Van Damme is back... doing more of the same.<br /><br />It seems that whenever Van Damme, Seagal or any of the straight-to-video culprits release a new movie, some fan-boys always have to claim it's some kind of "return" to some glorious era. This fails to take into account, first and foremost, that there never was such a period. And in the case of "Wake Of Death", this is not a return to form to the mediocre Bloodsport or the mildly entertaining Universal Soldier. What we have here is a very typical, B-grade action movie, reminiscent of what we've seen a thousand times in the 80s and from the sub par Hong-Kong trend.<br /><br />THE (relatively) GOOD<br /><br />Van Damme (who plays Ben Archer) has improved as an actor. Although the performance is very uneven, there are glimpses of real, actual acting here. The supporting cast is mostly adequate considering the b-nature of the flick. Simon Yam's screen presence is good, although he fails to impress. The young actor portraying Archer's son is weak but Valerie Tian as a young refugee does an OK job. Archer's misfits friends were probably the weakest link. Finally, there's a lot of action going on. Doesn't look like a movie where they cut costs. Car chases, gun fights, explosions, stunts, martial art fights... you get the whole nine yards.<br /><br />THE BAD<br /><br />The plot is ultra-typical. The movie also has a somewhat schizophrenic vibe to it, possibly due to having had three different directors attached to it, or just being plain bad. The five writers credited for this "story" didn't help either. Some of the scenes are far too serious and contemplative one minute, only for dramatic considerations to be thrown out the window the next. The movie starts decently but loses steam and so does Van Damme. Although the action flows nicely, there's also nothing memorable here for action fanatics. No particular stunt you'll talk about for months or years. Heck, you'll be lucky if you remember this stuff minutes after being done. The movie's conclusion felt particularly flat to me. All in all, this movie is forgettable, unoriginal and not very exciting.<br /><br />This is recommended only if you really feel like watching a bad old school movie. Something John McTiernan, George P. Cosmatos, John Woo or John Irvin might have done on a very bad day in the 80s.<br /><br />For a movie with a somewhat similar premise but sublime execution and a main character that is ten times more menacing, check out "Man On Fire" starring a very convincing Denzel Washington.