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Wake Of Death (2004) Certificate 18

Wake Of Death
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Rated 2.5 stars
Average rating
(51%)
 
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme | Simon Yam | Valerie Tian | Philip Tan | Tony Schiena
Director: Philipe Martinez
Studio: SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time: 87 mins
Genres: Action/Adventure | Thriller
Languages: English
Hearing-impaired: English
Released: August 08, 2005

Jeanne-Claude Van Damme is Ben Archer, a gangster from Marseilles who now lives in LA; after a few decades of crime, he's decided to go straight and spend more time with his family. His wife Cynthia is an agent for the INS; she works to keep illegal Chinese immigrants out of the US. But when she discovers Kim (Valerie Tian), a troubled young girl on board a ship full of immigrants, she takes pity on her and brings the girl home with her. This turns out to be a mistake, as Kim is running for her life; when her maniacal father Sun Quan (Simon Yam), the trigger-happy leader of the Chinese Triad, discovers Kim's hiding place, he brutally murders all involved. Upon finding his wife's body, Ben resolves to extract revenge from the killers, and embarks upon a bloodletting of the entire Chinese mob, waging war with the aid of two of his former gang members.

Highest rated reviews

23 out of 27 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 3.0 stars
The film has it moments...

A Customer from Birmingham, UK, 8th July, 2005

This is a European production instead of a Hollywood flic, and it shows in the style and action. There are lots of short 'deep' scenes with occasional flashbacks , and the violence is more graphic than you would expect in a US production. The film revolves around a retired French mobster, whose wife is a social worker employed by the US immigration service. One day she brings home a Chinese girl, an illegal refugee, unaware that her father is a psychopathic triad boss with a penchant for slitting the throats of those he doesn't like - something he did to the girl's father. After the inevitable killing of Van Damme's wife by this boss, Van Damme wreaks revenge on the triad, aided by other former members of the French gang. This is an interesting film in that Van Damme doesn't mind being portrayed as an ageing action man, unlike some of Seagal's stuff where he still thinks he can mix it with younger fighters. I found that first half of the film confusing in places as the scenes changed quickly, but when the action starts the film moves with good pace and purpose.

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9 out of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4.0 stars
A Mature Action film For a Mature Actor

James Cobretti Long from Bristol,England, 24th April, 2006

This is not your average Van Damme flick. Its also not your average action/revenge movie either. There's no doubt that this is a huge step up for Van Damme. His acting is very impressive, in my opinion his best work yet and he is still in great shape and can perform the kicks, no problem. The story is simple but it gives more to you then it should. We get to see Van Damme's character completely break down, and for this you feel for him, which makes his revenge just as sweet as it is for him, for you. Aside from Van Damme the rest of the acting is pretty good. There are also some great fight scenes and car/motorcycle chases. Another thing I noticed is that this movie looked like it had a nice budget..100 times better then Derailed and better then In Hell..It was nice to see that Money was being dished out for Van Damme again. Anyway overall I give this a 10 for Van Damme's great performance, the stylish action and the way the story was executed. Van Damme fan or not, try and check this one out.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4.0 stars
An enjoyable time passer

Colin from Glasgow, 15th December, 2005

I was a bit wary of renting this given the number of 1* reviews, but I'm glad I gave it a chance. Despite the fairly predictable plot I thought the performances were good, particularly from Van Damme who is given more to work with here in an acting sense (compared to his previous movies). He does well with his character in my opinion. The action isnt as frequent or as over-the-top as in his other movies, but the fights were all well done imo. As another reviewer said this movie is somewhat more graphic than the norm, and the squeemish among you might want to look away at a certain torture scene. Oscar winner? Nope. But if you want a well filmed and decently acted action thriller its worth considering.

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4 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 1.0 stars
Wake of shite!

A Customer from london, 25th August, 2005

Aviod at all costs, truly awful! 5% martial arts and the rest very poor acting and predictable script..yawn!

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Most recent reviews

1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 2.0 stars
WAKE OF DEATH

bluefox from , 24th February, 2010

VAN DAMME TRYING TO LOOK HARD AND NO MESSING ROUND WITH THIS GUY IMAGE SEEN BIGGER MEN THAN HIM FALL EASY ACTING OK FIGHT SCENES WERE TOO PUT ON TOO OTT TRYING TO DO BETTER THAN SEAGAL HAH GROW UP VAN DAMME

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Rated 4.0 stars
'Wake Of Death'

A Customer from Pontefract, 31st October, 2009

Yet another enjoyable film.

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Rated 2.0 stars
hmmmmmmmmmm

ash7978 from , 3rd July, 2009

not so sure about this one didn't really enjoy this considering i'm a JCVD fan.

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Rated 0.0 stars
CLASSIC

jennyren from from Leek, 30th June, 2009

This is another Classic Van Damme and its just as good as the oldies!

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