Double Team (1997)

Best movie of this year hands down!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Have you ever seen anyone survive the fiery destruction of the Colosseum by hiding behind a Coca-Cola machine in one of the most blatant forms of product placement ever to grace the screen? Have you ever seen a non-Michael Bay movie ever out-Michael Bay a Michael Bay film? If you see this movie, you will. And then you can brag about it to all your friends.This movie's a bit weird... it's like a strange mix between The Prisoner and Face/Off--only without the menacing big white balloon to stop you from escaping, and the fact that faces aren't switched around like trading cards between arch enemies. Instead we have Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman teamed up in one of the more unusual movie pairings I've seen lately. Mickey Rourke, despite looking very out of place in a movie like this, plays a decent villain to menace Van Damme and his family. The one-liners suck, the acting is pretty bad, and in case you didn't get the idea from my first paragraph, this movie is completely stupid.But, hell. Hilariously stupid things like that are one of the reasons why I watch Van Damme movies. Tsui Hark, like the other two major Hong Kong cult legends who ran to Hollywood in the 90's (John Woo and Ringo Lam), Hark's first task in Hollywood is to work with Jean-Claude Van Damme. Apparently he was the default actor for these kinds of things. At least Hark did what he could with this movie--he delivered some great camera-work, stuntwork, and typical action movie mayhem a little higher in quality than this film deserves.The movie's worth watching for its entertaining ridiculousness and above-average direction. The rest of it is pretty underwhelming. Van Damme and Rourke more-or-less go through the movements, when we all know they're a lot more fun to watch when they're given something to do in whatever else we've seen them in. But anyway, if you're looking for a less-popular Van Damme movie that's so bad it's good, check this one out. Anyone else, give it a rental, or skip it, I guess.That Coke machine scene alone should be justification enough to sit through this movie. Who knows, you might have a blast.

Jack Quinn(Jean Claude Van Damme, who gets to do plenty of the high kicks that he's famous for) retires from being a counter-terrorist, is brought back(yup, the clichés, formulaic nature and stereotypes that drown every line of dialog and every other aspect of the writing in this come in right at the beginning) to take out Stavros(Rourke, who makes for a cool villain and comes off as a genuine match to him, in the realms of fighting and tactics), who used to... uh... well, now he's going to... hm... you know, I have no clue. Anyway, it goes wrong, his son dies in the chaos(this time, it's personal?), and JCVD is sent to The Colony, a secret(somehow...) think-tank comprised of former agents and enemies, leading us to wonder why they don't kill each other(and there literally appears to be no guards there... heck, even if it meant their death, they might be fanatic enough), they can move about though they have to check in at specific times. Along the way he also meets Yaz(...I know all three of those letters, but they don't go together like that), a world-class arms dealer(Rodman, who also gets to take part in the decently choreographed and covered martial arts of which there is a pretty good amount) in a… let's call it a bi-curious nightclub, and they throw in some basketball references(because, and this may surprise you, apparently Dennis dabbled in that field, briefly). He's only in half of it, but he can't act and at times he doesn't seem capable of shutting up(man, does he get to be obnoxious). This is full of over the top action where physics take a back seat, there is excessive use of Dutch angles, and, like Speed, exhausting if you're not in the mood for it. Is it fun? Well, if you leave your brain at the door, and you aren't distracted by really goofy, out of place stuff... like this weird "focus" or sixth sense kind of thing to both the hero and bad guy. And the tigers. This is actually downright hard to follow at points, because of how... dumb it is. There is brief moderate to strong language in this. The DVD comes with a trailer. I recommend this to adrenaline junkies. 5/10

