Nothing to start your day off right like some Van Dammage.
Van Damme plays a fire marshal who takes his kids to a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game. It’s not just any hockey game, it’s the last game of the Stanley Cup Finals. The only thing he didn’t count on — cue the ominous music — is a madman who shows up and takes the Vice President’s box hostage to secure some $1 billion of government slush fund money.
It’s a ridiculous premise. What’s hilarious is that it doesn’t take long for it to get more over the top.
As with all the Van Damme/Seagal/bad action flicks, Van Damme gets some useless plotting to portray what a loving dad he is. An unnecessary scene involving him showing up to get his kids from his ex-wife is stupid and tired. The ex-wife is a shrew! Van Damme’s a really good guy! He loves his kids more than anything!
I suppose if Van Damme can get his cinematic children Game 7 SCF tickets, he really can do anything.
Kids in tow, Van Damme heads to the game where an elaborate ruse is already being conducted. People all over Pittsburgh are being held hostage. Old people are being shot. Powers Boothe is rockin’ a tuxedo. These dudes are EVIL.
Why hello there, Mr. Boothe. What are you doing here? Fancy a drink? Rrrrrrrawr.
Aside from the fact that Sudden Death is a testament to the insane shit people will come up with after smoking copious amounts of marijuana, Powers Boothe really is the entire reason to see this movie. He plays the unnamed villain with a great sense of the fact that he’s in a film shitpile. I’d like to think Boothe just spent the enter time being completely outrageous on set, showing up with a whiskey in one hand, cigar in the other and spouting silly axioms that made no goddamned sense. Boothe plays it half-drunk, half-Bond villain.
Van Damme doesn’t get involved until some damn dirty bastard abducts his daughter to the VP’s box after she sees some bad shit go down. It is more than a little hilarious that said damn dirty bastard is Icebergh. That would be the Pittsburgh Penguins’ mascot.
Icebergh: Abductor of children, hostage taker, killer. Also: Bringer of joy to thousands of Pittsburgh fans!
Now, we know Van Damme can’t let that slide. That’s his daughter, man. We previously established is the best father ever, so …
What other movie can you watch that offers Jean Claude Van Damme fighting a penguin mascot in a fight to the death involving meat slicers, fryers and a professional grade dishwasher?
That’s not all! This one-time offer also includes a bizarre scene in which Jean Claude Van Damme plays a few minutes as the Penguins’ starting goaltender in order to hide from the bad guys! Yes, you heard me right. JCVD plays in a Stanley Cup Final to hide from the bad guys. Because that makes TOTAL SENSE.
Goaltender extraordinaire.
Whatever.
Anyways, the bad guys have developed an unnecessary and intricate plan to have the money wired to them in chunks that correspond with the periods of the hockey game. If their instructions are not followed, they shoot hostages in increments that involve math. I never was very good at the arithmetics, so fuck that noise, but needless to say, it’s complicated. They shoot old women and children. These dudes are bad, bad men.
Of course, it all ends with Powers Boothe in a helicopter crashing to the ice rink at Mellon Arena. Seriously. If you didn’t see that coming, well … in the words of Cher from Clueless, “duh”.
It’s so atrocious but fun.
1416 and Counting 