Bullet Points: Black Friday (2001)

The term Black Friday has been given to several different days over the years and can mean something different to different people. Many in the US will recognize it as the moniker for the large shopping bonanza on the day after Thanksgiving. Those in the UK probably think about the Friday before Christmas. Old timers will go back to 1929 and the New York stock market crash. Others around the world think to a specific day or tragedy that happened to occur on a Friday. I, on the other hand, always think of the 2001 Gary Daniels film that tried to punch above its weight, the aptly titled Black Friday. Luckily for you, I happen to have some Bullet Points for Black Friday that you can enjoy without dealing with any crowds.

• Manic Monday – Black Friday has a cold open featuring the execution of some dictators by some special forces types, but Gary Daniels… well I assume it is Gary Daniels (Recoil) because they are all wearing ski masks, won’t kill one of the dictators who has his family with him (Tony Montana would be proud). A fellow commando takes off his ski mask to protest Gary Daniels not completing the mission and the movie wouldn’t show us the face of that guy if it was going to be important, would it? Years later, it turns out Gary Daniels is respected attorney Dean Campbell and we find out what a great guy he is with his pro bono work and being a dedicated family man.

• Wild Wednesday – Dean drives home from work to find his house surrounded by Central Chemical Operations, or CCO for those in the know. It turns out some terrorists have absconded with chemical weapons only be discovered and have used casa de Campbell as a stronghold. Dean quickly learns that the CCO are not quite the good guys they are claiming to be. In fact the CCO is actively trying to murder Dean for even finding out about the chemical weapons. The CCO attempting to kill Dean allows the audience to witness what Gary Daniels does best and that is single handedly take out an entire CCO office with his badass martial arts skill and Dean shows that he is not opposed to straight murdering a fool. The fight scenes have a unique look, but they do lend themselves to letting the actors skills shine over multiple cuts and edits.

• Free-for-all Friday – While Dean is making his way back to his house, the CCO is forced to call in Cranston (Ryan Kos) to help end the standoff. And holy crap, Cranston just happens to be the one guy who took his ski mask off from the beginning of the movie. Dean manages to sneak into his house to find the terrorists in hazmat suits and… bang, the movie jumps back six months with Dean visiting one of his former military buddies. The two talk about how Dean’s incarated friend is now working for some nefarious dudes who are planning to build an entire city, fill it with bums, criminals and degenerates and use it to test chemical weapons. The plan is called… Black Friday.

• Sunday Funday – And holy crap, it turns out the guy Dean was talking to in the flashback is one of the terrorists in the hazmat suits. That is why we need what turned out to be basically a 15 minute intermission without any of the action that we want from a Gary Daniels movie… and boy did it pay off because it turns out that Dean was working with the so called terrorists all along. Now it makes sense why they ended up at his house. The terrorists are not terrorists but are trying to take down CCO and their plan to kill thousands with chemical weapons. We finally get that Dean vs. Cranston fight that we wanted from the beginning of the movie.

Black Friday tries very hard to be a unique action movie in a time when so many action movies were similar. With the twist, the plot to Black Friday succeeded, but there are several factors that hold Black Friday back from being at the top of the Gary Daniels watchlist. First, it is pretty much Gary Daniels and then just everybody else. The action, when it is there is entertaining, but is not always there. The lack of a large budget does hold the movie back, scope that explosion at the end if you don’t believe me. And while some might disagree, I found the green tint that so many movies tried to emulate following The Matrix to be wholly unnecessary. Having said that, I dig Gary Daniels and have to recommend Black Friday to Gary Daniels fans. I have to recommend the Black Friday Bonus Bullet Points to everyone.

• Cover Art Clickbait – Don’t look at the DVD cover or movie poster and expect to see Gary Daniels wielding a sword in Black Friday because it doesn’t happen.
• Soundtraxx – Black Friday is filled to the brim with early 2000s rock that is a combination of electronica and nu metal that might not be everyone’s cup of tea but sure is a time capsule listen to the angsty SOB rock of the time. I got a kick out of it.
• A Month of Fridays – Don’t be confused by the 2004 Indian film Black Friday or the 1940 Boris Karloff Bela Lugosi film Black Friday. Both are recommended viewing.    
• Best Title Quote – “Who names these things?”
• Best ‘Give it to Him’ Quote – “Shut up you bleeding heart kiss ass, you hypocritical pussy.”
• Out of Context Quote – “Don’t you judge me, not after I went down for you.”