Despite being a smarter version of what Rampage wanted to be, the biggest problem with Game of Death is its mismatch of tone and style. It wants to make an art gallery show of its kills—right down to a soaring animated sequence that’s a glorious, 8-bit pop art explosion set to violence—but it also wants its characters to respond like real, frightened human beings. Both are admirable, and the blending is even admirable, but the opposing elements diminish the each other’s impact and leave the film feeling like trudging through a carnival fun house in an earthquake. It’s hard to tell whether Game of Death is trying desperately to say something important, or just tossing rolls of toilet paper on the genre’s front lawn. That’s a shame, even if it still earns brownie points for being different in a sea of the same.
It’s also got a deeply moronic final monologue, some bad edits that confuse the tension of the last act, and a shrugging attitude toward the kill-countdown clock (which injures its own intensity).
Still, it’s clear that money and skill went into these horrors. The practical and CGI effects—from the design of the real board game they made to the swelling faces to the outlandish deaths—are top notch. The gore should satisfy those hunting for it, and if you’re bothered by how annoying some of the characters are, just wait for the game’s clock to run down. At a brisk 70 minutes, it’s hard to get too mad at it.