One of the Worst Movies of the 90s Getting a Sequel?

(originally published at the now-defunct www.poweredbymovies.com)

During a weekend in October of 1996, I had one of the worst theatrical experiences of my life. It was the beginning of the end for bigshot Hollywood director Renny Harlin, who had at this point helmed two of the better action movies in recent memory, those being Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Cliffhanger. He had just lost a great load of credibility the summer before with Cutthroat Island, starring his then-wife Geena Davis, but audiences at the time were more forgiving of random vanity projects. Then came The Long Kiss Goodnight, the sorriest excuse for an espionage thriller e’er to cross my eyes.

The film told the story of an amnesiac Geena Davis who slowly discovers, through the help of Samuel L. Jackson, that in her previous “life” she was a world-class assassin. Halfway through the film, her daughter is kidnapped, thus stopping the amnesia story in its tracks to focus on random violence and family issues. It was a disaster, especially odd considering it was written by the screenwriter auteur Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout and the underrated Last Action Hero), who despite his action pedigree is one of the savviest writers in town.

(It’s not entirely fair to him, since he has openly complained about the edits and cuts made to his script that ended up with that final, awful draft, leading him to direct his own scripts from then on, resulting in the hilarious and complex noir Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.)

Now, it seems, Jackson is in talks to create a sequel with Harlin (who has been slumming with such duds as Driven, The Exorcist prequel and The Covenant), and I can’t think of anything worse. First, they are focusing on his character and dropping Davis altogether (Harlin’s divorce from her might have something to do with that), a cipher of an enigma of a bad character. He was the B-story, secondary to the already problematic main plot of the first film. Now he wants a spin-off for himself of a movie not many people liked or even saw?

I like Jackson. I really do. Even when his films stink, his jubilation about being a movie star is completely infectious, and he gives many new/upcoming directors chances to really shine by offering his talents for said projects. Snakes on a Plane was not a great movie by any means, but his presence turned it from a bad monster movie into something fun and cult-driven. He’s better than this film.

Then again, Harlin gave him one of the best death scenes of all time in Deep Blue Sea (the only good movie Harlin has made since Cliffhanger), so what do I know?