For the most part, director Simon Fellows handles the material with a surprising amount of intelligence. His action sequences, on the other hand, are a little on the bland side; they just don't snap, crackle, and pop like they're supposed to. Like a drunken illusionist with more style than substance, Fellows deftly manages to distract you from his clumsy direction by overloading your senses with what could only be described as old-fashioned gratuitous violence. The body count is outrageously swollen, a trait not seen in a Van Damme flick since his thoroughly enjoyable 2004 revenge masterpiece Wake of Death. However, if given the choice, I would have preferred a bit more thrill and a little less spill.
It goes without saying that the majority of the performances from the film's supporting cast aren't the greatest, but, as I said, that's pretty much expected from this kind of low-budget production. Of course, there's no excuse for veteran thespian Stephen Rea to suck quite as hard as he does. I'm assuming his sloppy performance was supposed to be over-the-top and maniacal, not cheesy and completely ham-fisted. It's inexcusable, it really is. When you can't hold your own against someone like Jean-Claude Van Damme, it might be time to re-evaluate your career. Seriously. Get with your agent and talk it over.
Tomorrow.
Though it suffers from some questionable stylistic techniques and more than a few iffy performances, Until Death is still well worth your entertainment dollar. Van Damme delivers one of his all-time best performances, suggesting that there may be more to this fallen star than some would have you believe. Unfortunately, our hero's dedication to his role is overshadowed by all the dodgy talent he's been given to work with. You'll still have a blast, mind you, but you may think poorly of those who ultimately bring down the quality of this otherwise fine motion picture. If nothing else, it gives us hope for future Van Damme outings.
And it's still much better than Regarding Henry.
Article comments
1 - Lisa McKay
Congratulations! This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and Boston.com, which will allow even more readers to enjoy it.
2 - Aaron Fleming
Good job, but what about those sideburns???
3 - T. Rigney
Since I am not manly enough to sport such a look, I figured I had no right to comment on them.
4 - Aaron Fleming
Haha, well that's ok, in my own review (which has just be posted) I commented on little else. So I guess Blogcritics' two Until Death reviews are quite complementary in that regard.