I'm from Romania so I managed to see Until Death on TV. Here's my review.
MY REVIEW OF UNTIL DEATH
Ok, before I saw the movie I had no idea it would be so different from what Van Damme has done in the past. Guys, this movie is completely different from anything he has ever done. The movie is 90 – 95% drama and 5-10% action, yup, it’s more of a drama than an action movie and it has a great story.
Until Death could have easily been made as a sequel to Miami Vice or similar movies since, although it has less action, it has the same type of story and the same kind of drama. The movie’s main character is Anthony Stowe, a Narcotics cop who was once partnered with Callahan, a man who has since become one of the most important drug dealers in New Orleans and who began his involvement in the drug business during his time as a cop. Stowe, still a cop is now after Callahan, his former partner. The great thing about this story that is similar to others that we’ve seen in the past is the fact that we don’t get the whole story, only parts and pieces of it while the main story of the movie deals with the final part of the cat and mouse game between Stowe and Callahan. The final few days, the final trap, the final chase, the last chance for redemption for both of them.
THE VISUALS:
The movie looks great, in fact with just 3 exceptions, 3 scenes that are classic DTV low quality stuff, everything looks great, as if it was expensive, as if the people behind the movie cared about the final result. The 3 exceptions are 2 CGI scenes of bullets in which the CGI is of a low quality and one scene in which we can see that a background seen out of a house’s door is a picture instead of real houses. BUT, these 3 scenes amount to only 15 seconds, or around that, so they can be easily overlooked.
The opening credits are amazing, they make the movie look expensive and BIG. And the most interesting thing of all is the fact that they chose a high quality font in which to write the names and the title. It looks like a proper movie title instead of the poor style in which the titles to most of his recent movies (Wake of Death, Second in Command, The Hard Corps) were written in. It does NOT make the movie better, but it helps set up a mood in which you expect quality and don’t directly think of a DTV movie being of low quality.
The make-up on most of the actors is amazing. Van Damme really looks like the drug using, alcohol abusing, law bending cop he portrays. No cheap jobs here, everything looks great.
Simon Fellows is clearly a beginner at directing. In Second in Command he tried to create a feeling of revolution/war/chaos through the camera movement, but he failed because he overdid it, he tried too hard and in the end he made some viewers hate the camera movement and the overall style. Rest assured that he has improved tremendously with Until Death. BUT, I can’t say he has achieved a high level of quality, there are still some things missing from his directorial style. One thing is the fact that he has very little ability to choreograph a camera moving around action. It’s a good thing that Until Death has very little action in it because Fellows can’t seem to figure out where to place the camera to better capture the action.
Also, one of the major problems of Second in Command was the fact that Fellows didn’t capture the emotional impact of the scenes properly. He didn’t understand the fact that the camera is a tool, a sort of actor on its own that is meant to portray certain emotions and sensations to the viewer. The same scene filmed from different angles and in different styles can be seen as funny or scary or dramatic and Fellows can’t do this YET, he has the potential, but he is not there YET. In Until Death he has improved A LOT, but he does the same thing, sometimes, some scenes feel flat, less filled with emotion than how they should be.
BUT, overall, the good outweighs the bad and Fellows brings a lot of good stuff to the table. He does some interesting camera moves that actually improve scenes and which ARE METAPHORS FOR THE STORY. YES people, FELLOWS IMPROVES some scenes WITH THE WAY HE DIRECTS. The way the camera is placed or the way the camera moves makes some scenes feel more important, bigger and BETTER than they are and enhances their emotional impact. If only Fellows would learn how to do the same for action, he would then be a much better director.
The cinematography and Van Damme’s latest movies was on and off at times. Wake of Death was amazing visually, so were In Hell and Replicant, but Second in Command looked like a cheap DTV movie and only parts of The Hard Corps had a high quality look. And yes, I agree that some of the blame MUST lie with cinematographer Douglas Milsome and I say this because this guy made action movies like Breakdown, The Legionnaire (one of Van Damme’s finest movies), The Sunchaser and even crap like Dungeon & Dragons look big and high quality and did great jobs on the lighting and color setup, but he also made Second in Command look like crap and couldn’t keep the coloring and lighting at the same constant level throughout The Hard Corps. I don’t get how he could make parts of The Hard Corps look great and parts look like they are part of another, cheaper, worse movie.
