Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012)

Very disappointing...

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Excellent adaptation.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

John looks to take down Luc Deveraux after a home invasion claims his wife and daughter. The fight pits John against Andrew Scott and an army of genetically enhanced warriors; meanwhile, he must contend with a UniSol in relentless pursuit. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning the 4th installment in the Universal Soldier Saga is probably the most bizzare of them all and yet fun as it is plus adding Scott Adkins in the mix? was a great plan. Van Damme and Lundgren once again also shine in their parts and the action but also the sci-fi element felt a mix between A and B type of film. I think that this film will definitely entertain fans of both the old and new movies alike. (10/10)

At times this movie tries to be Terminator. There are lots of scenes of super human killers stalking through closed spaces (Terminator police station scene) and of super human killers driving a service truck while chasing the good guy (almost every Terminator movie).At times this movie tries to be Universal Soldier. But those pieces feel thrown in just to warrant the title.The fights are so MMA they become boring.Characters' motivations aren't clear. The Van Damme character and the Dolph character seem to have some relationship, but they're never in the same scene. Looks like each one filmed his scenes on separate days.For Universal Soldier, the problem is not enough action. There are long, woodenly acted scenes of discovery. Even the action scenes have over long build ups. A lot of this movie feels like one of the modern, SFX and camera trick dependent horror movies - not interesting, not scary, but the director showed his technical expertise.The lead actor is awful - a body built, MMA guy with a generic Euro accent.It would be a blessing if someone could remove the memory of this crap from my brain.JCVD's movies were sometimes promoted with the concept of Van Damme-age - "maximum Van Damme-age, double the Van Damme-age. This one is minimum Van Damme-age.

Disclaimer: If you are a viewer that mainly prefers art-house-type movies, then you might as well ignore this review. In addition, if you're not able to take a Scott Adkins action horror flick, ignore this review, as well. We'll both be better off.Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning I liked this one for a reason. I think is much, much better than Universal Soldier: Regeneration. I have enjoyed the action scenes, I love seeing Scott Adkins kicking ass. I love the actress Mariah Bonner in here. This movie is more for Scott Adkins fans, which I have like it a lot. But still it Is not a Van Damme film! They ruined beloved character Luc Deveraux. The story does borrow from Apocalypse Now (Van Damme looking like Brando does help with the comparison), but it still provides a solid story that maintains your interests. It's all done in a very serious tone and can get rather confusing at points, but I loved that it emphasized the sci-fi and even horror elements that the franchise potentially had hidden. I think Adkins vs. Arlovski is my personal favorite scene in the and wins the award for best fight scene of the year. The sheer brutality on display will make even the most hardcore viewer wince.The fight scenes are choreographed by Larnell Stovall who also did sterling work on Undisputed III, Bunraku and many more and he really ups his game to a whole new level of awesome in this movie. This scene between Scott Adkins and Andrei Arlovski is incredibly brutal and yet thoroughly awesome at the same time. The way they just tear strips from each other using baseball bats and whatever else they can get their hands on make this the real stand out scene of the film. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is a visceral nightmare that will not be for everyone, but it's original, brutal, well acted and with the best fight scenes you'll see this year. Check it out, if you dare. Just don't watch it with your mommy.The Universal Soldier franchise has come a long way since it's debut 20 years ago with the original. 2 made for TV sequels that got ignored when Van Damme came back for the official "The Return" sequel which was a total bore. then director John Hymms re-teamed Van Damme along with Dolph Lundgren in some important cameo's for 2009's "Regeneration" which brought some high-octane fun into the mix. Now with Day of Reckoning the plot is confusing and more or less ignores what happened in Regeneration but gives some bone crushing action in car wrecks and swift fighting. Van Damme sleepwalks through his villainous ways while Lundgren is crazy as ever. Bottom line it's a decent entry to this old series. The fight scenes are amazingly choreographed, with no shaky cam and no shortage of blood. One thing I should warn you about is if you have photo-sensitive epilepsy, I would NOT watch it. There are a few strobe light effects in it which even messed with my head. It's a really visceral horror/action movie that might just be the best in the series thus far as it tries something different with the concept of the Universal Soldiers while intermixing the horror genre as well. Van Damme in here is only for 7 minutes tops and if you're looking for lots of Van Damme and Dolph then you may be disappointed. They have minor roles but what screen time they have will stick in your head long after. There are some really cool action/fighting scenes in this movie but I found the plot to be more and more confusing as things progressed. In addition, although Van Damme and Lundgren are featured prominently on the cover art, their roles in the actual film are somewhat minimal. Scott Adkins gives one of the best performances of his career I have ever saw and really gets to display his amazing fighting skills. The fights in this movie are outstanding, this is the third time I see Dolph Ludgren as Andrew Scott dying. The movie was shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA and it is American film not European movie like was Universal Soldier: Regeneration that was shot in Bulgaria and it is an European movie for me not US. I have enjoyed this one much more better. John Devereaux was fantastic character to me, specially the end that he had more clones about him self. The final fight scenes between John (Adkins) and Luc (Van Damme) was just outstanding and I love it.Overall: I am giving this movie an 8, because I have enjoy it, it was not boring the movie was fast action paced horror film and I love horror films. It is not my favorite Van Damme movie but it is definitely a Scott Adkins favorite film killing Unisols. This is the movie that Regeneration should have been.Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (formerly known as Universal Soldier: A New Dimension) is a 2012 American science fiction action film co-written, co-edited and directed by John Hyams, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins. It is a semi-sequel to Universal Soldier: Regeneration.8/10 Grade: B- Studio: BMP Productions Signature Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Scott Adkins, Mariah Bonner, Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski Director: John Hyams Producers: Craig Baumgarten, Moshe Diamant, Allen Shapiro Screenplay: John Hyams, Doug Magnuson, Jon Greenlagh Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 54 Mins. Budget: $11.500.000 Box Office: $1,402,307

I can think of many better ways to spend and hour and a half other than watching this. Right from the start I wasn't sure what I was watching. It seemed like scenes out of scare flick rather than an action one. I had to check the channel to make sure Showtime was airing the right movie.This movie is fairly quick to get into action if you can ignore the first 5 minutes. But, action is all it is. The idea behind this movie is that there is a convent of sorts for former uni-sols, run by Scott and Deveraux, with some type of unknown, anarchist agenda. Another former uni-sol, who didn't know he was a uni-sol, is 'awakened' in a somewhat 'Neo vs agent Smith' from the final fight of The Matrix type of plot, and is used to infiltrate this convent.There is little back story to any of the main characters, though you'd recognize some from previous Universal Soldier installments if you've seen them. But the idea behind this edition was not well thought out. Sgt Scott was the protagonist to Luc Deveraux, never an ally, and that's a serious flaw from the start.This story has nothing really to do with the original concept. In fact, if not for the main title, you wouldn't know it was a Universal Soldier movie. The acting is sub-par, there is no character development, and it seems like low quality camera's were used during the filming. It probably consumed most of the budget just paying Lundgren and Van Damme to come back to it, even if for only short parts.The truly sad thing is the end leaves open the possibility for future installments along this storyline, though, hopefully both Lundgren and Van Damme are done with them. A true shame that such iconic action stars would put their names behind this.If you want to see a decent Universal Soldier movie, stay away from this one.