As Good As Dead

• Directed by R. Ellis Frazier
• December 16, 2022 (US)

A mysterious man trains a troubled boy but when his past catches up with him he must partner with the boy’s brother to save him.

Michael Jai White is a good actor and a great action star working hard to keep quality action films alive and generally delivers on all levels. Get the man a major studio production! Anywho, As Good As Dead is no different. It starts weird for me because the film almost exclusively focuses on the boy Oscar (Luca Oriel) that is being trained to the point I thought our star would be little more than a cameo.

We get a look at the Oscar’s life and his strained (and maybe even dysfunctional) relationship with his older brother Hector (Guillermo Iván) who is a captain in the gang L-17 which I guess is meant as MS-13. In the part Iván is equal parts charming and threatening. You can see the character’s love he has for Oscar with his pushy and overbearing acts coming off as trying to make sure he is set up well. You can also see that Hector would knife a b!tch over the last piece of bacon at a buffet if it was deemed a serious enough offense. In hindsight it’s fine but when watching it I was quite annoyed that we were not getting some butt kicking in sooner.

Once we get to focusing on Bryant-as-Smith (Michael Jai White) the action picks up. I swear if the man had come along during the 80s he would’ve been a much bigger name in the action scene than he is now. Maybe no Ahnuld but up there with Van Damme.

Bryant doesn’t kill people to permanently eliminate a threat. Once they are no longer a danger he lets them be which causes some problems down the road, but also shows the individual’s character. He’s tough but not violent. Hector has a code too. He’s tough and violent but not needlessly so. He’s an opportunist and a bit of a user, but only when he sees those moments. He doesn’t force them, but he does put pressure to keep them going.

As the story goes along the two characters are often reflected as different versions of each other. They have similar interests and similar goals and almost an identical code but one is a good man and the other is not. This works because they could be friends but because of their different lives cannot be friends.

There is a hilarious scene where Hector and Bryant have become allies and they’re trying to save Oscar and Oscar’s love interest Marisol (Gabriela Quezada). They’re driving along and they start debating movies. Hector cannot quite recall what movie Bryant’s story reminds him of. It is a moment of outright comedy that serves as a point of bonding and characterization.

Tom Berenger as Sonny Kilbane is a crime figure (and villain As Good As Dead’s) who has an axe grind (obviously) with Bryant. Bryant has been keeping his head down in a Mexican border town since taking down Kilbane’s organization of corrupt cops. For some reason though Bryant decides to train Oscar using his unique fighting style. It’s one thing to make a little cash on the side or even to help somebody out but if you have a distinctive signature of some type in anything and you’re trying to hide it seems a little foolish to franchise out that very distinctive signature.

Berenger is a great actor. Sometimes I think most of that is owed to his voice. He could read the ingredients on a box of cornflakes and make it sound engaging. Even so I think he was a bit wasted here. I would have loved to of seen an extended face-to-face between Berenger’s Kilbane and Bryant rather than the brief moment we got that closed out the film. These were two enemies that had a serious beef and it would’ve been nice to see a little bit more than a moment that only brought up “What happens next?”

This film is a straightforward actioner with better than it deserves acting. Maybe with a little bit more money they could’ve done a little bit more with the gunfights but they aren’t bad to begin with. It will get your adrenaline pumping. You will actually be able to tell the difference between all the characters. The villains are genuinely unlikable and the heroes and antihero are quite likable or at least interesting enough that you care what happens. Best of all Oscar is not obnoxious. He’s a good actor and you don’t want you don’t end up hating the movie because of that kid character. The twists are obvious but keep things moving and you watching.

As Good As Dead is a fine addition to the action genre. It’s exciting with good enough characters that you’ll actually care about what happens. Worthwhile viewing for action fans.