As Good As Dead is now available in select theaters and on Digital from Samuel Goldwyn Films
The latest offering from action stalwart Michael Jai White, is for all intents and purposes is a meandering and tedious affair. As if to capitalise on the ‘bullied teen’ trope, that is more masterfully handled in ‘COBRA KAI’ (2018 to current) and its ancestor ‘THE KARATE KID’ (1984), ‘AS GOOD AS DEAD’ (AGAD) appears to borrow these themes of the teacher-student dynamic but executes it so poorly that even the excellent Tom Berenger and the underrated Louis Mandylor can’t save this from mediocrity.
White has penned a barely passable script that veers between acceptable and confusing, as AGAD tells the story of a kind-hearted yet bullied Latino teen named Oscar (Luca Oriel) who is doing his best to defer the influence of his older brother Hector (Guillermo Ivan), a notorious gang member. As he does his best to balance this sibling dynamic and familial obligations, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with his quiet neighbour Bryan (Michael Jai White) who reluctantly agrees to train him in his gritty fighting style.
As Oscar gains confidence with his newfound skills, footage of this martial arts teen somehow catches the attention of Sonny Kilbane (Tom Berenger), a corrupt and imprisoned cop who solicits help from his equally nefarious lawyer, Piro (Louis Mandylor). White deserves some praise for including multiple story beats, forgoing the tournament pastiche and instead doing his best to weave in acts of betrayal and tenuous personal networks. However, all of this isn’t balanced too well, and the pursuit of uniqueness is weighed down by a rather silly and complex story which director R.Ellis Frazier seems to struggle with. It’s a by the numbers action film, which almost tries to be more than it can be and fails in delivering anything worthwhile; even the somewhat uneven pacing is perhaps Frazier doing his best to manage the unmanageable.
However it would be remiss if one fails to mention that White’s presence is always as likeable as it is lethal, with his varied fighting skills still evoking much excitement. However, we have seen it all before and whilst action stars like Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins continue to diversify and pursue new types of ventures, AGAD is much like a Ubisoft open world game – that is, a repeated template with nothing new and overstays its welcome. There are some attempts at comedy, but these are few and far between and come off as really lame and uninteresting despite deliberate homages to action legends like Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Surprisingly, there is somewhat of a light hearted tone in parts but it doesn’t detract from its action schlock complete with ropey CGI and very weak script.
With little redeeming qualities, penning this review was as difficult as sitting through the film even though it is just under 90 minutes. Generally movies like this lack any semblance of nuance, however even the movies of CANNON STUDIOS, no matter how cheesy and schlocky they were did present a real charm that would prompt multiple viewings. AGAD offers no such benefit and it’s a shame as older actors such as Berenger and Mandylor are wasted, though the former does a good job chewing the scenery as a cookie-cutter villain. There are several junctures where White himself seems to become the master of exposition, and these are laboured to the point of being laughable that makes even ‘THE MIAMI CONNECTION’ (1987) look like CITIZEN KANE (1941) by comparison.
The whole mentor-student dynamic has been done far better with greater quality, with this achieved with decidedly more gravitas with Sylvester Stallone in ‘SAMARITAN’ (2022) and even in Phillip Rhee’s ‘UNDERDOG KIDS’ (2015) as both of these offerings possess more heart and soul presenting superior action, but not at the expense of the narrative or the characters. AGAD fails to achieve any semblance of those films and as such will only appeal to Michael Jai White fans; however his recent comments about Jackie Chan beating Bruce Lee in a real fight, may have created more detractors than admirers and certainly this movie will not elevate this, unless you are indeed a die hard fan.
White is undoubtedly a very talented martial artist, and is always in enviable physical condition; however as an actor he is decidedly one note and clearly lacks the versatility and this is largely unchanged for well over a decade. Whilst he boasts some incredible physicality that does make him the perfect action successor to the great Wesley Snipes, there is very little in the way of range that can put him the same calibre. Amusingly, perhaps the title was somewhat ironic and prophetic, as this film is in complete totality flatlined from start to finish, and is indeed, as good as dead.