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Yet another Toronto FF goer loves up on JCVD!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another glowing JCVD review. This movie better be as good as everyone's saying it is or I'll start training right now, shed 100 pounds and learn how to Blood Sport fight and JCVD up all these reviewers with my glued-on glass shard gloves...
Hey, this is Captain here. I sent in the "The semi-negative HOSTEL review" from TIFF '05 and I had the pleasure of catching JCVD late Thursday night. Anyways, just thought I'd throw my hat in the ring here. Hope you have room for another review. Enjoy!
I’m just going to come out and say it: JCVD is a minor miracle. That I can tell friends that I just saw a great new Jean-Claude Van Damme isn’t something I anticipating saying for the rest of my moviegoing days, yet here I am. JCVD works because it has a solid script, it’s directed with energy and class by Mabrouk El Mechri, and because Van Damme subtly plays on his “muscles from Brussels” persona in surprisingly funny, and even poignant, ways.
The premise of JVCD is this: What would a faded action star do if he found himself the unwitting pawn in a real-life bank robbery/hostage situation? Would he rise to the occasion and kick-ass and take names, or, would he fail to fulfill his own B-movie mythology and his one shot at redemption? No, I wont spoil it for you.
I can say that JVCD is definitely not a “martial arts” film, owing more to DOG DAY AFTERNOON than DOUBLE IMPACT. However, the movie opens strongly with Van Damme in the midst of fantastic Brian De Palma-esque movie-within-a-movie where the actor stealthily dispatches numerous armed villains, one-by-one with all the action taking place in single, long take set to “Hard Times” by Baby Huey (a great song, by-the-way).
The rest of JCVD centers around a bank robbery (a post office, actually), where Van Damme is mistaken for the culprit, igniting a media circus and drawing crowds of fans. While Van Damme attempts to deal with his captors and placate the hostage negotiators, the movie flashes-back to the actor’s recent problems including a painful custody battle, dealings with his second-rate agent, and increasing cash-flow and lawyer troubles.
Taking shit from all sides, Van Damme pulls off a convincing slow burn, avoiding his signature, winking Euro-charm and his penchant for excessive melodrama. It’s fascinating watching a man we’ve seen triumph over adversity with sheer brawn, countless times, act so... passively. Which is not to say Van Damme is a coward in JVCD, but he certainly responds to crisis in a much more human way than in, say, SUDDEN DEATH, for example.
Did I mention JCVD is funny? Such as when Van Damme is obliged to watch embarrassing old interview clips of himself coming off like a flake, or, when a character talks Van Damme into kicking a cigarette from a man’s lips (which got a big applause from the audience) only to try doing so himself with disastrous results. There’s humorous reference to Van Damme’s previous movies and his straight-to-video competition. A character complains about how John Woo distanced himself from Van Damme after HARD TARGET, but that watching WINDTALKERS didn’t make it seem like such a bad thing. Also, there’s some funny dialogue about how Steven Segal stole a part from Van Damme by promising the film’s producers he’d cut off his ponytail. Great stuff.
Ultimately, JCVD is a film where all the ingredients are just right. It’s stylized enough with its desaturated, tobacco-hued cinematography and fluid camerawork (by Pierre-Yves Bastard) to give it personality, but not so much as to be show-offy (ahem, Guy Ritchie). The film actually has a great throwback score, too, with Gast Waltzing providing a vintage 70’s cop movie-vibe to the proceedings. (It brought to mind Lalo Schifrin, but I’m no composer expert.)
Bottom line: See this movie. I think you’ll be surprised.
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oh yeah...
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He lied about his past and claimed to know much more than he actually did. His fight choreography was always garbage and his kicks, while flashy, are slow as hell. The guy was a joke from day one and personally, I'm done giving this fucking clown money for being shit. The only fight I ever want to see him in is that incident at Scores where he got dropped with one punch. Segal may have become a big, bloated joke but at least he made a few decent movies and actually had some real skill as a martial artist. Has Van Damme really done anything even remotely approaching a true “classic?”
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And make a sitcom.
I know I'd watch. -
and i never thought I'd ever say that about a JCVD movie.
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Not just Van Damme's greatest film, but a great, emotionally powerful film in general. The chemistry between him and Harrison Page (Joshua) is very real and natural. A great, great film. LIONHEARRRT!
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I have enjoyed the bulk of his movies, it's a shame that he got into the whole DTV thing, but I guess it's a paycheck. I hear he has signed on to do a 3rd Universal Soldier. Those were decent, entertaining nonsense.
Check out my blog guys- http://movietalktime.blogspot.com/ -
The favorite, most fondly looked on film of my youth. I must have watched that fucker a 100 times. Great movie.
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Big time.
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Anything?
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Every trailer i've watched on youtube is all in a foreign language.
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Just to see the differing fighting styles of all the martial artists alone was great. Ogre vs. Bolo... "show us dim mock...wait..bottom one." C'mon, what's not to love.
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Not to mention the fact that Hard Target, Universal Soldier, Timecop, Lionheart, and Cyborg are all hilarious and Badass. If you are the kind of humorless fuck that can't enjoy a Van Damme movie, than thats too bad, you're missing out on some good laughs and fun fights.
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rip of a true classic called Enter the Dragon. But I still kinda like it.
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I've seen most of his theatrical stuff and while it was goofy fun nothing he did can ever be called a true classic, Bloodsport included. A classic would be something like Enter the Dragon, Fist of Legend, Drunken Master, or even Red Belt. Personally, I think his best is Universal Soldier, Lionheart and Bloodsport, although The Quest had some pretty good fights as well.
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Will win an Oscar for this, mark my words.
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