Universal Soldier: Regeneration comes as a nice surprise. The story takes place in the deserted town of Tsernobyl, Russia, and even adds some new elements to the story. The look of the movie is dark, colourless and grim. The Unisol characters of both Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren are what they are supposed to be: confused psychos who are haunted by nightmares and unanswerable questions about life. They're not your ordinairy hero and villain. Only medicine can control Van Damme. But not being able of being the man (or animal) he wants to be, destroys him from the inside.
Van Damme and Lundgren look old in this movie, but that does not hurt a bit. Their final clash is actually very well done. First time director John Hyams even manages to give their re-acquaintance an almost mythical quality.
There's almost no musical score in this movie. Abstract sounds accompany the images of a dead and destroyed town and I think that worked very well. The fighting machine that in the end takes over Van Damme delivers some brutal violence, which pretty much reminds us of the last John Rambo movie.
This last Universal Soldier sometimes even looks like an anti-action movie. I think director John Hyams succeeded in delivering an interesting and original movie, that deserves more than a direct-to-DVD audience. Lets keep an eye on John Hyams, because when your first movie looks like this, we can expect a lot more from him in the future! 7/10
Van Damme and Lundgren look old in this movie, but that does not hurt a bit. Their final clash is actually very well done. First time director John Hyams even manages to give their re-acquaintance an almost mythical quality.
There's almost no musical score in this movie. Abstract sounds accompany the images of a dead and destroyed town and I think that worked very well. The fighting machine that in the end takes over Van Damme delivers some brutal violence, which pretty much reminds us of the last John Rambo movie.
This last Universal Soldier sometimes even looks like an anti-action movie. I think director John Hyams succeeded in delivering an interesting and original movie, that deserves more than a direct-to-DVD audience. Lets keep an eye on John Hyams, because when your first movie looks like this, we can expect a lot more from him in the future! 7/10