As Good as Dead

Not to bad keep on watching plenty of action

Fun self depreciating action movie, great to just watch and enjoy! A B movie that gets a B+

This is to me one of the most interesting old school action genre to date. Never mind the B-rated movie, some spot on bloopers on the action sequence, poor dialogue, poor acting by Luca Oriel and fast pace story line. I bet director R. Ellis Fazier should have done some creativity within the budget to turn the whole thing around with the presence of Michael Jai White and veteran Tom Berenger. Overall, it's intense and fun to watch considering the raw fight scenes by Mr. Mike, as usual...

I loved the movie. The martial arts style is new, the fight choreography style is new and the storyline has all the heart of karate kid but the intense action and drama you would expect from a Michael Jai White film. There is enough humor to keep the film from becoming to dark for families, yet the intensity of the drama is tangible. I have already seen it three times.

So this movie had the potential to be AMAZING. However, the acting was terrible. There was music throughout the entire movie in the background which was distracting. The special effects were horrible. Because of how good the story line was, I tried to overlook the other bad things. But in the end, stopped watching the movie about 5/8ths the way through.

Wow, that was really terrible. According to IMDB it got 23,000 at the box office, and I can see why. This was really rough. After an hour, I was too invested to turn it off, but I'm kind of self shaming for that at this point. Don't do it. Just don't.

Overall, if you're a fan of Michael Jai White as an actor, you'll be delighted with his presence and action style. The film is weaker whenever the actor is off-screen and lacks fun, excitement and entertainment when he is gone. Many references are made to other action films and well-known actors, with this film accepting that it is a mash-up of films it admires, such as The Karate Kid, The Marine and most importantly, Rambo. Effects are hit and miss, but it is highly forgivable as it still manages to be a delight and deliver multiple moments of brainless action. The musical score is a significant drawback, along with a few side performances, such as the easily forgettable villain. Lovers of B-grade action films will get a kick out of this, and it exceeded my expectations.

Classic action hero storytelling with combat tactics and strategies that would have Sun Tzu give pause.