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If you love shark movies, you will probably watch this regardless of the reviews. This is nowhere as good as The Shallows or as fun as Deep Blue Sea, but it's better than most shark movies we get. Is it good? No, but for shark movie fans worth a watch on a lazy Sunday or with some friends (drinks encouraged!) who like bad movies. The main cast all do an adequate job. It is always nice to see Richard Dreyfuss, but his character (the leads grandfather, mostly seen in flashbacks) isn't really needed in the film. The Shark FX range from pretty good to pretty bad depending on the scene, but are generally better than most modern low budget Shark films. There is a good amount of Shark footage, though there actions are not believable. There is a lot of CGI blood, but not much actual gore. As for the story, it's basic but serviceable and gets our cast out in the ocean to be fed upon by sharks patrolling the same waters as drug dealers trying to obtain their sunken drugs. If you aren't a shark film fan, skip this unless you like bad movies, but if you are give it a watch (just keep expectations low).

As a long time JCVD fan, from time to time I look up to see what he has coming out later in the year. I've been waiting to check out We Die Young since I found out about it last year. Since I grew up 20 minutes from Washington D.C. (not far from where the film takes place) I was extra curious about this one. Although not the actionfest I was originally hoping for, it turned out to be a surprisingly good film. Solid directing and acting make this one of the better Van Damme movies of the last decade. Nothing revolutionary, but an entertaining "day in the life" of a teenage gang member who suddenly tries to get his little brother out of the gang life. The films main character is a teenage drug runner for the MS13 gang in a D.C. neighborhood. The same day he is making the biggest "package" run of his life, some gang members decide to "jump in" his little brother. Deciding he doesn't want that life for his little brother, they try to take off, and things get hectic from there on out. Van Damme is a former marine, who was injured and lost his ability to speak (yes, Van Damme has no dialog in the film) and is now a junkie who buys from (and eventually helps) our teenage lead. Don't let that deter you, JCVD is in the whole movie, it follows both characters over the 24 hour period in which the film takes place. There isn't a single martial arts fight, but there is a good amount of violence from beatings, stabbings and shootouts. Van Damme gives a solid performance, especially for no dialog. If you just enjoy gang films it's worth giving it a watch. If you like JCVD movies than definitely check this one out, it's one of this best films in years.

I can't deny that I'm still a Van Damme fan after all these decades. I've accepted that he will never make another film like Bloodsport, Kickboxer or Time Cop as his age simply won't allow. However, he's proved in the past ten years with kickass films (like Expendables 2 and the two most recent Universal Soldiers) that he can still execute impressive fight scenes. And with his solid acting (shown most notably in the 2008 film JCVD) I think Van Damme still has some kicks, punches and performances left in him. For this reason I couldn't resist checking out Jean Claudes newest flick (that just released yesterday here in the U.S.), Kill Em' All.

The films director, Peter Malota, may be a first time director, but he's been working with Van Damme since 1990. I looked him up to discover that they met that year on the set of Double Impact. Malota was the martial arts action choreographer and an actor in the film. He and Van Damme then teamed up, and Malota continued to handle all martial arts fight coordinating on films such as Universal Soldier (the original and The Return), Nowhere to Run, The Quest, etc. All of the above gave me much confidence in this being a fun action packed B-movie with some (hopefully!) exciting fight scenes. Does Kill Em' All deliver is the question..?

Unfortunately, this isn't the "low-budget but super badass" Van Damme flick that I was hoping for, but it's worth rental if you still enjoy watching an older Van Damme kick dudes in the face. It's not particularly bad (for what it is), it's just not particularly good. This film doesn't really do anything we haven't seen before- it's fight scenes are pretty average and what you'd expect. Van Dammes stunt double is obviously younger (and has a slightly different haircut/fade) and pretty easy to notice. Van Damme still gets into the fight, but most of the high kicks are shot from behind and obviously a double (though not nearly as obvious as Steven Seagals have been for the past decade!). On top of all of this, the film doesn't have the budget to ever feel convincing- after the intro scene you never see a single doctor, nurse or patient in the 5 floors of hospital they are running and hiding through (not one!)?! Combined with a weak story and script, Kill Em' All doesn't have too much to praise.

On the upside, the action is consistent from start to finish, even if it's nothing spectacular. It was cool to see Van Damme fight his own son (Kris Van Damme) in this flick (though I was hoping for a more brutal or impressive fight scene between father and son) as well as 90's B-movie martial artist Daniel Bernhardt (star of Bloodsport 2-4). Peter Stormare (The Last Stand) and Maria Conceit Alonso (The Running Man) co-star as the two detectives trying to figure out where Van Dammes character has disappeared to and what exactly happened at the hospital.

Kill Em' All isn't particularly exciting or original, but it is a worthwhile rental if you (like me) enjoy low-budget action movies and still want to see Van Damme beat up the baddies. If you are a JCVD fan and haven't watched the Amazon pilot for Jean Claude Van Johnson (2016) then check that out immediately. If you're caught up with Van Dammes resume (or like low-budget 90's actioners) then it might be worth a rental (or watch on late-night cable TV) but otherwise you should probably look elsewhere.