Being such an ardent Jean-Claude Van Damme fan, it's hard to believe I've only reviewed a handful of his films on this blog (No Retreat, No Surrender, Double Impact, Street Fighter, and erm...Breakin'.) Even harder to believe was that I almost missed the release of 'Assassination Games' entirely! I knew it had been made, but not until a few days prior to to it's release did I know it was coming out. A situation quickly rectified!
Van Damme plays Vincent Brazil (the latest in a long line of fantastic character names), an emotionless assassin who takes a job to take out a drug dealer, Polo Yakur (Ivan Kaye.) But another assassin (Scott Adkins) wants a piece of Yakur, as revenge for when he and his men raped and beat his wife (played by Van Damme's daughter, Bianca Van Varenburg), putting her in a comatose state that she has yet to emerge from.
After an initial confrontation, the two assassins decide to team up to take out Yakur, and the corrupt Interpol agents (one of which is played by Van Damme's son Kristopher Van Varenburg - it's a family affair this one) that are backing him. Meanwhile, Vincent helps out the prostitute living next door, starting an awkward relationship between the two, him being so cold and isolated and all.
Like most Van Damme films these days, there's nothing wholly original about the plot, and there's the usual budget cutting setting of Eastern Europe, but like most of his films, I found 'Assassination Games' to be quite entertaining. Van Damme still cuts an imposing figure, while Adkins seems quite the promising hard-man (especially considering his previous resume of stuff like Hollyoaks and Holby City.)
Of course, the bad guys are the total opposite, completely unmemorable, and utterly forgettable, only existing for the inevitable moment when the two leads take them out. I can't really complain about that though, you can't go into these films expecting much strong characterization for anyone save Van Damme and Adkins.
At one point, 'Assassination Games' was due to be a vehicle for Van Damme and Steven Seagal (which would have been amazing), Seagal dropped out and Vinnie Jones was put in the frame (which would have been dreadful), but Scott Adkins was finally cast alongside the 'Muscles From Brussels'. Adkins, of course, is joining Van Damme in the highly anticipated Expendables sequel, as well as the next installment of the Universal Soldier franchise.
'Assassination Games', though was shot very similarly to the (really quite decent) 'Universal Soldier: Regeneration', and looks really good throughout. A true mark on how well it was shot can be seen if you watch recent ITV4 documentary 'Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors' which featured some behind the scenes footage from the film, and it looked really cheap and nasty, to be honest.
'Assassination Games' will do nothing to change anyone's opinions of Van Damme and his films, but fans should enjoy the kind of solid straight to video actioner he's been doing for the last few years. Next up, will be his big screen return (not counting Kung Fu Panda 2), in Expendables 2, and he really deserves the return to the big time.
***
Nothing original, but some decent Van Dammage. Sure, his recent films may be shot on a budget, but they are full of what his fans want. Can't see the problem with that at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment