A Better Way to Die (2001)

Redundant and unnecessary.

People are voting emotionally.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

a B movie. like a lot of others. same hero, same bad guys, same final. and the predictable line with the expected turn of events. but , after a time, it seems be different. maybe for the presence of Lou Diamond Phillips. or for the performance, who saves a lot, of Andre Braugher. it fact, the answer is not complicated. the ambition of a young director who dreams to do a film who , at first sigh, not propose something original but reflects his love for a movie genre is the pillar who sustains fights and gun fires, fake scenes and the classic love story. and, at its end, the film has the huge virtue to remember the old story about the war between good and evil in its basic essence. a good point for be indulgent about A Better Way to Die.

Boomer (Wiper) is a young Chicago cop that gets mixed up in a war between federal agents, such as Dexter (Phillips), and shady gangsters and criminals, such as Cleveland (Braugher) who want a special computer chip. Apparently this chip contains sensitive information that leads all the way to the top. So Boomer ends up on a road trip of sorts, dodging dangers at every turn, and meeting wacky characters such as Flash (Pantoliano, not Jeff Kutash). All he wants to do is propose to his beautiful girlfriend Kelly (which is probably a decent idea considering it is puzzling why a woman of this caliber is with this dork in the first place)...but, as they say, life has other plans...It seems, since the 2000's, the term "Direct to Video" is synonymous with this type of production - a not-quite-movie-theater-quality, run of the mill, post-Tarantino crime thriller that relies more on cursing in the dialogue than on good ideas. This is a shame, DTV used to encompass all sorts of things, not the least of which was punchfighting movies. But, alas, this relatively new form of entertainment has paved the way for such personalities as Scott Wiper, a man whose career would not exist were it not for the miracle of DTV productions.Despite the good cast, don't be fooled. This is some sort of vanity project for the aforementioned Mr. Wiper. Just because he wrote The Last Marshal (1999), now he feels he's entitled to write, direct and star in his own project, leaving the real stars in the background. Well, you're no Scott Glenn, sir. (Note snarky attitude). Lou Diamond Phillips and Wiper should have switched roles. But we're left with the unlikable Wiper, who appears to be some sort of irritating cross between Edward Burns and Ben Affleck.At the outset, it appears we're in for a low-budget, gritty crime drama that's at least striving for some measure of quality. Sadly, the "irony" sets in and we realize we're in sub-Boondock Saints (1999) territory once again. Of course, why that movie has a gigantic following and was even re-released back into the theaters (an unheard-of move) while A Better Way to Die and its ilk are unnoticed by these same "fanatics" is unknown.This movie is not impressive, although the (unfortunately) supporting cast tries their best. Henstridge has never looked better, but that's not nearly enough to save this dud. Regrettably, a Better Way to Die is a waste of the talents of LDP, Braugher, Pantoliano, Henstridge and Sweet Lou (B'Nard Lewis). Avoid.For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

How do I get those two hours back?? The writer couldn't get anyone to make it for him, so he made it himself! He should have listened to the experts. The worst is watching the directors commentary and hearing how dead serious the guy is. He truly believes his story and the movie he has made are great. Pathetic!! There is simply not enough to this movie to warrant writing ten lines of text about it, it was the worst movie I have ever seen and if you've got nothing better to do than watch it, I recommend watching grass grow or cutting your toenails! Anything would be better than sitting through this waste of resources

Scott Wiper. When I first heard his name, I immediately thought of it as one of those I have on my mental 'avoid all works by'-list. Then I looked him up, and found out that I remembered his name from the writing credit for the truly awful film, The Last Marshall. Being the forgiving guy that I am, I thought, "what the hey, he only wrote that horrendous piece of trash, maybe a film directed by him won't be as bad." Well, I was partly right. It's not as bad, but it is pretty bad. The plot makes no sense on any conceivable level. To give a quick summary, bearing in mind that I didn't pay much attention to the first ten minutes of the film(which seemed to make no sense and have no clear connection to the remaining 80, but maybe that's just me) and little to no attention to the last 15-20, it seemed to be about some guy who disappears never to be seen again, and the rest of the film has a bunch of people looking for him. The plot goes from unlikely event to unlikely event, and it's going to take all of your suspension of disbelief to swallow even half of this stuff. I'll give you two quick examples: At one point, a character has to hide for some hours... so he does what any of us would do... he climbs down a toilet. Now, after those hours have passed, he emerges, and takes a deep breath. So, we're basically supposed to believe he somehow could hold his breath for that long? Another point is when the villains throw not one, not two, but three grenades right after each other. And at no other point in the movie do we even get a hint that they might have anything other than guns. Seriously, those three grenades just rolling into frame... that was a moment of(what I suspect is unintentional) hilarity. I can't imagine someone seeing that scene and not laughing, at least a little. Then there's the repetitiveness, the lack of imagination displayed in the writing. Several points in action scenes have tension being broken by the main characters damn wristwatch beeping. Turn the bloody thing off; that's what any normal person would do. One guy seems to get shot over and over without ever dying or even coming to serious harm. The acting is pretty bad most of the time, and it's clear that most of the casting was done based on physical appearance rather than acting talent(made evident by how small a part Joe Pantoliano has, even though he's easily the most talented person involved in the project). The cinematography has its moments, but mostly it's just dreadful. Half of the action is nearly impossible to make out, as there are too few 'cover-shots'(meaning, we don't see the movement, we see the beginning and/or the end result, but not the action itself) and half of the stuff is done with hand-held camera and in long takes, clearly showing the pure laziness of Mr. Wiper. The action is nearly constant, but about as unrealistic as the plot. We don't really connect with any of the characters, and by the end of the film, we just don't care anymore. Too many lazy stereotypes in the place of actual characters and too many plot holes. The dialog varies, but the majority of it is poor. There's really nothing memorable or worthwhile in this film, and most people should just skip it. I recommend it only to die-hard fans of action flicks. 6/10