Darkness of Man (2024) : Ruthless action but is it a come back?
Its not often that I write about movies like Darkness of Man because some actors like Russell Crowe, Sylvester Stallone or in this case Jean-Claude Van Damme they don't seem to have much to offer anymore when it comes to action, most are over 50 and its totally normal they cant move the same as when they were young but some times it surprising how they kept their actor skills, in the case of Russell he has surprise me this year with Sleeping Dogs and Land of Bad two very good one time watch type of movies, my point is that movies like Darkness of Man intrigue me to make me watch them when ever I have the time, Sean Penn recently surprise me with Asphalt City, there are tons of underrated movies out there.
Darkness of Man (2024) trailer look OK full of action scenes and briefly explaining the drama at hand with Jean Claude accidentally getting involve in a turf war where there are Russians and Asians, looks like a retired cop who is drowning in alcohol for some reason but still has the moves, basically nothing that we have not seen yet so it will come down to how good is the script to keep you interested.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23173980/
- Platform: Internet
- Release: May 21, 2024
Director James Cullen Bressack: Lost of Miss and No Hits
Director James Cullen Bressack is the director for Darkness of Man (2024), born in California, started his career as a director not so long ago in 2011 with the film My Pure Joy a horror and psychological tension movie about a teenager with some twisted traumas who started to kill people left and right trying to mimic what he has seen in the movies a very disoriented kid, this movie did not has the most success but it went to a couple of festivals, after watching the different trailers on IMDB did look like a home made movie almost like a vlog trying to transmit how the main character thinks and enjoy seen people bleeding out.
His most recent work and I would say most successful from what I could find was a the comedy Murder, Anyone? (2022), I remember watching this movie casually years ago without it was his work, one of those days when you got nothing to watch, I like this one mainly because how different it is, its a bout two writers who are discussing a script and suddenly you got a split screen one one side they arguing and modifying the story on the flight on a black and white image and on the other side in color with a very 90s vibes everything starts to happen as they talk, specially how the play moves back and forward even correcting things as they speak and discuss the rest of the script, was very unique style.
Over all Bressack seem to have the skills to pull a good movie and this one doesn't look that complicated, he has work on productions that their main target is to transmit the actors thoughts, in Darkness of Man we got few main targets, a very dark ex cop who probably regrets his life decisions, lot of action and its very important that the gang war part has a good drama, I feel its good movies like this only release on streaming platforms and not directly on theaters because of how ruthless people could be about rating.
Good enough cast with known faces
Jean Claude Van Damme plays the role of Russell Hatch, a former Interpol agent drowning into a world of danger and alcohol protecting the family of an ex informant, Van Damme’s extensive filmography needs no explanation but just to mention some of his most known movies including roles in Bloodsport in 1988, Kickboxer in 1989, Universal Soldier in 1992, and We Die Young in 2019.Alongside Van Damme, the film features a talented cast, including:
- Kristanna Loken as Claire, familiar with action films from her portrayal of T-X in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, BloodRayne, and Repeater.
- Emerson Min as Jayden, whose previous work includes roles in television series such as Black-ish (2018–2020) and Speechless in 2016.
- Spencer Breslin, who has worked in both comedic and dramatic projects, such as The Kid, The Cat in the Hat, and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
- Sticky Fingaz, a rapper and actor who has showcased his talent in multiple mediums, with acting credits including roles in films like Flight of the Phoenix and television series like The Shield and Blade: The Series.
- Shannen Doherty, known for iconic roles in series such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed.
Unwavering Protection: Darkness of Man
The plot of the movie is about an ex Interpol agent who willingly has become the father figure to Jayden, the son of an informant murdered during a failed operation, does look like Russell Hatch the main character is the type of ex agent who regrets a lot of his life choices including how things went down with Jaydens mother, constantly hitting the bar, from one rough night to another. The time goes on and Russell is still protecting Jayden and his grandfather, they stick together and all of the sudden find themself in the middle of a street gang war, I'm hoping the reason why they get in the middle of this conflict is more complicated than Russell accidentally killing a Russian goon when they trying to hit Jayden's grandfather store. Jayden gets kidnap, he has nothing else than Russell and his grandfather Mr. Kin, Russell has to get Jayden back before they figure out who he is and if I'm not mistaken most likely Jayden represent something or a threat to any of the two gangs involve on this war, because movies.
The movie touches themes like loyalty, protection and struggle, classic ex cop drama who swear to keep save the family of an ex informant, they were probably friends or for some personal reason like lovers, Russell will keep his word.
This movie is a total shot in the dark but I love underdog situations that's why I have recently watch movies like Sleeping Dogs or Asphalt City, its not always about the Block Buster, this type of mid tier movies when they turn great it feels like there is way more satisfaction watching them, not only that the movie turns out good but the surprise that this actors still has it in them, yeah they probably got their stunt man working extra hours because they can't pull the same moves as before, once Darknes of Man comes out I will give it a watch and refer to this post, I hope I'm not wrong about it.
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