So I was worried for Until Death, well I was worried for nothing because ALL of Until Death looks amazing and high quality and looks like a big budget action movie. Everything looks great and the colors are great.
THE SOUND
Ok, I was happy when I read that Until Death was going to have its soundtrack recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Unfortunately I can’t see why they spent the money. Everything sounds computerized and electronic and FAKE as in not played by real instruments. Also, a soundtrack is supposed to enhance a movie, enhance the emotional impact of the scenes and also establish a feeling for the entire movie, a theme. Well, the soundtrack of Until Death does NOTHING. It’s almost as if it wasn’t there since most of the time all the other sounds were MUCH louder than the soundtrack, but don’t try too hard to focus on the MUSIC, since there isn’t any. The Soundtrack seems to be composed with sounds that don’t form melodies, there is no melody, no theme, no coherence, just sounds and few attempts at music here and there. I was very disappointed in the soundtrack since a good soundtrack can make a bad movie look good and a good movie look great.
THE ACTORS
Van Damme has drastically improved as an actor in a very short time. And with Until Death he hits another one right out of the park, he gives a great performance, at a level at which others have won Oscars at and I am not joking. Unfortunately this is both good and bad. It’s good because he can impress the audience and easily carry the movie and it’s bad because EVERYONE else looks like an amateur when compared to him. Stephen Rea is GOOD, but he clearly did this movie for the money so does not try very hard, it’s what they call a phoned it type of performance and it shows. Compared to V for Vendetta, in Until Death Stephen Rea seems to be taking it easy. He is still naturally good, but not at his best level. Everyone else is good, better by far than what you usually see in DTV movies, just like the case was with The Hard Corps. But very much like with The Hard Corps and with Wake of Death before that, there is ONE actor that brings the whole movie down from the level it should be at. In Wake of Death, the actress portraying his wife was not as good as Van Damme was and that showed. In The Hard Corps, Viv Leacock seemed like a second hand version of the streetwise/hip-hop/villain he was supposed to portray and that brought the movie down. In Until Death it’s the same situation as in Wake of Death, the actress portraying the wife is awful, she couldn’t deliver any EMOTION, any impact along with her lines. EVERY single word she said sounded forced and fell flat, no impact no relevance and she had the annoying habit of smiling even when she was supposed to be sad. Her role was VERY IMPORTANT in the movie and her acting was very, very terrible, you can tell she must be an amateur (which is not the case) or not at all interested in the movie, which is what really happened since actress Selina Giles has a long list of acting jobs on her resume. Unfortunately her performance is the weakest of them all and she brings the movie down by quite a lot. It is interesting to see the best actor in the movie (Van Damme) and the worst actor (Selina Giles) at the same time on screen.
Also, Adam Leese’s character has pretty big and important role and Leese handles it well with two exceptions. First, he seems to be smiling in the very first scene we see him, yet he is supposed to be sad for losing someone close and second he seems to have an Australian accent yet the movie takes place in New Orleans. Otherwise he did a great job and his role was very surprising in the end.
CONCLUSIONS
The movie is a drama, a cop drama, a drug drama, a family drama with little sprinkles of action. The movie is well directed (although there was room for better) and well acted (with the exception of Selina Giles) and is another good movie by Jean Claude Van Damme. Unfortunately I can only say a GOOD movie, why? A bad soundtrack and some poor acting by Selina Giles are the major reasons why this isn’t a GREAT movie.
Had UNTIL DEATH had a better actress in the role of THE WIFE, a good soundtrack and a more emotional style of direction it could have a 10/10 movie, as it is at the moment it’s at 8.5/10.
It is a completely new and different role for Van Damme and I can understand why Sony would not want to release this movie in cinemas, it has small amounts of action compared to his older movies and it is a DRAMA, a type of movie that people might not want to see Van Damme in. It actually has a better chance on DVD because it can help Jean Claude find a new audience and make a name for himself AS AN ACTOR, a serious dramatic actor with real talent.
What Until Death did to me was to tell me a great story, a great dramatic story, it showed to me that Van Damme can carry this type of movie and it also gave me a lot of hope for THE SHEPERD (provisional title), Van Damme’s next movie which will be filled with action and which is directed by Isaac Florentine (Undisputed 2) and produced by the same people with most of the same important people behind it.
