“Welcome to Sudden Death” / Z-View

Welcome to Sudden Death (2020)

Director: Dallas Jackson

Screenplay:  Dallas Jackson, Gene Quintano

Starring:  Michael Jai White, Michael Eklund and Gary Owen.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The biggest problem with Welcome to Sudden Death was the marketing.  No, really.  Hear me out.

Welcome to Sudden Death was advertised as an action-packed remake of the Jean Claude Van Damme movie, Sudden Death.  And it is, but… and this is a big but… the reboot is a comedy with action.  Folks went into the Michael Jai White version thinking that they were getting a straight up serious action movie.  They didn’t and they were rightly disappointed.  If Welcome to Sudden Death had been sold as a comedy/action film then audiences wouldn’t have judged it so harshly.  Sure, they may have felt it wasn’t funny enough or the mix of action/comedy wasn’t right, but they would have gone in with different expectations.

I had read that the original Sudden Death was supposed to be more of a comedy, but that aspect was toned down when JCVD came on.  Welcome to Sudden Death was going to play up the yuks along with the action, I was interested.

While Welcome to Sudden Death isn’t the funniest movie or the best action film you’ll ever see.  If you go in knowing that, you shouldn’t be disappointed.  The tone is less serious than the original, but not as far out as say, The Naked Gun.  Michael Jai White does a good job as the hero.  I loved Gary Owen as the reluctant sidekick.  The bad guys are over the top, the plot is what you’d expect, but if you want a few laughs and to see Michael Jai White kick butt, then I say, Welcome to Sudden Death.

I liked Welcome to Sudden Death as well if not better than the JCVD original  I rate it 3 of 5 stars.