Kill 'Em All (2017) User Reviews (41)

This isn't the badass JCVD flick I was hoping for, but there is a lot of action...

[bcbell79 · 5/10 · 9 June 2017]

I can't deny that I'm still a Van Damme fan after all these decades. I've accepted that he will never make another film like Bloodsport, Kickboxer or Time Cop as his age simply won't allow. However, he's proved in the past ten years with kickass films (like Expendables 2 and the two most recent Universal Soldiers) that he can still execute impressive fight scenes. And with his solid acting (shown most notably in the 2008 film JCVD) I think Van Damme still has some kicks, punches and performances left in him. For this reason I couldn't resist checking out Jean Claudes newest flick (that just released yesterday here in the U.S.), Kill Em' All.

The films director, Peter Malota, may be a first time director, but he's been working with Van Damme since 1990. I looked him up to discover that they met that year on the set of Double Impact. Malota was the martial arts action choreographer and an actor in the film. He and Van Damme then teamed up, and Malota continued to handle all martial arts fight coordinating on films such as Universal Soldier (the original and The Return), Nowhere to Run, The Quest, etc. All of the above gave me much confidence in this being a fun action packed B-movie with some (hopefully!) exciting fight scenes. Does Kill Em' All deliver is the question..?

Unfortunately, this isn't the "low-budget but super badass" Van Damme flick that I was hoping for, but it's worth rental if you still enjoy watching an older Van Damme kick dudes in the face. It's not particularly bad (for what it is), it's just not particularly good. This film doesn't really do anything we haven't seen before- it's fight scenes are pretty average and what you'd expect. Van Dammes stunt double is obviously younger (and has a slightly different haircut/fade) and pretty easy to notice. Van Damme still gets into the fight, but most of the high kicks are shot from behind and obviously a double (though not nearly as obvious as Steven Seagals have been for the past decade!). On top of all of this, the film doesn't have the budget to ever feel convincing- after the intro scene you never see a single doctor, nurse or patient in the 5 floors of hospital they are running and hiding through (not one!)?! Combined with a weak story and script, Kill Em' All doesn't have too much to praise.

On the upside, the action is consistent from start to finish, even if it's nothing spectacular. It was cool to see Van Damme fight his own son (Kris Van Damme) in this flick (though I was hoping for a more brutal or impressive fight scene between father and son) as well as 90's B-movie martial artist Daniel Bernhardt (star of Bloodsport 2-4). Peter Stormare (The Last Stand) and Maria Conceit Alonso (The Running Man) co-star as the two detectives trying to figure out where Van Dammes character has disappeared to and what exactly happened at the hospital.

Kill Em' All isn't particularly exciting or original, but it is a worthwhile rental if you (like me) enjoy low-budget action movies and still want to see Van Damme beat up the baddies. If you are a JCVD fan and haven't watched the Amazon pilot for Jean Claude Van Johnson (2016) then check that out immediately. If you're caught up with Van Dammes resume (or like low-budget 90's actioners) then it might be worth a rental (or watch on late-night cable TV) but otherwise you should probably look elsewhere.

One of JCVD's Worst...

[ActionFan-Reviews · 3/10 · 11 June 2017]

Unfortunately, this has got to be one of Van Dammes worst films. It looks like after all those years of hard partying sure has caught up to him in 2017 as he looked pretty miserable in this. This makes Universal Soldier II look golden. The trailer looked like it would of been a cheesy, so bad it's good 90's throwback action film, but it was just plain bad. It did have a decent supporting cast and a couple of OK action scenes and it was a bit better than say Steven Seagal's stuff, but that isn't saying much. Overall, it's a shame this couldn't have been at least half decent considering Van Damme as of late seemed to have been doing better projects like his show - "Jean Claude Van Johnson". But with a movie like "Kill Em All" his action career doing movies like he used to are long and gone.

3/10

Hugely disappointing

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 17 January 2021]

KILL 'EM ALL is a hugely disappointing B-movie action flick from the former great Van Damme, who once upon a time could be relied upon to deliver the goods when it came to entertainment. Not so here. The story is convoluted and muddled, full of needless flashbacks and repetition, involving our aged hero tackling mercenaries in a hospital. Daniel Bernhardt, formerly a Van Damme rip-off in the '90s, plays the lead bad guy and Van Damme's own son has a role too. I felt like this was shot in Eastern Europe but it turns out to have been made in Mississippi. Some of the choreography looks okay, but it's hard to tell in combination with the insipid direction.

