Until Death (A brief movie review)

This is another movie where the good guy starts off as a bad cop, gets beaten up into a coma, recovers and dispatches the actual bad guys. Having said that, I have to say that for a straight to video B-grade Van Damme flick, this movie had a surprisingly good screenplay and an acting side of Van Damme that I have not seen before. He doesn't throw a single kick (he does throw a variation of punch while in the driver's seat) as the primary means of delivery of violence here is always through a form of gun. But he did show some acting chops.

The supporting cast could have been better fleshed out. On more than one occasion, it was painfully obvious that people were acting. The producers of such low-budget movies apparently cannot rope in a Scarlett Johanssen. So they should commit more time to finding good casting. The girl playing Van Damme's wife was pretty hot (but then I am always horny so I could be...um...gushing here). The romance seems to have been thrown in so as to add a layer of complexity to Van Damme's "disturbed cop" character. And I thought that, for the most part, his scenes with his wife were actually effective.

So the lack of a good supporting cast along with a more expressive look from Van Damme would have elevated the quality of the movie from average to good. For the most part, his eyes stay rather lukewarm, something that I have noticed a lot in his previous "dramatic" work. A certain amount of fear or stark realization conveyed through his eyes here and there would have significantly raised the tension that Simon Fellows (the Director) was trying to convey in many parts of the movie.

Finally, the action scenes, considered a staple of Van Damme movies, are very few and, except one, are rather bland. Had more creativity been poured into the action scenes, that would have elevated the quality of the movie from good to great.

Thankfully there are no cheesy special effects. I didn't really notice the background music but I have to say that the set design was very professionally done (like in a big-budget movie).

So to recap, for a really good movie to happen next time, Van Damme will need to work with:

1. a better supporting cast,

2. more expressive eyes and

3. more thoughtful violence in the action scenes :)