The action-packed, globe-trotting Jean-Claude Van Damme adventure "Double Team" derives its sporty title from the unlikely combo of NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman and Van Damme in pursuit of arch foe Mickey Rourke. "Double Team" might have been drivel at a dribble were it not for the dazzling aplomb with which gifted Hong Kong action helmer Tsui Hark stages a number of snappy, hyperkinetic action sequences. Van Damme stars as Jack Quinn, the best counter-terrorist in the business, who retires and settles down with his wife Kathryn (French television actress Natacha Lindinger) to raise a family. His old bosses lure Jack back into the spy game to ice his oldest foe, Stavros (Mickey Rourke of "Sin City"). At an ambush in Antwerp, everything goes wrong. Quinn nearly dies from an explosion, and the wily Stavros eludes death. When Quinn recovers, he finds himself trapped on an island fortress called the Penal Colony with no hope for escape. The seas around the island are a maze of laser beams. The Colony guardian Goldsmythe (Paul Freeman), explains to Quinn that he is confined to the island for the remainder of his life in the dubious company of the deadliest spies in the world. Not only are they too valuable to terminate, but also that are too lethal to be let loose. According to Goldsmythe, the Penal Colony serves as an espionage think tank. Equipped with the latest high-tech gadgetry, these Penal Colony lifers act as consultants in resolving international disputes.Of course, Quinn devises a stunning escape plan based on split-second timing. Meanwhile, Stavros kidnaps his pregnant wife and sweeps her off to Rome. Stavros has every reason to hat Jack Quinn. Stavros took Quinn's wife as hostage. After he engineers a daring daylight escape, Quinn saves his wife from a ruthless death squad in the Eternal City. Although Kathryn gives birth to a baby boy, Stavros manages to stay a step ahead of Quinn and abducts the newborn. Quinn confronts Stavros in a land mine laden Roman Coliseum and battles a ravenous Bengal tiger. Our hero relieves heavily on the firepower provided by a weird underground CIA arms dealer named Yaz (Dennis Rodman) in both on Stavros. Yaz himself comes along to play against the bad guys in a bullet-scarred finale. Scenarists Don ("Lifeforce") Jakoby and Paul ("The Quest") Mones pull out all stops with an audacious, slam dunk script that resembles a James Bond extravaganza, complete with several exotic settings. Of course, the Jakoby & Mones' screenplay is thoroughly predictable, but these writers know how to tweak the formula with a fresh gag or two. Hong Kong action helmer Hark makes the third Royal Colony refugee that Van Damme has called on to direct his movies. Earlier, Van Damme tapped John Woo to call the shots on "Hard Target,but John Travolta has since wooed Woo to direct "Broken Arrow" and "Face/Off" with Nicolas Cage. In "Maximum Risk," Van Damme imported the services of the skilled Ringo Lam. Unlike both "Hard Target" and "Maximum Risk," "Double Team" takes its far-fetched plot to preposterously outlandish lengths. Hark never lets the supercharged action idle away in this stylist thriller. He enlivens the action sequences with the kind of bravura that make you want to flinch and duck. The fight between Van Damme and as Asian henchman who grips a switchblade between his toes is invigoratingly fresh. And the computerized cyber-monks in the Vatican are a scream.Jean-Claude Van Damme spends more time averting disaster than acting, but nobody watches a JCVD movie to see the star emote. Credit Van Damme with modeling the appropriate expression for each crisis. Mickey Rourke is the thespian to appreciate. His truly cool villain is an anthology of postures. If Paul Freeman, who plays the Penal Colony guardian, appears familiar, you may remember him as the adversary with whom Indiana Jones tangled in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Meanwhile, Dennis Rodman is not so much an actor as he is a special effect. As Yaz, Rodman pedals a flashy arsenal for Van Damme as well as gives the film some of its lighter moments. When the initially encounter each other, Van Damme looks at Rodman and questions him about who does his hair? Siegfried or Roy? With a ring or a stud on most of his bodily appendages, an array of Yazoo Tattoos and his multicolored turf, Rodman looks as funny as he does lethal.The scene where Rodman steals a car that he has to steer with his head sticking through the sun roof is hilarious. Director Tsui Hark deploys the scene-stealing Rodman at the right moments to offset the straight-faced heroics of Van Damme. The worst thing that you can say about "Double Team" is the shameless product placement scene in the Coliseum. A number of Coke machine keep our heroes from getting cremated by the usual quota of apocalyptic explosions. On the other hand, the scene where scores of Coke cans complicate the heroics of Jean-Claude is good.If you are a JCVD fan, you get to see our protagonist articulate his muscles from Brussels in a couple of well-choreographed combat sequences. If you enjoy watching glossy, superbly lensed action movies, "Double Team" ought to keep you entertained and occupied. The inventive script, the electrifying directing, and the stirring Gary Chang music contribute to the success of "Double Team."

Despite the strong start, Van Damme movies certainly fell off in quality as the 90's went on. DOUBLE TEAM is easily one of his lesser efforts despite some inspired casting and a few somewhat new ideas. Unfortunately, you've seen almost all of it before, including the name, which is almost indistinguishable from DOUBLE IMPACT or DEATH WARRANT. The idea of Van Damme teaming up with Dennis Rodman is so ludicrous that it's worthwhile for novelty… and the icing on the cake is that the two team up against Mickey Rourke… and have a 3-way shirtless fistfight in what I assume is supposed to be the Roman Coliseum (plenty of shades of RETURN OF THE DRAGON) at the end too… with a Tiger and landmines to boot! Well, the overall plot about Van Damme's pregnant wife getting kidnapped so Rourke can replace his adopted son with Van Damme's (?) doesn't amount to a hill of beans and quite poorly links together its many action sequences. The only neat non-action bit is a long section dealing with Van Damme going off the grid and joining a "colony" of other former CIA agents who have faked their own deaths. The flipside is that this lifestyle isn't quite utopic and ends up being a prison (a la "The Prisoner") for Van Damme as he's playing the same revenge-driven character he always plays. Rourke and Rodman are equally 1-dimensional and Rodman manages to change his costume (and hairstyle) repeatedly between scenes which supposedly take place on the same day! It turns out that the whole faking-his-death thing was completely pointless as the first thing Van Damme does when he escapes it to lure Rourke into a trap which he blows right away once he spots his wife and tries to run after her… but whatever, we're not in this sort of thing because of the story. We're here to see Van Damme kick people in the face and break things. Unfortunately it's marred heavily with lots of intentional humor and bad basketball-related one-liners from Rodman's character, who I'm pretty sure isn't far different from Rodman himself. See? If your actors can't act, just not have them even bother trying to take on characters. Works like a charm.Fans of Italian crime and action movies will have a field day spotting cameos by some genre stalwarts. Bruno Bilotta (aka Karl Landgren), star of numerous poor 80's exploitation films, plays Rourke's main sniper and even scores a fight scene with Van Damme! Ottaviano Dell'Acqua plays a random Italian agent gunned down in glorious slow motion while Angelo Ragusa gets stabbed in the back and shot by a pair of not-so-helpless women. Ted Rusoff (a perennial figure in the world of ADR and voice dubbing going back to the AIP days of Samuel Z. Arkoff) plays a monk for the umpteenth time and even eurocrime great Orso Maria Guerrini is wasted in a nothing background role with no lines! This is no exception to the endless cycle of Van Damme teaming up with Hong Kong directors to attempt to repeat the same success as HARD TARGET and do for the likes of Ringo Lam what that film did for John Woo. Director Tsui Hark makes sure to throw in some patented kung fu fight scenes complete with plenty of gunplay, knifeplay, and attempts at strangulation. Add to that a complete overboard use of dutch angles and requisite poor CGI to make one generic 90's action movie experience complete! Worth it just to see Van Damme side-kick a growling tiger in the face, even if it does seem more the work of VFX than choreography.