End Game (2005)

End Game (2005) -* * *

Directed By: Andy Cheng

Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., James Woods, Angie Harmon, Anne Archer, Peter Greene, Todd Jensen, Sarah Ann Schultz, Brian Presley, Jack Scalia, and Burt Reynolds









End Game is one of the biggest Direct-To-Video movies of the year. Like Edison Force (2006) The Big White (2005), and Grilled (2006), it shows that any movie with an all-star cast and good premise can go DTV.

The plot: The president has been assassinated. Secret Service Agent Alex Thomas (Gooding Jr.) feels responsible. He starts to fall into a deep depression. When reporter Kate Crawford (Harmon) realizes that there's a conspiracy about the killing, she enlists Thomas's help. When they start to dig deeper, The assassins start to target them and all witnesses. Can they escape?



This movie was slated to have a theatrical release, so the action scenes are 100 times better than your usual Seagal\fast cut crud.


While Burt Reynolds looks like a Madame Tussaud's wax statue of Burt Reynolds, and that is somewhat distracting, the rest of the cast, including Todd Jensen, put in their usual professionalism. Woods and Reynolds have a good confrontation in the beginning. The only problem with the movie is the ending, I won't spoil it, but I will say they don't stop while they're ahead.
Overall, End Game is one of the best straight to video movies I've seen in a long while and if you like Cuba Gooding Jr. Or Woods, definitely check it out.


Comeuppance Review by: Ty

Wake Of Death (2004)

Wake of Death (2004) -* * *1\2
 
Directed By: Phillipe Martinez

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tony Schiena, and Simon Yam








Wake of Death is one of the best Van Damme movies ever. He has been making an effort to make all his releases better than Seagal. He has definitely succeeded. When you first see the cover with Van Damme brandishing two firearms, you think, "This is gonna be awesome!" and you'd be right.

Ben Archer's (Van Damme) wife is brutally killed by gangster Sun Quan (Yam). Like the tagline says "All that's left is revenge". The whole movie is different from the usual action flick for example:

Acting: Van Damme's best peformance yet. Critics who called him "Stiff as a Board" won't be saying that this time around. You really feel for him when his wife is killed.



Action: "Wake Of Death" pumps up the action quotient by 110%. All the action scenes are brutal and contain a lot of blood. But every bad guy deserved it. The motorcycle chase in the mall is very exciting. The final battle in the shipyard is awesome.



Comeuppance Review by: Ty