pain and suffer when his wife got kill then the revenge was well deserve for the bad guys.

To me this movie is one of the best for Jean-Claude Van Damme.

I work at a video store and take home movies each night (usually one), last nights selection was Wake of Death with Jean Claude Van Damme...yes it was the typical violent/revenge story, but this one was a bit different. This movie showed Van Damme's other side, a side that I have not seen before. I saw a Van Damme that was endearing to his family, and his character (Ben Archer) wanted something more than what he was doing in the past. Violence...yes...Storyline...good...overall, I think that the picture should have delved a bit more into the lives of these characters.