Gives Bad Movies a Bad Name!

[nebk · 2/10 · 7 June 2017]

Kill 'em All is bad even for a low budget action flick. It has mostly mediocre acting, a convoluted and nonsensical story and even the action sequences are poor and bland. It is a relatively typical action movie story-line: a mysterious stranger dressed in black is outnumbered, wounded and being pursued by a gang of killers. Unfortunately the movie is not very entertaining, exciting or dramatic.

In this case the hero called Phillip (played by Jean Claude Van Damme) ends up wounded in hospital and is soon pursued by a gang of Eastern European villains trying to kill him and everyone else. There is a nurse helping him and she ends up being interrogated by the police and is helping them piece together what happened. It turns out that Phillip had dealings with the villainous gang during the Bosnian War in 1999. It's a pity that who ever wrote the story couldn't do some fact checking and see that the war ended in 1995. The fact that there are massive gunfights in a hospital and no police involvement also makes the story even less believable. There are of course twists in the story, and these are reminiscent of the movie Usual Suspects but these are only poor attempts at an imitation.

There are a few well known names in the cast such as Peter Stormare but he and the other supporting players can't do much with a bad story and non-existing material. The fight sequences between JCVD and the bad guys (including his son Kris Van Damme) are not that great and the direction seems sluggish. Overall this movie is best avoided, the story is bad and unbelievable, the action mediocre and the ending is just plain bad. There are worse action movies out there but not by much.

Terrible

[DawnOfTheRob · 1/10 · 19 June 2018]

The worst JCVD movie I've seen and that's saying something. Most of his movies a poorly written and definitely not Oscar worthy but watchable because of the action he brings to the screen. Not this one, he looks old and miserable in this effort and I only gave it a 1 because its not possible to give any less.

JCVD Fans Beware!!!

[damianphelps · 1/10 · 24 January 2021]

This is unquestionably the worst JCVD movie of all time. Now I came into this with already lowish expectations but as a long time fan (although waning) I had to give it a go.

OMG I wish I hadn't. Apart from Peter Stormare (who was JUST ok) the acting, especially the second tier (JCVD, Stormare and Alonso being the first tier lol) was possibly the worst I have seen.

The plot lol is rubbish, the fights (the main reason to watch the movie) dull and lacking imagination. High on cliché, low on everything else.

You have been warned!!!

Culturally insensitive Die Hard in a hospital

[jan-hranac · 1/10 · 18 June 2017]

Some films have always attempted to rewrite history. This one belongs to those that take it a step further and attempt to rewrite recent events. The result is in this case very anti-Serbian and anti-Slavic. Frankly, I found the film culturally insensitive and offensive (even though I'm not Serbian myself).

However, let's look at the craftsmanship quality of the film first. To put it simply, it's a (weak) Die Hard in a hospital with a double Keyser Söze at the end. Nothing new is added to these simple constructs and ironically, I think that's a good thing (a film isn't perfect when you can't add anything to it, but when you can't remove anything). The plot is confusing and chaotic. It doesn't clear up until shortly before the first Keyser Söze twist and when the twist happens, we find out that most of it were lies anyway. Yes, that's exactly the effect the filmmakers were aiming for, but it leaves an impression that they don't know what are they doing. JCVD performed as expected and Autumn Reeser wasn't bad either.

Alas, this film isn't just about neutral entertainment. For no reason whatsoever, they decided to make it an "exploitation" film. Phillip's (a typical Albanian name indeed) father could have been an FBI agent murdered by a drug lord. No, they decided to make it political so he was an Albanian separatist killed by Black Hand (yes, the group which "started the Great War" and which actually no longer exists). It's quite clear on whose side the filmmakers are just from a special usage of whitewashing. Albanians are cast by blond and/or blue-eyed Caucasians (preferably Anglo-Saxons, but Spanish and others are OK too) while Slavs are made to look as Siberian/Asian as possible. WOW. Whitewashing was always considered bad, but when you actually manage to offend even white people themselves, you know that you've reached a new level. Misrepresentation of Albanians doesn't stop at appearance. They are characterized as some kind of noble samurai who resort to violence only when their peaceful ways fail. ROFL.

