Let's call this, Wrong Bet, it sounds better. I've just watched this film again, after twenty years, and it ain't half a bad film, with some good performances, that of Lisa Pelikan, and Harrison Page. Wrong Bet's start, does seem familiar to a couple of other Van Damne flick early scenarios, as he again escapes the ugly foreign legion, and retreats to Los Angeles, amid some pit stops, as hearing his brother (involved in drug activities) is badly burnt. To help the widow and little Shirley Temple looking daughter, largely behind in rent, he partakes in underground fights, to earn some moolah. W.B has a pretty grounded story and straight forward plot and situations, where it veers more towards a drama, than the usual heavy action pics from our hunky lead. There is a quite a bit of action, but of course, it's mostly on the fighting ground, where the final fight, long and grueling, really has your attention, one of the best of it's time, where the opponent is a real beefcake of a fighter, those ones you really can't take as a human in these wrestler/kickboxer pics. This isn't a badly made film, where I was appreciative of those two performances, (Pelikan as the down on her luck widow) and Page as the limping ex fighter who partners up with Van Damne (dejavu of some other films of his, right?). But of course, the other standout is that of The Lady, the devious hot female fatale, running the underground fights, with her assistant (Cobra's Thompson- more human here). She takes VD under her wing, literally. This might not be the best one, for JCVD fans, who want to crave real action, amid explosions, and gunfire. But this movie does have heart, and quite a beautiful ending, but again, falls to average. Frequent graphic violence warning is an absolute joke.
