Sudden Death

Darren McCord, a fire safety officer at a hockey stadium, takes his two kids to a major Pittsburgh Penguins game. It just so happens to be the day that extortionist/thieves kidnap the vice president and hold him hostage at the stadium, thus putting himself and his children in mortal danger.

Lets cut to the chase here, Sudden Death is a clone rip off of Die Hard, the action template movie that shines as bright as a newly formed bruise, but as copycats go {and there have been reams}, Peter Hyams' beefcake blunderbuss movie is an action junkie's delight. Jean Claude Van Damme {McCord obviously} flexes his muscles and not only beats seven bells of tar out of Powers Booth's criminal minions, he also proves to be a hero and loving father to his oblivious children. It's contrived for sure, I mean we get Jean sneaking on to the ice and taking up net minding duties, and it's certainly a script devoid of imagination. But it's got Van Damme fighting a hot kick ass babe in a penguin suit and a last fifteen minutes of high roof/dangling/swinging/exploding mayhem that does the action genre proud.

It's no Die Hard, but what genre films are? Sudden Death in spite of its contrivances, is a film that is impossible not to enjoy if you are a like minded adult. 7/10