Bullet Points: Rogue Hostage
If there is a new Die Hard concept film, you can bet the house someone at Bulletproof Action will get it covered. Today, I am looking at Rogue Hostage or Die Hard at the supermarket. Vertical Entertainment will release Rogue Hostage On Demand and in Select Theaters on June 11th.
- Die Hard: Kyle Snowden (Tyrese Gibson) is a social worker with PTSD. His stepfather, Sam Nelson (John Malkovich) is a local politician / business owner. At the grand opening of Sam’s new store, a gang of domestic terrorists led by Eagan (Christopher Backus) invade and the only hope is Kyle. Is Kyle waist deep in a death race or will he be able to be fast and furious and save the day? Rogue Hostage was originally known as Black Friday. It also stars Michael Jai White, Holly Taylor and Luna Lauren Velez. Rogue Hostage is written by Mickey Solis and directed by Jon Keeyes.
- Die Hard 2: Tyrese Gibson is getting paid. I am so happy for his kids. I was surprised Rogue Hostage is a newly made film. It has a COVID compliance officer listed in the credits, so it must have been made recently. I guess you will do what you must do while waiting for the latest Fast film to finally hit the box office. I might tease Tyrese a little bit in my review, but I am not a hater. I am glad he is the lead. I have a feeling Tyrese fans will find his performance watchable.
- Die Hard with a Vengeance: Michael Jai White is my guy. I am a super fan. Even if he sometimes picks roles you cannot help but scratch your head at. In Rogue Hostage he plays Sam’s bodyguard. With Tyrese as the lead, how much would you bet on his survival? I am not going to give it away, but if you do not see the writing on the wall, then you do not watch enough action movie. However, he does say my favorite quote in the film. He says this to Kyle: Enough of your pussy liberal shit, Brother. The world is not safe. God Bless, Michael Jai White.
- Live Free or Die Hard: What helps Rogue Hostage is the lead bad guy. If you want to make a good Die Hard clone film, you need a memorable heavy. Eagan is a ruthless fella. His hillbilly group of baddies come to play. They do better than expected. Do you recall Assault on VA-33? While Assault has “better” good guys, the baddies in Rogue Hostage are by far superior. Too bad we cannot combine the casts and have the ultimate Die Hard copycat.
- A Good Day to Die Hard: Average is the first word that comes to mind with Rogue Hostage. The shady CG gunfire is a huge disappointment for me. You can do better, DTV filmmakers. Tyrese holds his own, but it does take some time for the film to get going. Add in a subplot with a little kid and you know what direction your film is heading in. I do like John Malkovich a lot. His character has some depth. He gives effort instead of sleepwalking to a mortgage payment. Bravo to Mr. Malkovich for giving effort. Overall, I expected a little bit more from Rogue Hostage. However, you might find enough in it to make it worth a rental.
- Grade: C+
Low, low budget poop with big names and rife with postmodernist hate messaging, Ty was the strongest performance here. Better than the script deserved, ditto Luna Velez. She’s always great. Malkovich clearly lost a bet to one of the producers for him to be involved in this steaming present. Here’s hoping he isn’t in the kind of financial trouble that has led to Nic Cage’s current filmography.