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May as well stay with Van Damme's best for a few reviews... the last review, Hard Target, is the first JCVD movie I've reviewed, so here's another for now.
Review #136: Universal Soldier
Luc Deveraux is a Vietnam Soldier, with a big problem... his Sergeant, Andrew Scott, has become twisted by the war and has basically gone psycho.
When the pair come to loggerheads, they kill each other, only to be reborn as mindless drones called Universal Soldiers (or 'UniSols' for short) in a secret Government programme.
When a particular event in their field training goes awry, Luc has flashbacks of his former life and goes Rogue from his 'programming' and ends up in the company of a Journalist, who is more than happy to work alongside him to get her 'big story'.
Unknown to them though is that Sergeant Andrew Scott, who was also turned into a drone soldier, is also malfunctioning and has returned to his psychotic ways... and he has made it his mission to track down the apparent deserter Luc, and dish out his own particular form of Court Martial.
What a movie. Certainly Van Damme's best and pretty close to making a Personal Top 50 movie for me.
The movie is also by far the best of director Roland Emmerich's too.
It's relatively small scale with the set pieces and the overall scope in the look, but the viewer is treated to a pretty well written screenplay and the action scenes don't disappoint either.
What sets the movie apart from other action flicks is that it's really quite original in the plot devices and the overall story too. It's also pretty believeable.
It's actually quite a surprise for a Van Damme flick and quite surprising for an action flick too, to have a relatively complex yet easy to follow screenplay/story/plot.
The action is tip top when it gets going... but I can't help but wonder if they couldn't have put more into it. There are times that it's a bit lacking in actual scale.
Jean-Claude Van Damme Vs Dolph Lundgren, both on 'supersteroids' is really exciting, especially after the successful character build up and the connections they have to the audience.
The acting is really the biggest surprise and in a good way too.
Van Damme is perfect as the mindless drone who's piecing together his memories. It's almost on the scale of Schwarzenegger's Terminator. The natural wooden acting is perfect for the character and JCVD actually has areas where he even shows genuine emotion.
Dolph Lungren as the main Antagonist is also lots of fun. He's menacing, and actually seems to be having fun as the baddie... his athletic powerhouse stature onscreen against Van Damme's athletic highkicking stunts is also wonderful to see. It's probably Lundgrens best role to date to be honest.
Back up comes in the form of Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Michael Jai White, Rance Howard and the lovely Ally Walker as Journalist Veronica Roberts.
All in all, though it's nothing that will win awards, it's definitely one of the best from The Plank.
It's exciting, has a story and a plot, has the occasional hit of humour (especially watching Luc re-learning how to eat) and is really well shot by the filmmakers.
My rating 88%
Review #136: Universal Soldier
Luc Deveraux is a Vietnam Soldier, with a big problem... his Sergeant, Andrew Scott, has become twisted by the war and has basically gone psycho.
When the pair come to loggerheads, they kill each other, only to be reborn as mindless drones called Universal Soldiers (or 'UniSols' for short) in a secret Government programme.
When a particular event in their field training goes awry, Luc has flashbacks of his former life and goes Rogue from his 'programming' and ends up in the company of a Journalist, who is more than happy to work alongside him to get her 'big story'.
Unknown to them though is that Sergeant Andrew Scott, who was also turned into a drone soldier, is also malfunctioning and has returned to his psychotic ways... and he has made it his mission to track down the apparent deserter Luc, and dish out his own particular form of Court Martial.
What a movie. Certainly Van Damme's best and pretty close to making a Personal Top 50 movie for me.
The movie is also by far the best of director Roland Emmerich's too.
It's relatively small scale with the set pieces and the overall scope in the look, but the viewer is treated to a pretty well written screenplay and the action scenes don't disappoint either.
What sets the movie apart from other action flicks is that it's really quite original in the plot devices and the overall story too. It's also pretty believeable.
It's actually quite a surprise for a Van Damme flick and quite surprising for an action flick too, to have a relatively complex yet easy to follow screenplay/story/plot.
The action is tip top when it gets going... but I can't help but wonder if they couldn't have put more into it. There are times that it's a bit lacking in actual scale.
Jean-Claude Van Damme Vs Dolph Lundgren, both on 'supersteroids' is really exciting, especially after the successful character build up and the connections they have to the audience.
The acting is really the biggest surprise and in a good way too.
Van Damme is perfect as the mindless drone who's piecing together his memories. It's almost on the scale of Schwarzenegger's Terminator. The natural wooden acting is perfect for the character and JCVD actually has areas where he even shows genuine emotion.
Dolph Lungren as the main Antagonist is also lots of fun. He's menacing, and actually seems to be having fun as the baddie... his athletic powerhouse stature onscreen against Van Damme's athletic highkicking stunts is also wonderful to see. It's probably Lundgrens best role to date to be honest.
Back up comes in the form of Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Michael Jai White, Rance Howard and the lovely Ally Walker as Journalist Veronica Roberts.
All in all, though it's nothing that will win awards, it's definitely one of the best from The Plank.
It's exciting, has a story and a plot, has the occasional hit of humour (especially watching Luc re-learning how to eat) and is really well shot by the filmmakers.
My rating 88%
