SUDDEN DEATH
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 3.0
United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 12/22/95 (wide) Running Length: 1:50 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, language) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Boothe, Raymond J. Barry, Whittni Wright, Ross Malinger, Dorian Harewood Director: Peter Hyams Producers: Moshe Diamant and Howard Baldwin Screenplay: Gene Quintano Cinematography: Peter Hyams Music: John Debney U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures
The "DIE HARD formula" rears its head several times each year, sometimes with great success (SPEED), but more often as a miserable failure (UNDER SIEGE 2). SUDDEN DEATH, a DIE HARD meets BLACK SUNDAY action flick with Jean-Claude Van Damme playing the hero, falls squarely in the latter category. Even the weakest entry of Bruce Willis' trilogy (this year's DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE) was markedly better than SUDDEN DEATH.
Admittedly, any DIE HARD clone is going to demand a heavy dose of the ever-popular "suspension of disbelief". However, there's a significant difference between accepting a few contrived plot devices and being asked to swallow a storyline that is utterly preposterous and implausible. Nothing in SUDDEN DEATH makes any sense, and there are times when the action is so outlandish that the film moves into the realm of self-parody. About the best thing that can be said about this movie is that the action scenes, directed by Peter Hyams (OUTLAND), are choreographed with flair. Unfortunately, the material connecting them is worthless.
Van Damme plays the typical John McLane-type hero: some down-on- his-luck guy who gets stuck in the crossfire when a nastier-than-nasty bad guy (suavely essayed by Powers Boothe) decides to take some hostages. In this case, our villain chooses game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena to spring his trap. His hostages -- in addition to every man, woman, and child in the stands -- include the Vice President and Van Damme's daughter (Whittni Wright). If a huge sum of money isn't transferred into his numbered bank accounts, he's going to start killing people -- first one or two, then everybody attending the game.
While trying to stop Boothe's Foss, Van Damme gets to fulfill a fantasy: defend the Penguins' goal at a critical juncture of the game. Never mind that no one, including his teammates, recognizes he's not the real goalie, or that he's supposed to be finding and defusing bombs instead of slapping around a puck on the ice. If this seems like the scene from THE NAKED GUN where Leslie Nielsen impersonates an umpire, it's probably just a coincidence, although both films have about the same level of believabilty in these instances.
Hard as it may be to accept, Van Damme has finally found a cast that acts on his guttural level. Powers Boothe looks as if he could care less about the role, and appears content to do the absolute minimum to cash his check. He's neither sinister nor menacing, and doesn't offer a single biting one-liner. The young actors playing Van Damme's children are awful and Raymond J. Barry's Vice President is a walking, talking cliche. There's nothing interesting about any of these characters, and no real reason to care whether they live or die. For a movie trying to build suspense through the dynamics of character relationships, that's a fatal flaw.
Simply put, SUDDEN DEATH is a bad movie. Although not quite as unwatchable as two of this year's similar entries -- MONEY TRAIN and UNDER SIEGE 2 -- the film has virtually nothing to recommend it to anyone who allows their brain to continue functioning while in the audience. Deriving shallow enjoyment from SUDDEN DEATH's poorly-acted, extravagantly absurd series of predictable action sequences demands one of three characteristics: an irrational fondness for Van Damme, a love of stale, artless films, or an unhealthy tendency towards masochistic experiences. This particular DIE HARD clone comes dead on arrival.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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