There have been a lot of positive reviews about UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION (2009) but this made me very cautious. I'd read Van Damme's role was a supporting one, a contractual obligation, and that some MMA fighter called The Pitbull would be the lead, although not in a heroic role. I then learned that this would be a direct sequel, one that ignored the cartoonish UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN (1999) and had an entirely new, raw tone. I just didn't know what to make of it. The experience of the film leaves you feeling the same way, a bit unsure of quite what it was you just experienced but very, very satisfied.
This is a distinctive film, one that follows some conventions and not others. The rules are broken and anything goes. Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski gets top billing because Van Damme, while essentially the key character, only appears in a handful of scenes in the first half of the film. It's an action movie with an absent hero. Until he gets into action in the final act, Van Damme is seen only fleetingly, the main plot moving forward without him. It's peculiar because there are a large number of characters on screen but there isn't a single protagonist for us to identify with. Only "The Pitbull" commands the screen, hence top billing.
You get the impression that the plot was reworked to accommodate the limited amount of time Van Damme was prepared to devote and that's probably the case. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to raise the profile of the film further, they convinced Dolph Lundgren to make a brief return for a rematch. It worked; the film has been successfully marketed on that very promise. But while it's a great selling point, it's not the reason the film is actually very good. That's primarily because of the cinematography and the action sequences.
Obviously working with a very limited budget, director John Hyams has been able to give the film a blockbuster, cinemascope look (just as the 1992 original had) with the help of his father Peter Hyams. An experienced cinematographer and director of films with budgets vastly superior to this one. He also directed two of Van Damme's biggest movies, TIMECOP (1994) and SUDDEN DEATH (1995). There's not a touch of Hollywood glamour in the movie (even Van Damme's not the pretty boy he once was) but the fluid photography takes this way above the quality of other B-movie's with a similarly bleak Eastern European aesthetic. The locations look cheap but the standards are high.
Combining this camera-work with great choreography and editing make this a great action movie. From the very beginning you just never quite know what to expect from the movie and barely a minute passes before an excellent car chase kicks in that the makers of QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008) could learn a thing or two from. Then the fight scenes come and get better and better.
Van Damme has made an effort in recent years to grow as an actor and his dramatic scenes early on are no doubt there at his request, but while he's good in those he's great when he gets into action. Perhaps taking a cue from the opening action sequence from JCVD (2008), the final act sees Van Damme setting off on his mission in a series of well planned, long take scenes. He shoots, he stabs and he brawls. He's a force to be reckoned with.
The rematch with Lundgren, he's playing a clone of his character from the first film, only lasts a couple of minutes but you really get your money's worth. With the help of stunt doubles they battle their way through a building, literally. Through walls, windows, ceilings; it's incredible. Then Van Damme and headliner Arlovski have their face-off and it's all over. Approximately 20 minutes of incredible action leaves you stunned. We just don't expect this sort of thing from a direct-to-DVD sequel.
This is a distinctive film, one that follows some conventions and not others. The rules are broken and anything goes. Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski gets top billing because Van Damme, while essentially the key character, only appears in a handful of scenes in the first half of the film. It's an action movie with an absent hero. Until he gets into action in the final act, Van Damme is seen only fleetingly, the main plot moving forward without him. It's peculiar because there are a large number of characters on screen but there isn't a single protagonist for us to identify with. Only "The Pitbull" commands the screen, hence top billing.
You get the impression that the plot was reworked to accommodate the limited amount of time Van Damme was prepared to devote and that's probably the case. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to raise the profile of the film further, they convinced Dolph Lundgren to make a brief return for a rematch. It worked; the film has been successfully marketed on that very promise. But while it's a great selling point, it's not the reason the film is actually very good. That's primarily because of the cinematography and the action sequences.
Obviously working with a very limited budget, director John Hyams has been able to give the film a blockbuster, cinemascope look (just as the 1992 original had) with the help of his father Peter Hyams. An experienced cinematographer and director of films with budgets vastly superior to this one. He also directed two of Van Damme's biggest movies, TIMECOP (1994) and SUDDEN DEATH (1995). There's not a touch of Hollywood glamour in the movie (even Van Damme's not the pretty boy he once was) but the fluid photography takes this way above the quality of other B-movie's with a similarly bleak Eastern European aesthetic. The locations look cheap but the standards are high.
Combining this camera-work with great choreography and editing make this a great action movie. From the very beginning you just never quite know what to expect from the movie and barely a minute passes before an excellent car chase kicks in that the makers of QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008) could learn a thing or two from. Then the fight scenes come and get better and better.
Van Damme has made an effort in recent years to grow as an actor and his dramatic scenes early on are no doubt there at his request, but while he's good in those he's great when he gets into action. Perhaps taking a cue from the opening action sequence from JCVD (2008), the final act sees Van Damme setting off on his mission in a series of well planned, long take scenes. He shoots, he stabs and he brawls. He's a force to be reckoned with.
The rematch with Lundgren, he's playing a clone of his character from the first film, only lasts a couple of minutes but you really get your money's worth. With the help of stunt doubles they battle their way through a building, literally. Through walls, windows, ceilings; it's incredible. Then Van Damme and headliner Arlovski have their face-off and it's all over. Approximately 20 minutes of incredible action leaves you stunned. We just don't expect this sort of thing from a direct-to-DVD sequel.