Until Death (2007)

It’s a pleasure to see a B-grade action star age gracefully, almost to the point of moving up to A-list status…almost. UNTIL DEATH sees the 46-year-old Jean-Claude Van Damme in arguably his most mature and satisfying film role to date. He almost completely ditches his martial arts moves, which is a mild disappointment, but replaces them with a heavy dose of blood-soaked gunplay, backed up by a gritty, dramatic performance.

UNTIL DEATH is definitely in keeping with the hardboiled vibe of Van Damme’s 2004 feature WAKE OF DEATH. This one is even leaner though. It is his second collaboration with director Simon Fellows after SECOND IN COMMAND. I have yet to see that film. It received mixed reviews from fans on the internet, in part due to the low-budget military motif in yet another Eastern European setting.

For his follow up, Fellows manages a healthy pairing from a 12 million dollar budget and a competent story from Dan Harris (SUPERMAN RETURNS) and James Portolese. The latter has contributed to the script for Van Damme’s next feature THE SHEPHERD, co-starring Scott Adkins (UNDISPUTED 2).

UNTIL DEATH is set in New Orleans, even though most of the movie was shot in Bulgaria. Curiously, there is no reference to the Hurricane Katrina recovery.

The story isn’t exactly original. It’s a watered down cross between HENRY and NARC. By past Van Damme movie standards it is still quite good and definitely better than anything Seagal has ever been in.

An intentionally haggard and pale Van Damme is Anthony Stowe, a corrupt police detective who has become a drug addict and failed husband. Worse, his failed effort to bust his old partner in crime, a local drug trafficker named Gabriel Callaghan (Stephen Rea) has resulted in the death of a fellow officer.

Having alienated those around him and virtually hit rock bottom, Anthony is set up by an acquaintance. He ends up shot in the head and left for dead following a shootout with Callaghan’s goons in a diner.

After months of slow recovery, Anthony has become a new man and sets out to right past wrongs. His past, however, catches up with him when Callaghan kidnaps his pregnant wife. Anthony is forced into a seemingly hopeless showdown.

It’s pretty obvious that Van Damme is trying to push himself as an actor and get beyond the martial arts movie star label. UNTIL DEATH relies much more on his acting performance than any physical skills. It’s not bad at all. He genuinely looks like a basket case early on. The strung out drug addict routine could be helped by his past real-life brush with drugs although I would have to say his weathered face accounts for much of his performance.

The film doesn’t dwell too much on Anthony’s recovery. What little is shown is well acted though with Van Damme having to portray a brain-damaged man struggling to regain basic motor functions.

Van Damme has a strong actor in Stephen Rea to play off of. Unfortunately, Rea’s character and his relationship to Anthony are both underdeveloped and painfully cliched. The script instead dwells more on Anthony’s relationship with his estranged wife, as played by Selina Giles, and several lesser characters. Meanwhile, Rea spends his onscreen time mugging like a typical, grandstanding crime boss who enjoys taunting his enemies before killing them.

There is virtually no hand-to-hand combat at all. There is still plenty of action in the ballistics department. Gunplay is plentiful, especially during the explosive final reel. Fellows does an adequate job of directing these scenes with an air of punchy realism and little excess styling. My one complaint is that a lot of these scenes are too obviously set up simply to allow for high body counts. Most of the guys that Van Damme blows away appear to have no other purpose than to be cannon fodder. Most violent action movies end up this way, but the illusion is better kept.

DP Douglas Milsome, whose past credits include Van Damme’s LEGIONNAIRE and HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME sets up some very nice shots that help to keep UNTIL DEATH looking a lot better than your average $12 million movie, even more so during slower dramatic moments where one wouldn’t expect it.

As good as it is, UNTIL DEATH didn’t turn out to be quite as good as I had hoped. I wanted to see Van Damme in a bleak grindhouse-type movie, playing even more of a vile individual who must pay for his bad behavior in the end. That’s what some of the early leaked footage suggested. The movie takes the safe road instead with solid, yet conventional direction and a tidy, Hollywood-friendly script.

Regardless, this is surely an improvement for Van Damme as a maturing action star without his martial arts moves. I hate to see the change, but it is inevitable for all martial arts stars and Van Damme is so far managing better than most. That’s something I would have never predicted after career-decimating efforts like STREET FIGHTER and DOUBLE TEAM.