Oct 3, 2020,02:00pm EDT
A Michael Jai White Remake Of A Van Damme Bomb Is Now One Of Netflix’s Most-Watched Movies
Scott Mendelson Contributor
Hollywood & Entertainment
I cover the film industry.
Jean-Claude Van Damme in 'Sudden Death' and Michael Jai White in 'Welcome to Sudden Death' UNIVERSAL
Michael Jai White sits alongside Scott Adkins as a king of straight-to-VOD action movies, and Welcome to Sudden Death follows the tradition of Universal's direct-to-DVD or direct-to-VOD sequels to theatrical releases.
Coming in as the third most-watched movie on Netflix NFLX +1.8% for the last few days is Welcome to Sudden Death. The film dropped on the service on Wednesday (concurrently with its VOD/DVD debut courtesy of Universal Home Video) with little-to-no fanfare. It’s not a Netflix original, so perhaps it’s understandable that it’s not getting the media attention being fostered upon Enola Holmes, Emily in Paris and/or the true crime documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door (which my wife and true crime-loving 13-year-old daughter allegedly enjoyed). But there it sits, behind Rod Lurie’s The Outpost (an excellent Rod Lurie-directed Afghanistan war thriller which I wrote about when it successfully debuted on VOD in July) and the still-hanging-in-there Enola Holmes. Meanwhile, Cameron Diaz’s Bad Teacher has vanished from the top-ten, another sign of the fleeting nature of success in the streaming era.
To answer your next question, Welcome to Sudden Death is a remake of Sudden Death, the 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme actioner which was supposed to be his Under Siege. By that I mean it was a big-budget ($35 million) Die Hard knock-off, this time set in a hockey stadium instead of a Navy ship, which was supposed to give Steven Seagal’s mid-1990’s action movie rival his own A-level action hit beyond the comparatively B-movie martial arts-specific movies on which Van Damme made his name. The movie, starring “the Muscles from Brussels” as a security guard trying to stop terrorists (led by Powers Boothe) from blowing up a packed hockey game (while saving his daughter who ends up among the hostages), earned just $65 million worldwide. The film has a generational cult following, but all due respect, it’s no Under Siege (or Dark Territory).
The film was directed by Peter Hyams, who went on to helm Arnold Schwarzenegger’s End of Days (which was supposed to be his post-heart surgery comeback vehicle) in late 1999 before eventually serving as a cinematographer for his son John Hyams’ direct-to-VOD/DVD action sequel Universal Soldier: Regeneration. The 2009 sci-fi actioner, which ignored the events of Universal Soldier: The Return and reunited franchise stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, is considered one of the benchmarks in what would eventually become a thriving marketplace for direct-to-VOD action movies. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, starring Van-Damme, Lundgren and Scott Adkins, is often considering The Dark Knight of such fare, and you really ought to check out the mind-bending 2012 release if you haven’t already. Adkins is the unofficial king of the straight-to-VOD action scene, followed by arguably, well, Michael Jai White.
He broke out in 1995 playing Mike Tyson in an HBO biopic, but Mr. White is best known to the general public for playing Spawn in New Line’s Spawn. The 1997 release which unofficially kicked off the second wave of present-tense, of-the-moment comic book superhero movies. He’s better than the movie (which is more than I can say for rock bottom Martin Sheen two years before The West Wing), and since then he’s starred in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married movies, reoccurred as the Bronze Tiger on CW’s Arrow and starred in the terrific action comedy/social satire Black Dynamite. That blistering satire on blaxploitation movies also spawned an excellent animated series. His cameo in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight, as a “black guy dies first” mob boss, didn’t quite take advantage of his natural abilities, but hopefully it paid well.
It’s as bad as J.J. Abrams casting Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais as two guys who get eaten by monsters in The Force Awakens. At least Scott Derrickson let Scott Adkins kick Doctor Strange’s mystic-powered butt. Anyway, he’s also built up a long resume of direct-to-VOD action movies which utilize both his ability to kick your ass and his raw movie star charisma. Amusingly enough, this is White’s third installment in a sequel/remake to a theatrical franchise. He co-starred in Sony's S.W.A.T.: Under Siege in 2017 (the second direct-to-VOD sequel to Clark Johnson’s hit S.W.A.T. flick from 2003) and starred in Undercover Brother 2 in 2019. While it’s technically a remake in terms of plot and story beats, Welcome to Sudden Death is another in a long line of Universal’s “not for theaters” sequels to their previous theatrical hits.
It joins 13 (!!!) Land Before Time sequels, four Scorpion King follow-ups, five American Pie spin-offs/follow-ups (not counting the theatrical American Reunion in 2011), four additional Beethoven movies after the first theatrical sequel, five Bring it On sequels, four sequels to Jason Statham’s 2008 Death Race remake, four follow-ups to Dragonheart and (among others) six additional Tremors movies. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve seen all, or even most, of these, but this was a staple back during the DVD boom and, as a revenue stream, has been making a comeback in the streaming era. For the record, they aren’t the only ones who play/played in this sandbox. Fun fact: Warner Bros.’ Deep Blue Sea 3 is better than Deep Blue Sea 2 and Disney’s Aladdin and the King of Thieves was much better than The Return of Jafar.
Welcome to Sudden Death’s appearance is an interesting example of a comparatively under-the-radar movie holding strong alongside much bigger competition. It’s a testament to both the fallibility of conventional wisdom and the commercial value of “Black faces in conventionally white spaces.” Like Fatal Affair back in July, it’s is a classic example of an old-school 1990’s genre flicks remade/revamped for Black actors and actresses who didn’t get to star in these movies when they were considered A-level studio releases. Yes, it’s as formulaic a Die Hard movie as you imagine (although running just 80 minutes and with plenty of wit, it’s entirely painless). But that it stars a guy who looks like Michael Jai White instead of a guy who looks like Gerard Butler makes it “new” and “special” to demographics who used to sit on the sidelines while Rambo and McClane saved the day.
Reply With Quote