By the way, Kingdom of Yugoslavia wasn't created by Soviet Union. It was a result of Paris accords after WWI.

This was a torture to watch

[fuurook · 2/10 · 30 September 2018]

It says that war in Bosnia was in 1999 ,not correct, and when they showed scenes from Bosnia ,there was palm trees, we don't have them there

JCVD is the only reason i watch this movie

[phanthinga · 6/10 · 10 June 2017]

I may not a hardcore fan of JCVD that follow him from the early day of Bloodsport but i still acknowledge him as a great martial art artist and a fine action hero in his own right.Nowadays with the booming of CGI action movie people tend to forgot how awesome trashy over the top action movie staring him look like and with this movie Kill'em All i dare to say yes that man can still kick ass.The plot of this movie is very Die Hard like but it have a very good twist but sadly been dumb down by a horrible script.JCVD charm is still there and despite his age his spinning kick is as strong as ever but for the rest of the cast......not so much.The only one tried to put out a solid action scene beside JCVD is not his son Kris but a actress i never heard before named Autumn Reeser which surprise me a lot.Please don't go to this movie with a mindset of a critic but a young 90s teen you will have a good time

Weak

[Heidixena2003 · 2/10 · 2 June 2018]

The premise of this movie could have been good but the supporting characters Stormare and Alonzo as agents were just horrible. Their acting was just phoned in and unbelievable. What a shame. It got so bad I wanted to fast forward through their parts. Just get to the good stuff please! The editing in this flick left much to be desired as well. I just hope they had fun making it because it can't have made any money.

If you are going to complain about JCVD then watch something else.

[terrystewart-05473 · 9/10 · 19 April 2023]

I really like Jean-Claude Van Damme and I like all his movies! And I liked this one. JCVD is still the Best Karate action star there is. You think you could do any of this stuff. Especially when your in your 50s. The actors are good and all of the production of the movie is good. Jean-Claude is Great at Killing Em All! All right I will try and make more characters so I have at lest 600. Autumn Reeser is very Beautiful and a good actress and the younger black haired chick is really Hot. And like most of JCVD movies don't trust anyone especially if you are in the FBI. Like in real life now. And all Bad guys deserve to die.

"The Usual Suspects" Meets "Die Hard"

[zardoz-13 · 7/10 · 4 July 2017]

The people behind the Jean-Claude Van Damme thriller "Kill'em All" must have seen Bryan Singer's classic "The Usual Suspects." Stuntman-turned-director Peter Malota and scribes Jesse Cilio of "The Perfect Weapon," Brian Smolensky of "The Gadarene Swine," and freshman writer Craig Stewart chronicle the action in similar non-linear fashion, juggling past scenes with present, like "The Usual Suspects." First, we have two FBI agents talking to Suzanne (Autumn Reeser of "The Big Bang") about her experiences in a running gun battle throughout a hospital after a foreign head of state had been critically wounded in an assassination attempt. Basically, they are trying to establish his identity because the computers at the hospital where she worked as a nurse have been damaged. Second, we have an apparent bodyguard for the wounded foreign politician, Philip (Jean-Claude Van Damme of "Universal Soldier"), dodging bullets while whittling down the opposition until nobody is left to challenge him. He is like Bruce Willis in "Die Hard," one man pitted against several adversaries who triumphs over them. According to production notes, this melodrama was filmed in Biloxi, Mississippi, while the dramatic action appears to occur in Los Angeles.

You'll appreciate some good things in "Kill'em All" as well as some bad things. Unfortunately, the interview scenes impede the speed of the plot. Suzanne and two Feds, Agent Mark Holman (Peter Stormare of "John Wick 2") and Agent Linda Sanders (Maria Conchita Alonso of "Extreme Prejudice"), sit at a table and utter exposition that could only have been conveyed in such a setting under such circumstances. Some of it seems gratuitous. For example, the obnoxious Holman spins a yarn for Suzanne about the man who shot and killed a foreign head of state. Holman explains to her that the son of the diplomat watched his father die from a long-range gunshot thirty years ago. This is supposed to justify the assassin's behavior. Suzanne has a difficult time convincing them that she accompanied a gunman named Philip because she had no other options available unless she decided to die. Apparently, Philip had saved Suzanne once, and Suzanne felt sure he might have to save her again. Clearly, from everything presented in these dialogue exchanges, the unmistakable impression is that the nurse feels grateful to this mysterious Philip for rescuing her life. Agents Holman and Sanders indulge in 'a bad cop and good cop routine' respectively as they search for a flaw in Suzanne's story.

