Wake of Death

Rating:
Summary: Not too shabby for direct to video.....
Review: This was better than a few of the dud Van Damme straight to dvd movies of the past. I actually felt for his character. And don't tell me he can't act just because he has an accent. Anyway, the movie is worth renting, or buying if you're a Van Damme fan. If you aren't, it's still not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.

Rating:
Summary: Van Damme brings it after a couple years off!!!!!
Review: 1) This movie, was one of Van Damme's coldest, violent movies, no mercy, and just the expression on his face, shows it all, extremely violent and about time that VAN DAMME Played a vicious killer out after revenge...

Rating:
Summary: Van Damme Acting Upscale!
Review: Finally! A good movie from Van Damme! I'm a huge Van Damme fan, and when his new movies come out- I'm the first one in line.Unfortunatly, of course, at the video store. I only wish he would make a movie in the United States,with well known supporting actors. He still has the potential to be on top once again! I rate this movie four stars because of lack of the special kicks we all antisipate from Van Damme.His acting capabilites are there in this movie! Action is great, but not enough Van Dammage for me. The late 80's & early 90's were great for him, Wake of Death, hopefully will give Van Damme the spark he needs to get back on the big screen. Good luck Van Damme! Hope to see you at the theater very soon. Hope this was helpful to you.

Rating:
Summary: 2 In a Row for Jean Claude!
Review: For starters, I give this a four because I am comparing it to Van Damme's past movies along with various action/drama movies that have been released in the past 10 years. This one deserves it.

Wow! "In Hell" and now this! Van Damme and his agent are starting to wise up when accepting scripts. Not that these movies are going to bring back his hey-day status, but they should provide some rebounding credibility for Mr. Damme.

There are a few moments of typical Damme campy moments, but for the most part, he pulls off a pretty decent performance. There is some rather raw action scenes as well as some disturbing ones to boot. Of course, revenge may do that to some people.

It's a shame Van Damme has a list of way below par movies, because if he just had BloodSport, Timecop, Cyborg, and these two recent ones to his name, I bet he would be...well, in a better position than he has been in recent years.

After watching "In Hell" and "Wake of Death" you begin to hope the industry will take another look at him. There is some tweaking he still needs w/ his acting, but that can all be worked out with the right staff and crew.

I'm going to say this...give Van Damme a chance and check this or "In Hell" out.

Rating:
Summary: Vaan Dammme. Best Movie Since His Glory Days. I Want More!!!
Review: I loved this movie. I almost didn't rent it. I must buy now! I've been a van damme fan since he started doing movies and I must say that this is one of his best to date.

I would have like to see more action though. More body count would have been nice and more fighting specially at the end. I thought the movie ended too quickly at the end.

It's nice to see him play the bad guy just like in double impact bad twin. I think he fits the profile a lot better as the villan/assasin and not as the goody to shoes good guy with a smile.

Give me more evil van damme! That's right evil!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Four stars for its surprisingly graphic violence
Review: It seems that JCVD has taken it back to the streets. Way back. Flesh-rending way back. This is one of the few films that I found myself cringing during the violent sequences. If you've seen his other straight-to-video, Replicant, you've seen JC play a bad guy and do some reprehensible things. This takes it to a new level in the sense that everyone is a scumbag. He perfectly fits the antihero part and you want his enemies to feel everything that they've done to him.

JC, Martinez, and Co. have had their detractors. Some call Martinez' work MTV-styled and flashy. I'd argue that filmmaking has changed and while 'Wake' does employ modern film techniques, it fits the work and certainly doesn't feel flimsy or cheap.

If one wishes to see what JC has been up to, i'd say to watch this, Legionnaire, and Replicant as they are three of the superior post-theatre JCVD works. I've heard good things about "In Hell", but have yet to see it.

