Review: Game of Death (2011)

Wesley Snipes plays a spook assassin/operative playing bodyguard to jerk arms dealer Robert Davi. He’s really there to get into his inner circle and when the time comes, rub him out, along with crooked hedge fund banker Quinn Duffy (in a nicely smug performance) who is backing him. However, things go awry when two of Snipes’ associates (played by Gary Daniels and Zoe Bell) swoop in and kidnap Davi, who subsequently has a nearly fatal cardiac incident. Deciding to go into business for themselves, Daniels needs Davi alive and alert, which brings in doctor Aunjanue Ellis, forced at gunpoint to keep Davi coherent for as long as need be for the bad guys to carry out their plans. When Snipes wises up, he decides to go after them instead of his initial targets. Ernie Hudson appears from time to time as a Catholic priest, who hears Snipes’ ‘confession’.

Well, at least it’s better than that other “Game of Death”. This 2011 direct-to-DVD effort from Belgian director Giorgio Serafini (“Blood of Redemption” and “A Certain Justice”, both starring Dolph Lundgren) was the last film Wesley Snipes made before paying his debt to society for monetary infractions. Scripted by Jim Agnew (Dario Argento’s “Giallo”) and Megan Brown (an actress making her debut screenwriting endeavour), it’s surprisingly watchable in a ‘one of the latter-day Seagal films that don’t suck’ kind of way.

It’s lot better than expected and Snipes proves to be quite a brutal fighter, even if his acting performance suggests slight depression or at least temporary distraction. The B-grade supporting cast is pretty interesting, but admittedly that’s more on paper than in actuality. Gary Daniels is still the worst actor to have a prolific acting character that I’ve ever seen. I did like his absolutely give no fucks, murder-happy character however. Robert Davi is barely conscious for most of the film, though he’s well-cast. With more valuable screen time, I have no doubt the guy could’ve delivered. Ernie Hudson plays a basketball-playing youth mentor yet again (years after “The Basketball Diaries”). His priest character is used in wraparound scenes, which is a shame because the man is really talented and likeable. Much better are slimy Quinn Duffy and Kiwi stunt double/actress Zoe Bell, the latter of whom deserves to be an action star in her own right if you ask me. She’s the highlight, absolutely running away with the film with her best performance to date. Keep a sharp eye out for “Best of the Best” lead Simon Rhee as a security agent. He serves as both fight and stunt co-ordinator on the film, too.

I kinda liked the idea that the film’s ‘good guy’ had a mission to kill two people, whereas the chief bad guy is (at least temporarily) aiming to keep them alive. That was a clever twist on the norm. Less impressive was the ‘latter day Cuba Gooding Jr. action movie’ brooding Catholic themes, and the annoying camera trickfuckery^TM brought by Serafini. It’s not boring, though, and that’s a nice change from most of Snipes’ post-career films, which are practically unwatchable. It appears as though Snipes might use doubles on occasion here, but rarely and certainly not as often as Steven Seagal does these days. Crucially, unlike the pudgy one, Snipes (although his face has aged) looks to be in much better shape than you or me. There’s some close-ups in the action, but even then I think it’s still Snipes, so it’s just poor directorial choices. Snipes’ action style appears to be somewhere in between Michael Jai White and slap-happy Seagal, and in full-flight the guy is fun to watch. It’s not, however, as much fun as it could be with the director’s idiotic blurry, strobe-y bullshit. Man, if it wasn’t for his ego and questionable financial decisions, Snipes might still have a theatrical-release career in the action genre. He may not give his best acting performance, but on evidence here he can still convince as an arse-kicker. The final fight between Snipes and Daniels is really good stuff and quite brutal. Snipes seems to make about half as many offensive moves as Daniels, but makes those moves count more, which is quite clever.

Annoyingly directed and nothing new, this action effort from a slumming Wesley Snipes makes up some ground in the action department and through the fun performance by a bad girl Zoe Bell. Not bad if you’re undemanding. At least this “Game of Death” doesn’t feature real-life footage of someone’s funeral.

Rating: C+