In He Never Died, we follow Jack (Henry Rollins), an immortal cursed to spend the rest of eternity on Earth. In an effort to resist his worst temptations, he's created a regimen (which includes playing Bingo at a senior center) which has served him well for a long time. When Jack learns he has a daughter (Andrea, played by Jordan Todosey), he may have to revert to old ways if he is to keep her safe from a ruthless loan shark named Alex (Steven Ogg).
He Never Died is a pretty damned cool film. We spend most every scene with Henry Rollins' Jack, and Rollins does a great job in the role. Jack looks and acts human, but isn't. He's a centuries old (if not older) immortal who feasts on human flesh and drinks their blood. His hunger/thirst is treated like alcoholism, and Jack has been on the wagon for a long time (But may not remain so for long). He hates Earth, and being stuck on it. Rollins plays Jack like a barely contained beast or monster. He snorts, growls, and twitches as he fights to control his bloody urges. He's not really a good guy, and is actually quite scary at points. Jack makes for a great, memorable and fascinating protagonist.
Jordan Todosey plays Andrea, Jack's 19 year old daughter who inserts herself into his life because she wants to meet him and get to know him. She is adorable, interesting, sympathetic, and very likable. Andrea is easily one of my favorite characters in the film, though she isn't in it a lot (A shame). There's also an interesting question to be raised about if she has any abilities or gifts, considering she was conceived by an immortal. Unfortunately, the film never addresses this question.
He Never Died feels like a Noir at times, but is really more of a horror film/character study. The first act is just following Jack around his every day life, but the 2nd act is where things pick up. We get a good deal of violence and blood, and things get darker. I was happy that the film chose to go this route, as it helped to accentuate it's more horrific elements.
He Never Died has a lot going for it: A cool and inspired story, two great performances, some action and violence to go with it's brooding introspectiveness. Unfortunately, the ending doesn't really resolve much and there's a reveal involving a character that raised some questions the film (once again) doesn't address or resolve. There's also constant, annoying audio of sword fighting, people screaming, and fire during certain quiet moments with Jack (To emphasize that he is haunted by the the events of his long life). All this isn't enough to ruin the film, but it does bring the whole thing down a little bit.
In the end, He Never Died was actually pretty great. It was dark, violent, smart, clever, and even fun. It managed to successfully mix two very different kinds of film together (Character study and horror film). Scary, dark, but also fascinating and cool, He Never Died is definitely worth a watch. It also fits nicely into the Halloween season.
3.5 STARS
No comments:
Post a Comment