Action movies have never been guilty of having intelligent plots and Van Damme movies are even further removed from such an accusation, yet "Double Team" took the cake when it comes to unintelligence. It was so bad it was hard to follow.
This is what I can say: Jack Quinn (JCVD) was a CIA super spy who'd been retired for three years when he was summoned by the agency to capture a man named Stavros (Mickey Rourke), a super-villain. Stavros had some information the agency wanted, hence they wanted to take him alive. For some odd reason Quinn's team thought their best opportunity to do that was at a carnival full of innocent civilians. Naturally, the whole thing went bad, Stavros got away, a bunch of people were killed in the process (including Stavros's six-year-old son), and Quinn ended up in "The Colony."
This colony is an island where all deactivated agents presumed dead are housed. They cannot leave and they're constantly monitored. There they are plugged into an intelligence network where they analyze world events to see if they are terrorism related or not. It's a real bizarre set up. The world needs them, but they are under constant threat of death should they not be where they're supposed to be at the appointed time.
The movie only got worse instead of better when Quinn escaped from The Colony. You see, Stavros did something really original: he kidnapped Quinn's pregnant wife. Kidnapping women/girls was very in style in the 90's. Every good villain did it, that's how you got the good guy to do what you wanted. Of course, it never worked out for the villain, but they always did it (see "Cliffhanger," "Hard Target," "True Lies," "Speed," and a host of other lower budget action movies).
Let me not forget that the movie is called "Double Team" which means there had to be a second good guy. That would be Yaz (Dennis Rodman). He was an arms dealer who decided to help Quinn rescue his wife. Yaz was there for terrible comic relief which involved a litany of bad basketball puns and analogies. This movie was destined to not age well, but at that time Dennis Rodman was a big deal. He was part of a three-headed monster of the Chicago Bulls which included Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippin. Together the three won three consecutive NBA championships. And besides that, Rodman was very notorious for his blond hair, plethora of tattoos, piercings, and dressing in a wedding gown. He was ahead of his time LOL!
It's hard to quantify how bad this pairing was. JCVD has a thick accent and no acting skills while Dennis Rodman was an eccentric basketball player with even less acting skills. This movie was bad in '97 though I watched it just for the spectacle of it. Now in 2020 it should be classified as comedy and treated as such.
This is what I can say: Jack Quinn (JCVD) was a CIA super spy who'd been retired for three years when he was summoned by the agency to capture a man named Stavros (Mickey Rourke), a super-villain. Stavros had some information the agency wanted, hence they wanted to take him alive. For some odd reason Quinn's team thought their best opportunity to do that was at a carnival full of innocent civilians. Naturally, the whole thing went bad, Stavros got away, a bunch of people were killed in the process (including Stavros's six-year-old son), and Quinn ended up in "The Colony."
This colony is an island where all deactivated agents presumed dead are housed. They cannot leave and they're constantly monitored. There they are plugged into an intelligence network where they analyze world events to see if they are terrorism related or not. It's a real bizarre set up. The world needs them, but they are under constant threat of death should they not be where they're supposed to be at the appointed time.
The movie only got worse instead of better when Quinn escaped from The Colony. You see, Stavros did something really original: he kidnapped Quinn's pregnant wife. Kidnapping women/girls was very in style in the 90's. Every good villain did it, that's how you got the good guy to do what you wanted. Of course, it never worked out for the villain, but they always did it (see "Cliffhanger," "Hard Target," "True Lies," "Speed," and a host of other lower budget action movies).
Let me not forget that the movie is called "Double Team" which means there had to be a second good guy. That would be Yaz (Dennis Rodman). He was an arms dealer who decided to help Quinn rescue his wife. Yaz was there for terrible comic relief which involved a litany of bad basketball puns and analogies. This movie was destined to not age well, but at that time Dennis Rodman was a big deal. He was part of a three-headed monster of the Chicago Bulls which included Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippin. Together the three won three consecutive NBA championships. And besides that, Rodman was very notorious for his blond hair, plethora of tattoos, piercings, and dressing in a wedding gown. He was ahead of his time LOL!
It's hard to quantify how bad this pairing was. JCVD has a thick accent and no acting skills while Dennis Rodman was an eccentric basketball player with even less acting skills. This movie was bad in '97 though I watched it just for the spectacle of it. Now in 2020 it should be classified as comedy and treated as such.