Bullet Points: We Die Young
Over the course of his movie career, Jean-Claude Van Damme has battled some of the most vicious fighters on the planet, an evil time travelling Senator, post-apocalyptic pirates, an evil land developer, hunters whose prey of choice is other human beings and Powers Boothe… but it took JCVD more than three decades until he had to square off with a Latino street gang…
- MS-13: …Jean-Claude Van Damme doesn’t just battle any Latino street gang in 2019’s We Die Young, he goes up against the MS-13 (or Mara Salvatrucha for those in the know). The MS-13 depicted in We Die Young call the mean streets of Washington D.C. their turf and at the top of the food chain is Rincon (David Castañeda, The Umbrella Academy). Rincon, who has a love of Shakespeare, rose through the ranks of the MS-13 quickly and took the top spot by force when he was only 19. One of Rincon’s collectors is a young man named Lucas (Elijah Rodriguez, Sicario: Day of the Saldado)… as the movie begins we see the world of the MS-13 in D.C. through Lucas’ eyes and it is quickly established how much Lucas does not want his 10 year old brother Miguel following in his footsteps.
- Damaged Goods: Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Daniel, a man who served his country proudly in Afghanistan. But Daniel’s time in the military left him emotionally and physically scarred… Daniel no longer has the ability to speak after catching some shrapnel in the throat and the events of that night haunt him through out the film. Daniel now finds himself working as a mechanic in the predominately Latino neighborhood. Daniel is also one of Lucas’ customers as Daniel does what he has to do to cope with his PTSD. But Daniel is not like the rest of Lucas’ junkie customers… he seems to have a genuine concern for the youngster, something that does not go unnoticed by Lucas.
- Brotherly Love: Rincon calls upon Lucas to make an important delivery to a guy named Spider (Uriel Emil, 6 Bullets) just outside the MS-13’s turf on the other side of the train tracks… but a funny thing happens on the way to the train tracks… Lucas gets word that his brother Miguel is being initiated into the MS-13 clique and he freaks out. Lucas realizes the only way he is going to keep Miguel from getting caught up in the gang life is to get him the hell out of town. But there is one major obstacle standing in his way… Jester (Charlie MacGechan). Jester is Rincon’s cousin and a man who fancies himself next in line for the MS-13 throne… he is also extremely jealous of the father/son relationship that Rincon has with Lucas. So when Jester realizes that Lucas did not carry out the delivery that his cousin ordered him to do, things escalate quickly and Lucas and Miguel find themselves on the run… literally… Lucas and Miguel find themselves running through local businesses and people’s homes with Jester’s goons right on their trail. But the foot race becomes a bit of a car chase when the brothers happen upon Daniel who was out taking a care he was working on for a drive around the block… and he happened to be at the right place and at the right time for Lucas and Miguel as he helps them escape their pursuers in spectacular fashion.
- Wedding Crasher: All of these events are going on on the wedding day of Rincon’s sister, so needless to say Rincon is extra pissed when he finds out that Lucas did not make the delivery and Spider has now shown up at the wedding looking for his shipment. Rincon wants to hear Lucas’ side of the story first and orders that Jester bring Lucas to him alive. Unfortunately for Lucas, he made the mistake of sending Daniel on his way after the car chase. Fortunately for Lucas, Daniel has made the decision that he is going to help the brothers anyway… and Daniel ends up becoming the catalyst in a shoot out between the authorities and the MS-13 in the front yard of Rincon’s home, while a wedding celebration is taking place in the backyard. Daniel manages to get Lucas and Miguel out of the house, navigating their way through a flurry of bullets, but what comes next is right out of the pages of a Shakespearean tragedy…
I fully expect Jean-Claude Van Damme to get his fair share of critical acclaim for his work in We Die Young and rightfully so. Making the Daniel character a mute allowed Van Damme to prove the old adage that sometimes less is more… Van Damme had to deliver his lines and emotions through facial expressions and body language and delivered he did.
David Castañeda also deserves some applause for his work as Rincon… the Rincon character is the straw that stirs the drink and Rincon’s love of Shakespeare ends up encapsulating the entire movie and that is not something you can usually say about an action film.
Last but not least was the performance of Elijah Rodriguez as Lucas… this kid is three movies into his acting career and he had the poise of a seasoned veteran. Rodriguez shows a lot of promise and it will be interesting to see his career develop.
No tragic ending here, let’s wrap this We Die Young review up with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Double Duty: We Die Young was written and directed by Guinness World Record holder Lior Geller. Geller entered the Guinness World Records when his short, Roads, received the honor of Most Awards Won by a Student Film.
- Tangled Web: To establish what an unbelievable scum bag Spider is, while at the same time further establishing how much of a badass Rincon is… Spider actually tries to rape Rincon’s lady in the kitchen during the wedding reception. That ends up being the last thing Spider does.
- District of Bulgaria: As I mentioned the movie is set in Washington D.C. but much of the movie was actually shot in Bulgaria. This is not unlike Jean-Claude Van Damme’s 1994 film, Timecop, that was also set in Washington D.C. but was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia.
