Director: Giorgio Serafini
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Zoe Bell, Gary Daniels, Ernie Hudson
*
The Blade star Wesley Snipes continues his residency in the action genre, playing CIA agent Marcus Jones in the action thriller Game of Death. The story follows Jones, undercover as an arms dealer's bodyguard, as he struggles to avoid being killed by his own colleagues.
CIA operatives ambush the dealer after he makes a $100 million deal, stealing the money and framing Jones for the ambush. Jones must team up with the very man he set out to convict as they both fight to survive. Game of Death started out as the eagerly awaited reunion of Snipes and the maverick director Abel Ferrara, two decades after their collaboration on King of New York.
Ferrara left the project and Giorgio Serafini was drafted in weeks into shooting. Sadly, this last-minute approach is painfully evident in this muddled film. The promising beginnings descend into predictable chases sequences, fight scenes and improbable plot twists.
The downward spiral is led by a half-hearted performance from Snipes, who goes through the motions and leaves his co-stars floundering. Grindhouse actress Zoe Bell is solid as one of the treacherous agents, as is former Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson as Jones's confidant, but with such a rushed approach neither is allowed truly to shine.
The end result of a production in chaos, Game of Death is unconvincing, two-dimensional and badly executed. Both director and star are out of sync, and the film becomes another unmemorable entry into the actor's recent filmography.