Now I want everyone to understand that this movie is terrible. The acting is atrocious, VanDamme looks RIDICULOUS...why the hair like that?!? The action is cheesy, the sound effects are straight out of a THWAP BAM BOOM Batman episode, the special effects are bad, the dialogue is just awful....and yet I am giving it an 8. Why? Because I rate (usually) on sheer entertainment. And as much as I sat there and wanted to stop liking it...I was enjoying myself. I am a HUGE fan of 80's/90's action films and I felt like this was a total satire/spoof of that genre and they didn't even mean it to be. I think they probably thought they were making a serious action film and that just makes it even better. The most fascinating thing to me was that the story, the underlying concept is actually really good. Add a huge budget, a couple of really big stars, a decent director and probably rewind time at least fifteen years and this would have been an incredible team up type action flick. Instead we get this...a terrible, unintentional spoof that I enjoyed. I don't even know who they're trying to appeal to because anyone with more than two brain cells would see how ridiculous this is BUT if you watch it from the perspective I did, you just might enjoy it.
Jean Claude VanDamme is the definition of washed up now. Sorry dude, but you are. I thought he was terrific as the villain in The Expendables 2 but his day has come and gone and this is what we're left with. He still looks okay for his age and if he actually did any of the stunts and martial arts in the movie (I have my doubts) than he can still move too. But who on earth let him have that ridiculously coloured and styled hair that makes him a complete joke. How can you take him seriously? Well don't. Its more fun that way. He spouts "evil" one liners in this movie like an anti-Arnold from the 80's. He has some truly cheesy and hilarious lines so listen closely. He does a sadistic drug dealer pretty good considering how cheesy he is. Tom Everett Scott is just about the most mis-cast person I have ever seen in this film. He is supposed to be a former Navy/park Ranger who does insane martial arts, wields knives and guns like a hit-man and is basically what Jason Statham is when he does an action movie. That just adds to the hilarity. And gosh darn it Scott is just too baby faced and adorable to dislike so you do actually root for him. I am however not joking when I say Orlando Jones is the highlight in the film. He takes his role seriously, he's believable and hands down gives the best performance. He has decent chemistry with Scott which the film really hinges on. He actually shows an honest to goodness intensity in his scenes that was impressive given how cheesy the rest of the film is. Linzey Cocker is an unnecessary addition to the cast as Scott's forced love interest. I understand why they felt she needed to be there but they could have done it better and Cocker is left with a completely underdeveloped and cookie cutter character. She does serve one big twist to the film and any attempt at raising the intelligence level in the film is welcomed.
The movie actually gets even better as it continues. Some of the choreographed fight scenes aren't terrible and there are some violent moments that will please any R-Rated action fan. The last ten minutes of this movie that features a bare fisted brawl in a tree and the most bizarre and cheesy of the one liners, had me in stitches. Its so hard to judge this film because it is equal parts terrible as it is entertaining. I find it almost hard to believe that Peter Hyams helmed this film. I'm not saying he's a brilliant director but Timecop, End of Days, The Presidio...all very good and memorable action films. However, without the proper budget he seems to lose steam. If only this had been made from a serious standpoint because there is so much missed potential. It is a very rare thing for me to find a movie that was simply awful and yet I have to rave about how much it entertained me. That is no small feat. Take in everything I said, and watch this film and you will be entertained as well. If you go into this expecting Die Hard, or old school Van Damme type action...you will be sorely disappointed. Maybe twenty years from now this will find some cult following and I won't feel so bad about scoring it so high. 8/10 "The only thing you see in my eyes, are my eyes." One of 100 amazingly cheesy quotes in this film.
Jean Claude VanDamme is the definition of washed up now. Sorry dude, but you are. I thought he was terrific as the villain in The Expendables 2 but his day has come and gone and this is what we're left with. He still looks okay for his age and if he actually did any of the stunts and martial arts in the movie (I have my doubts) than he can still move too. But who on earth let him have that ridiculously coloured and styled hair that makes him a complete joke. How can you take him seriously? Well don't. Its more fun that way. He spouts "evil" one liners in this movie like an anti-Arnold from the 80's. He has some truly cheesy and hilarious lines so listen closely. He does a sadistic drug dealer pretty good considering how cheesy he is. Tom Everett Scott is just about the most mis-cast person I have ever seen in this film. He is supposed to be a former Navy/park Ranger who does insane martial arts, wields knives and guns like a hit-man and is basically what Jason Statham is when he does an action movie. That just adds to the hilarity. And gosh darn it Scott is just too baby faced and adorable to dislike so you do actually root for him. I am however not joking when I say Orlando Jones is the highlight in the film. He takes his role seriously, he's believable and hands down gives the best performance. He has decent chemistry with Scott which the film really hinges on. He actually shows an honest to goodness intensity in his scenes that was impressive given how cheesy the rest of the film is. Linzey Cocker is an unnecessary addition to the cast as Scott's forced love interest. I understand why they felt she needed to be there but they could have done it better and Cocker is left with a completely underdeveloped and cookie cutter character. She does serve one big twist to the film and any attempt at raising the intelligence level in the film is welcomed.
The movie actually gets even better as it continues. Some of the choreographed fight scenes aren't terrible and there are some violent moments that will please any R-Rated action fan. The last ten minutes of this movie that features a bare fisted brawl in a tree and the most bizarre and cheesy of the one liners, had me in stitches. Its so hard to judge this film because it is equal parts terrible as it is entertaining. I find it almost hard to believe that Peter Hyams helmed this film. I'm not saying he's a brilliant director but Timecop, End of Days, The Presidio...all very good and memorable action films. However, without the proper budget he seems to lose steam. If only this had been made from a serious standpoint because there is so much missed potential. It is a very rare thing for me to find a movie that was simply awful and yet I have to rave about how much it entertained me. That is no small feat. Take in everything I said, and watch this film and you will be entertained as well. If you go into this expecting Die Hard, or old school Van Damme type action...you will be sorely disappointed. Maybe twenty years from now this will find some cult following and I won't feel so bad about scoring it so high. 8/10 "The only thing you see in my eyes, are my eyes." One of 100 amazingly cheesy quotes in this film.