Fellows was a great choice for a drama movie while Florentine is a great choice for an action movie with Sheldon Lettich a great choice for a mix of the two. This shows me that Van Damme still has a real talent at finding and working with directors (he brought John Woo to the U.S. and worked with Roland Emmerich on his first big U.S. movie) and has created an interesting list of people to have around him that when given the proper resources can make really good movies like Wake of Death, The Hard Corps and Until Death. Van Damme clearly has created a place for himself and is alongside Dolph Lundgren the most interesting action star out there, as Steven Seagal’s star has long since (since Exit Wounds) faded little by little. Seagal is at the point where something like Flight of Fury is considered a success (and it really had potential) for the man who once starred in great movies like Out For Justice or Under Siege. Seagal is making movies which he would have never looked at during his glory days while both Lundgren and Van Damme are at their high points, they are NOW at their best making what could be called their best movies. Van Damme has the lead in the acting department as he clearly has become a better actor than all the other action stars COMBINED, perhaps only Stallone has better acting chops (CopLand is still an amazing performance by any standards), although Van Damme isn’t far behind.
This is why I respect Van Damme, he has grown as an actor and has created and put in place all the necessary elements to make quality movies. He has improved himself even if he is a DTV star, he keeps in great shape, has become a great actor and can still do some cool action, although he has evolved away from the action filled extravaganzas of the past (which is a good thing). Any new Van Damme movie is guaranteed to be good and interesting and the very nice fact is that his fans are disappointed when his movies fail to be GREAT and are JUST GOOD (as was the case with Second In Command).
Dolph Lundgren has built a great career as a director and has made his best movies with The Defender and The Mechanik. He has known a resurgence, a rejuvenation and has managed to get some great scripts for his future movies. He has managed to be reborn in the eyes of the public and his future is looking great.
Unfortunately Steven Seagal is off the map at the moment. The Steven Seagal of Out For Justice would have spat on movies like Attack Force and would have laughed at movies like Flight of Fury. The man has charisma and talent, but he has lost interest and the will to make movies, not to mention trying to make good ones. He loves music more than movies at the moment so the question remains - Why ruin your reputation by making low quality movies like Attack Force? His only WATCHABLE movies since Exit Wounds (2001) were Belly of The Beast, Into The Sun, Shadow Man and Flight of Fury, but the Steven Seagal from his glory days would have considered these movies CRAP and would not have made them and that is the saddest thing. He’s made 4 watchable movies out of a total of 15 DTV movies. Not a good track record. Also, he seems to be surrounded by people who don't care about him or the quality of his career or movies. Perhaps he will stop making movies and focus on his music (he really is talented), but I still hope he will make a GOOD movie before the end of his career.
Wesley Snipes could come back easily, but the talented people of the world aren’t really interested in working with him at the moment and that is a shame as the man is an extremely talented actor and action star at the same time, a rare combination. His best movie since Blade:Trinity has been CHAOS and that was a simplistic version of Inside Man (the Denzel Washington movie). He has been in 6 DTV movies so far (Chaos could still be DTV in the U.S. despite the announcement that will go to theatres in April) and he’s only been in one good movie – Chaos and he’s also managed to make his worst movie ever – The Marksman. Things are looking up for him, but recent scandals (tax evasion charges and such) are making him into a growingly less interesting actor for producers and studios.
Van Damme has made a damn good movie with Until Death. It’s a great drama and it could have been released into theatres without any shame. I recommend this movie to ANYONE without any exceptions, it’s that good. It’s perhaps the most important movie he’s made so far and it can be argued that it is his best (depending on how you view the man himself). Keep an eye out for this movie when it comes out and rent it/buy it because it is definitely worth it.
Also keep in mind that I saw an edited version so the DVD might have more scenes, more action (a tiny little bit more), a better soundtrack and an even better visual quality as I saw the movie on TV in a TV format and aspect ratio. The DVD version could be drastically better, but even if it isn’t this is still a movie I would recommend to anyone who loves a great drama, a great COP drama and some cool action from a classic star of the genre who has reinvented himself and who gave his best acting performance, a performance that I dare say is great by ANY standards.
8.5/10 on any scale…
P.S. A BETTER TAGLINE THAN VENGEANCE IS HIS WOULD HAVE BEEN REDEMPTION HAS A HIGH PRICE IT SUITS THE MOVIE PERFECTLY, THE vengeance ONE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE AT ALL!!!!