This one brings my collection of Van Damme films up to 25, some good, some stinkers; and although It may be fair to say I'm a fan, I'm no fanatic, haven't watched any of his films for a while and I certainly couldn't tell you what he eats for breakfast in the morning or which high school he attended. Like Forrest Gump might have said about his movies, a JCVD film is like a box of chocolates, you just don't know what you're going to get (though you most likely have have some inkling) and there are more than a few turkey flavoured ones in his box).
With perhaps the lamest title of all his films and a dubious 'Steven Seagal' like premise, not to mention some cringe inducing dialogue, fair share of implausability and plot holes (nice to know they have a full time bomb squad and short notice standby in a little border town of 1800), this could be called something of a coin toss or even something to avoid for the more discerning film fan who can't stand the guy or who feels the urge for more intellectual stimulation.
For those with enough of that in their other pursuits and who just want to kick back and be entertained, you may be pleasantly surprised. On a night I was expecting to fall asleep in front of anything I watched, It kept me interested and awake, something 'The Godfather' didn't do last week.
As an out and out action vehicle, I found this pretty entertaining. It keeps moving along, with several spectacular and hard hitting ass whipping scenes, sufficient gunplay thrown in and a score reminiscent of 'Once Upon a Time in the West'.
As far as his recent films go, I would compare this to 'Wake of Death' in terms of quality and while it didn't quite nail it (like most of his films) for the reasons mentioned previously, it wasn't without some quality moments.
5/10 as a 'movie' & 7/10 for the bits you watch this sort of film for = 6/10 overall, a good pass mark. I recommend it and don't think it would disappoint any action fan who isn't expecting a Van Damme flick to send them into orbit.
With perhaps the lamest title of all his films and a dubious 'Steven Seagal' like premise, not to mention some cringe inducing dialogue, fair share of implausability and plot holes (nice to know they have a full time bomb squad and short notice standby in a little border town of 1800), this could be called something of a coin toss or even something to avoid for the more discerning film fan who can't stand the guy or who feels the urge for more intellectual stimulation.
For those with enough of that in their other pursuits and who just want to kick back and be entertained, you may be pleasantly surprised. On a night I was expecting to fall asleep in front of anything I watched, It kept me interested and awake, something 'The Godfather' didn't do last week.
As an out and out action vehicle, I found this pretty entertaining. It keeps moving along, with several spectacular and hard hitting ass whipping scenes, sufficient gunplay thrown in and a score reminiscent of 'Once Upon a Time in the West'.
As far as his recent films go, I would compare this to 'Wake of Death' in terms of quality and while it didn't quite nail it (like most of his films) for the reasons mentioned previously, it wasn't without some quality moments.
5/10 as a 'movie' & 7/10 for the bits you watch this sort of film for = 6/10 overall, a good pass mark. I recommend it and don't think it would disappoint any action fan who isn't expecting a Van Damme flick to send them into orbit.