Rating:
Summary: Van Damme's Wake of Death worth the watching
Review: This is a surprisingly good movie from Van Damme. The plot, a man avenges the death of his wife, seems to be recycled from other movies, but the camera work is really good. The film has a noir type feel to it and Van Damme, who looks really old, does a good job showing a man spiraling downward after the murder of his wife. He also does a good job flexing his acting chops in addition to his normal action muscle. He has put out some crap lately and it is good to see him in a movie worth watching. I recommend it to anyone who is a Van Damme fan or just wants to watch a good action movie. There are so holes in the plot and I wish they could have gone into his character's background more. It's worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: HE'S BACK
Review: Van Damme has a good movie here. Be ready for some violence though there is a scene where his cohorts torture a guy to death thats pretty bad. Van Damme seems to be acting alot better though. The thrust of the movie has his son being kidnapped by a hong kong kingpin. JCVD has his daughter and he wants her back.
Van Damme is a mob killer in this movie. He acts as such when they kill his wife so he and a buddy kill them. Eye for an eye.
The movie comes across to me as gritty,dirty and desperate. All involved are bad and yet Van damme gets us to pull for him. Worth renting at least.

Rating:
Summary: Part action/revenge, part gangster/drama=Good Van Damme!!!
Review: WAKE OF DEATH starts somewhat confusingly in the middle of a car chase as Van Damme and another car bash into eachother. We don't quite know what is going on or why at this short point in time. We DO know that the film cuts from one shot to the next VERY quickly which makes seeing and comprehending what's going on even more difficult. This pre-title sequence ends with Van Damme walking up to two corpses in a what looks like a morgue and then...the title song and credits roll.

This fast-cut confusion made me very worried that I was in for a disaster of a straight to DVD movie. Fortunately, I was wrong. Everything climbed uphill from there and eventually even that opening was brought back full circle, into context, and the entire film managed to make sense. There are flaws to be sure, most notably that the villain Simon Yam (a great Hong Kong action star) has a terrible English speaking voice, too high-pitched and thickly accented to be commanding (though he is commanding when silent). Other flaws include lack of character development (why is the villain so cold and why is Van Damme in the business he's in?) and minor quibbles like Van Damme's wife, an INS official, questioning a Chinese refugee in english when she herself speaks Chinese. There's also some dark lighting and quick editing that make it hard to see every detail of the action scenes, but...

These flaws, however, are outshone by a gritty performance by Van Damme (a better actor than anyone gives him credit for), some truly exciting stunt sequences (there's a great motorcycle jump in a mall), and suspenseful direction that will make you sweat (drills, guns, and a switchblade, oh my!), and some that will make you jump (Van Damme and a window is all I will say).

Overall, WAKE OF DEATH is a success for Van Damme. He gets to show off his dramatic acting side in this one as well as his trademark naked backside which he likes to show off in almost every movie he makes. Oh, and for those of you who like to see him kick people...he does that a few times as well!

Rating:
Summary: Great performance from Van Damme.
Review: With the double hit of In Hell and now Wake Of Death, Van Damme is showing that he is developing into a very fine actor. Van Damme's performance rises far above the short comings of this averagely scripted revenge movie. His character develops into a cold and calculating assassin, not afraid to take a life in cold blood in the name of revenge. There is little of Van Damme's trade mark flashy martial sequences some fans of his may expect from a Van Damme movie. Instead, the movie lends itself more towards sporadic claustrophobic fight sequences and gun play. For the finale of the movie much of the martial arts duties fall to actor Tony Schiena who is top lining Bauer Martinez Studios next action movie release, Action Star. The violence is graphic in places and feels a little strange while watching it unfold when your normal diet of so called action movie's these day's have PG-13 ratings and Seagal has gone soft. The only major problem I had with Wake Of Death was in the performances from the actress playing Van Damme's wife and the actor playing her boss which were both very poor and not very convincing at times. Phileppe Martinez direction is spot on and draws a great performance from Van Damme matching anything he has done with Ringo Lam in the past. Van Damme has now buried the dreaded Derailed and I look forward to good things to come with Kumite and hopefully a further Phileppe Martinez movie, Cover Play. This is Van Damme's best acting performance in any movie of his career, however I could not bring myself to give it the full 5 stars because for me, I still enjoy Timecop as his over all best movie to date.