Meantime, director Malota cross-cuts between the interrogation at FBI Headquarters to action footage of the protagonist Philip as he eliminates one villain after another. Even at age 57, Jean-Claude is still a light-footed juggernaut with his spinning leg kicks. The chief drawback of this approach is that "Kill'em All" occurs largely in flashback so we know there is no way that our hero Philip stands a legitimate chance of biting a bullet. Altogether, Malota and his scribes isolate the action to a hospital emergency room and then the five floors of a hospital that have been decommissioned. The decision to confine the action to essentially one set evokes memories of director John McTiernan's superb thriller "Die Hard." The big difference here is that Philip in "Kill'em All" is not trying to save lives so many as wipe out the villains. The one thing that stands out is the decision to have Philip, suffering from two wounds—one to the back of his head and a knife wound on his right bicep--that not only drain his energy and strength but also exposes him as vulnerable in his close encounters with the villains.

This sturdy Van Damme thriller clocks in at 95 minutes, boasts some predictable surprises, but never wears out its welcome. As one of many unsavory villains, Daniel Bernhardt stands out as unforgettable. Although it isn't the most inspired of his straight-to-video actioneers, Van Damme's fans should enjoy the non-stop action and the mystery surrounding Philip as well as Suzanne.

Overstuffed For A Cheap Direct-to-dvd Action Flick

[lukem-52760 · 1/10 · 29 December 2021]

Usually Van Damme is decent in most of these low-budget Direct-to-dvd flicks & I've said before that he puts in the most effort with acting wise with his films even if they are cheap productions but here Van Damme is half-assed & who could blame him? Still Van Damme often makes better action B-movies than Willis, Seagal, Snipes & Lundgren.

Van Damme is an action legend i grew up watching & loving & even those he's now basically a B-movie star, i still watch his new films because i like the dude & consider him an actor that meant alot to me growing up.

"Kill 'Em All" is another cheap flick but for a low-budget B-movie it's totally overstuffed with story. Usually people complain about B-movies not really caring about the story as long as it delivers on all the other stuff but here it would've been better to have concentrated on the other stuff. We get an action thriller type about an injured security specialist named Philip (an exhausted Van Damme) who turns up at a quiet hospital on a lovely Sunday morning & he's very injured with slices & a head wound & a nurse starts to help him when a bunch of black suited, foreign bad guys show up to finish off Van Damme. Now this part is ok but then we get constant flash backs to what happened at the hospital by an interview with the survivor nurse & two F. B. I agents interrogating her but which gets very annoying very quickly & on top of the interrogating scenes we lots of flashbacks for each of the villains & for Van Damme's Philip character & all of this while still trying to show the action in the hospital!!! It's trying to be too smart but doesn't have the budget to do it properly or the scale to tell it all. We get really cheap scenes from Philips childhood in the early 80's but no production design or detail put into it because they didn't have the money to do it so why bother? The flick is way overstuffed with origin stories & flashbacks for it to even be slightly fun at all. Kill 'Em All should've been a fun Action Thriller with a game of cat & mouse throughout the hospital like Wesley Snipes Direct-to-dvd flick GAME OF DEATH, which i really enjoyed but no here it's trying to be a long dramatic movie with big origin stories & events of political wars & ethnic cleansing & Assassin's & it's a huge dull & boring mess. Also Van Damme cannot be bothered here.

No Redeeming Factors

[deepfrieddodo · 3/10 · 17 January 2021]

Terrible acting from a poor cast following possibly the worst script of any action film (and that's saying a lot). It's just a really bad film. The acting is genuinely awful but that is largely down to cringeworthy writing. The plot has a deep background and it seems to have twists and monumental moments in parts, but these are unrecognisable as you're too far gone to even consider trying to follow what on earth is going on.

The sad thing is JCVD does nothing wrong, plus it seems that this film at least had a half decent budget. Even the choreography for the fights are bad, if you're hiring JCVD the least you need to do is utilise his martial arts abilities. Instead there's nothing special as he fights naff characters.

