Dangerous Game: The Legacy Murders (2022) | Film Review

(First viewing via VOD) - Imagine taking Succession, the Saw franchise, and one of those murder/mystery games, removing all of the elements that make them fun or compelling, tossing those elements into a dumpster, and tossing what's left into a blender, and you'll have Dangerous Game: The Legacy Murders. A lot of watered down promise that isn't any fun to play, watch, or experience in anyway.

When a wealthy family comes together to celebrate their ailing patriarch's birthday, festivities turn sour as they're presented with a game with deadly consequences. The rules: Only one will survive, and you must play the game or die. Seems pretty interesting in the setup, especially so when it's revealed early on that none of these people actually like each other for one reason or another. The father is a prick. The brothers are distant because they've never had each other's backs. The kids are entitled. This family is a real mess. But at least their rich, so I guess that's something.

There's no kind way to say it: This film is a turd. I'm sure at one point there was a good story in here somewhere. It wants so desperately to be clever, but its inability to stick to its own premise or rules leaves it feeling like a floundering mess. The story makes very little sense. The acting is bad. The lighting, intending to be moody or ominous, just makes everything look dark and muddy. More sleepy than scary. And the big twists near the end or neither earned nor interesting. The more I think about it, the more I am amazed that this film was ever made in the first place.

What's really bugging me about Dangerous Game is that it seems to set up pretty clear rules for said game, but then completely abandons them almost immediately. For example: Meyers character of Kyle, son of Voight and eventual successor to their profitable pharmacy chain (with allusions to the succession being more of a hostile takeover) never once sits down to actually play the game. He's warned by an ominous voice several times that he's breaking the rules, but nothing really happens to him because of it. While the women and Voight and Sasso sit around trying to make sense of this mysterious game, Meyers galavants around the mansion looking for a way out, or trying to save family members who make dumb decisions. But what would this story have looked like if the script committed to the premise? I would have been more interested in that then the one we're given.

The characters are paper thin, unlikable, and their fates are met without any real suspense or surprise. I don't know what Jonathan Rhys Meyers did to deserve to be in a film like this, but his efforts are the only bright spot to be had, and sadly, it's not anywhere near close enough to warrant recommending this turd to anyone, ever. Meyers is clearly trying his very best to bring some heat to the story, and trying to make his turbulent relationship with his family something worth investing in, but unfortunately no one else seemed all that interested in doing the same. Or maybe they weren't able to because of what they were given. I mostly fall on the former, because to be honest, their acting wasn't very good to begin with.

I applaud Will Sasso for doing something outside of his typical wheelhouse. I happen to think Sasso is incredibly talented, and his presence in the film was what initially made me decide to watch it. And while he does have one really heavy dramatic scene, none of the emotion really works, because enough wasn't done leading up to it to make us (or at least me) care. And the voice choice was off-putting. 

I don't know what the hell Jon Voight was doing.

Directed by Sean McNamara, his filmography shows a lot of Baby Genius movies, kids movies, Hallmark movies, but not much in the way of suspense or horror. So at the end of the day, I believe this was a story Mr. McNamara just wasn't really geared toward telling. But even if he was, the script just doesn't work as is. So I'd recommend you avoid this at all costs.

If you're still reading this, thank you! I'm J. Kern Radtke, the Reformed Movie Geek, letting you know that if anyone ever asks you if you want to play a game, kick 'em in the nuts and run!