Jesse Freeman, a former soldier turned stadium security guard who's still readjusting to civilian life, takes his kids to see a basketball game where he works only for a well armed team of mercenaries to take over the arena and only Jesse can save the day.
Welcome to Sudden Death is the latest in a long line of films produced by Universals Direct-to-video studio Universal 1440, a label that specializes in making sequels to moderately successful theatrical releases like Backdraft 2, Inside Man 2, and a glut of Dragonheart sequels just to name a few. In this case Welcome to Sudden Death is a remake of one of the better Jean Claude Van Damme vehicles Sudden Death from 1995 but the movie takes only the bare bones of its inspiration and slaps it on what feels like the tone and humor of Paul Blart.
First the good, Michael Jai White is still charismatic and brings energy to the movie even if the material is beneath him. What fun there is to be had from this movie is because of the charm and physical prowess of white. The hand to hand combat scenes range from mediocre to okay(with the best one being a sequence in a locker room at the tail end of the movie) and despite not being as well staged as superior White vehicles like Blood and Bone or Falcon Rising they do convey some dynamic and forceful fights.
The bad, the movie is obnoxiously silly. It is over stuffed with comic relief characters like Gus the janitor, Jesse's Kids, and a panicky rapper named Milli who all play their roles over the top with broad humor that does not land. Michael Eklund plays the villain code named Alpha and he is not a good villain. His performance feels more like a deranged hillbilly than a criminal mastermind and even taking into account the movie's goofy tone he still doesn't work.
Welcome to Sudden Death is a pointless remake of an okay 90s action movie. While not completely without merit thanks to the usually reliable Michael Jai White your time would be better spent watching similar fare like Final Score or the original Sudden Death.
Edit: for those of you who duck out before the end credits(or the end of the movie for that matter) the movie has the audacity to try to sequel bait with a post credits scene sting.......yeah, that's not happening.