The reason I give this 3 is because it is actually a film, there is a (poor) beginning, leading to (an even worse) middle, and (equally terrible) ending (complete with someone taking off a wig (that looks like real hair) to reveal her natural hair (which is quite clearly a wig)). There is some semblance of a plot there, and really I feel bad for JCVD for being associated with this when he was given no chance of improving it.

Script is trash

[gorangd · 1/10 · 11 April 2023]

Palm trees in Bosnia in 1999, using Glocks, arhitecture is more Mexican than Bosnian or Yugoslavian?!?!? Come on is there anyone with a little bit of brain?

Opponents speak bad Croatish language, and a little bit of Russian? Do you know to show ex Yugoslav countries on the map? I don't think so.

I love JCVD, and his old movies, but as he gets old, he dont pick his rols or what? This is small budget movie. American cinematography is one of the top in the world, but after this trash movie, i definitly change my mind, it goes downhill.

I am deeply disapointed with choise wich JCVD took with this movie.

messy

[mahanparyas · 1/10 · 5 January 2018]

I should pay attention to imdb ranking. The movie was messy.

It's over, move along.......

[CountJonnie · 4/10 · 4 August 2018]

JC Van Damme single handedly created the action genre with his flashy ways. Not surprisingly, he gets older and others take over. On his way down, he cought us by surprise with his JCVD movie, in which he showed more emotion and acting skills than ever before.

Maybe there was hope, but alas, in all movies since, his acting is gone, but also his willingness. He looks and feels unmotivated. All that could be forgiven, if only the action would make up for it. Since this movie has JCVD and Daniel Bernhardt, I was waiting for one final battle, with all the flashy kicks you could ask for.

And than............nothing. Van Damme lost his will to act, but also the will to fight. To be fair, Van Damme did one nice spin kick. But that was so obviously a stunt double, that it was shameful. After movies such as this one and Black Water, for me the Van Damme era is over.

There are no police in Beloxi !!

[adabsiz · 1/10 · 1 November 2019]

I do hope the TEN producers , executive producers, associate producers etc got a few cents back for their "investment" !!

Despite all the gunfire at this studio / hospital, not a single patrol car arrives ... nor is there anyone who can press an alarm button ! Strangely, the hand guns used seem to have unlimited bullets ... The place (hospital) looks deserted of doctors, nurses, patients or ambulance & ER staff etc. What is more laughable though is that no police or security guards can be seen anywhere !

It must have been a very tight budget indeed, and at 57 van Dam should really retire and hand the reins to his clumsy son or whoever instead !!

The weird bearded FBI actor takes the biscuit for me though !

Don't waste your time with this one ...

JVD back at what he does best... Kicking Arse...

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 6/10 · 16 September 2020]

My Ratings: Story 1.00 : Direction 1.00 : Pace 1.25 : Acting 1.25 : Entertaining 1.25 Total 5.75 out of 10

So here we go... a leave your brain at the door extravaganza. This is what the Kickboxer King does best. Though, this is not his best film by a longshot. It is, as always, a thoroughly enjoyable waste of time. Who doesn't enjoy watching the bad guys getting their arses well and truly... and literally... kicked.

This isn't your basic revenge story, it has a little backstory to it that differs a tad from the usual fodder. Maybe this is why it needed three writers. Philip's dad is killed by the bad men, and Phil, quite rightly, wants revenge. So he trains, gets into shape, learns to kill, and then... well, he joins the bad men. Wait a minute, doesn't this mean he has to be like them, thus in effect, becoming them? Oh sorry, forgot to take my brain out. That's better. Now don't think about it, just admire and enjoy the kick-arsery. YEAH.

However, when Phil makes his move, he messes up and gets shot. After arriving at the hospital via an ambulance - why didn't the bad men finish him off... oops, thinking again. His gang mates turn up to finish the job. Not at all concerned about it being a public hospital.

Luckily for Phil, there's nurse Suzy to tend to his boo-boos and fix him up enough to kick arse. There's even a female bad guy so Nurse Suzy can flex her muscles and not feel too left out in the foot-to-arse stakes.

Mostly, the direction is average, though Director Peter Malota does a nice job with the pacing. This slow to begin with but speeds up nicely when the action starts. There are a couple of sections where he slows it down to help the story and to give the viewers a breather.

The shame about the whole affair though is the acting. Now I have, nothing but respect for Peter Stormare, he is a great actor (can you sense a but coming (?)), but (yeah, there it is) he feels as though he's not too fussed to be there. Maybe he needed to pay the utility bills that month and was running short. Just wish he'd put more heart into it. Truthfully, most of the cast seems nonplussed and lacking in the characterisations department. Good job they make up for it in the punching, kicking, and gouging division. Though I will say, Daniel Bernhardt does a great job and both Autumn Reeser and Maria Conchita Alonso have their moments.

That said, the most entertaining scene of the whole film is the father and son fight between Mr and Master Van-Damme. They ought to thank god their family isn't a dysfunctional one. I would hate to see their drunken Friday night slugfest after an argument... I take that back, I would love to see it, and in this movie you do.

This isn't a masterpiece of filmmaking or storytelling, but it is so enjoyable that I would happily recommend this to all the fans of Martial Arts Action Films and to those wondering what the fuss is about. Grab a beer, disengage the brain, sit back, and enjoy. Cheers.

Please kick arse over to my The Game Is Afoot and Holding Out For A Hero lists to see where this slice of Van-Damage ranks. Hopefully, you may find your next viewing pleasure too.

Take Care & Stay Well,

Surprising that it even went straight to dvd...

[dazw · 1/10 · 2 March 2018]

Jean claude we are begging you....please stop!! Haven't we the viewing public suffered enough?

Enjoyably ridiculous action thriller

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 1 February 2021]

The enigmatic Phillip (a solid and convincing performance by Jean-Claude Van Damme) winds up in a hospital on the verge of death after surviving a massive shootout. A team of killers show up at said hospital to finish Phillip off. Meanwhile, the FBI interrogates Phillip's nurse Suzanne (an appealing portrayal by Autumn Reeser) in order to figure out what's going on.

Director Peter Malota relates the entertainingly inane story at a quick pace, treats the ludicrously convoluted story with admirable seriousness, and stages the plentiful exciting action with rip-roaring aplomb. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this movie humming: Peter Stormare as pushy fed Mark Holman, Maria Conchita Alonso as the more laid-back Linda Sanders, Daniel Bernhardt as the ruthless Radovan Brokowish, Kris Van Damme as the equally vicious Dusan, and Mila Kaladjurdjevic as the lethal Almira. The twist at the end is a real doozy. Good silly fun.

So hard to review, good but bad at the same time...

[destroyerwod · 6/10 · 21 June 2017]

I tried so hard to review this movie already. Made some reviews, saved them, erased them, started over. Its really complicated as part of me liked it while the other part really tough it was lacking so much to be a good movie. The cast is genuinely good, not only Van Damme but Daniel Bernhardt which, funny enough, was Van Damme replacement in the Bloodsport Franchise back in the days, but also played villains opposite the like of Keanu Reeves in John Wick or Chuck Norris in The Cuttter. Kris Van Damme, JC's son finally get some action role and even have a fight scene with his father.

But despite all of this... the movie failed to keep me interest at times. First of all the cinematography. I don't know if its to hide JCVD's old age or the lack of talents on some of the villains, but the movie suffer from a bunch of jump cuts and camera angle changes during fight scenes. Its not as bad as some of Steven Seagal movies of recent years but its still hurting the movie. The movie also include a lot of "signature spin kicks" which seem not so convincing in this day and age. Maybe Van Damme lost some speed too.

As for the story and characters... i think this is where the movie hurt the most for me. JCVD play once again a sad depressing character. On top of this the movie start with this character injured so he look even more tired and depress than other movies. Van Damme proved many thing he is good in roles that involve lots of personality and cheesy dialogue. I enjoyed so much his performances in Ennemies Closer and Welcome to the Jungle. He need to cut from the blank and depress characters, as he has not aged too well facially and look even worst when playing those roles.

Honestly he look 15 years older than the age of the character he is supposed to play in this movie.

Despite all of this, its not a bad movie. Its very basic low budget action flick, but surprisingly it revolve much more on martial arts than you would expect from JCVD in the current years which i appreciated. Sure there not the best fights filmed on screen, but its decent enough to keep you entertained. There is a few gun fights but there kept to a minimal.

Autumn Reeser is pretty decent and the other "big names" are mostly extended glorified cameos.

I would say its the kind of movie which is nice to watch once, as a rental or cable TV watch, but it won't leave a mark or anything on you and you won't remember it in T-Minus 2 days... as Jeremy would say.

JVC is Now JV

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 3/10 · 28 August 2017]

There was a time when you'd read that Jean-Claude Van Damme was in a movie and make a point of seeing it in the theater. But somewhere along the line his star fell and he began making movies that seemed destined for the land of straight to DVD. It was the same trajectory that happened to Steven Seagal which makes you wonder why the two haven't made a series of films together.

If you look at his list of credits his last good movie was probably JCVD out in 2008. Prior to that one you have to go back to SUDDEN DEATH in 1995. Yes, he's made a number of pictures since then and even had the role of lead villain in THE EXPENDABLES 2, but he's never followed up on the potential displayed in his earlier films. It may be in part due to his reputation as an egomaniac or it may be bad management has placed him in poorly made movies. But the fact is this film will not elevate his status.

Here he stars as a man with no memory who enters an ER in a hospital about to close its doors. With a limited staff on hand they do their best to patch up this severely wounded man and discover who he is. One nurse named Suzanne (Autumn Reeser) stays with him to help and eventually aids him when a group of killers arrive to take him out, finding out that his name is Phillip. Randomly killing anyone in the ER they track down Phillip and the nurse as he takes them on one at a time. Even wounded he can handle those sent to kill him.

Most of this is told in flashback as Suzanne is questioned by two FBI agents, Agent Mark Holman (Peter Stormare) and Agent Linda Sanders (Maria Conchita Alonso). Several things about her questioning seemed odd to me and stemmed from a poor script being used. Both agents seem adversarial to Suzanne as they question her, especially Holman. As a victim in a mass shooting incident one would think they would be a little more sympathetic and less accusatory. The other odd thing, and maybe this is just my personal problem, is finding two agents in the FBI whose accents are as thick as seen here. Again, that could just be me.

Very little is believable here and most of it doesn't play out well in any way you look at it. The pacing is up and down and never straight through. Van Damme does little acting and his martial arts techniques have been on display for years. The film tries to redeem itself with a SPOILER ALERT ending that is reminiscent of THE USUAL SUSPECTS. But even that can't save the entire project. For a movie to be good you have to give us something worth watching other than the last 5-10 minutes.

Perhaps one day a studio will call up both Van Damme and Segal to do a joint venture, a film with a decent script that allows both of them to show they do have the ability to act and to offer on screen fighting skills that both shared with audiences at the zenith of their careers. This film has a problem just doing that with one of them. If I were Van Damme I'd set my ego aside and also hire new management. Until that happens he'll find himself in films like this one.

Van Damme in ER

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 11 September 2017]

Jean Claude Van Damme is getting old, so he needs to take it easy these days with the action scenes. Here he shares the action with Autumn Reeser.

Van Damme plays Philip who ends up wounded at a hospital in America. Reeser plays Suzanne, an ER nurse who is patching him up when a bunch of European bad guys arrive and cause mayhem. Philip ends up saving Suzannne's life instead.

The film is told in flashback as Suzanne is being interrogated by two FBI agents. You will quickly gather that the film has an unreliable narrator and you can kind of guess the twist in The Usual Suspects kind of way.

The film wants to make some kind of statement about the break up of the former Yugoslavia, I thought the time span was all over the place.

Please focus on the fights!

[dschlatter · 5/10 · 9 October 2017]

Some people wrote that one cannot expect "Hard Target"- like quality from an aged van Damme. Well, I agree that it's difficult to work with a small budget. A small budget film won't look like a Marvel production, period. Why don't the people involved focus on fight choreography instead? I don't get it. JCVD's age shouldn't matter. Fighting is where the film crew could score points but they don't. It seems like very few people in Hollywood actually get what a beautiful fight could look like. In the words of America's orange clown: SAD! Please watch some old Jackie Chan movies and make fighting visually entertaining again. Nobody cares about a story in a B-Movie. Not really, anyway. We, the old fans of JCVD, just wanna see him perform martial arts. That's it!