Right from the beginning I could see that this movie was going to be a Die Hard clone, which is not surprising because Die Hard was a very successful movie and created a trend that followed on behind it. The action in the movie was good but the plot seriously sucked. Basically there were so many holes in the plot that it created a movie that you only go and see for Van Damme, and I don't think that he is that great anyway. If you are wanting to see Van Damme's moves, then this is not the movie to see them in. In fact, if you simply want to see good fighting, hire out a Hong Kong video - there generally tends to be much better moves in them.
The vice president is going to the Ice Hockey finals and some guy, the movie really never actually explains who he is, only that he knows the government security operations very well, holds him hostage so that he can force the president to remove money from frozen bank accounts. The problem is that they grab a nosey little girl who turns out to be Van Damme's daughter, and that brings him into it.
Van Damme's character is a fireman who quit after a girl died in his arms. Now, the thing that annoyed me is that they showed this part, and it really had nothing to do with the movie. It could have just as easily been explained afterwards than to show it. I think that it would have been much better for the plot line if they spent some time describing who Foss, the antagonist, was. They dropped hints but they never actually went as far as outlining everything. Some might say that it is not important because this is an action movie, but I think it is. It makes for a very poor movie to simply disregard plot for action.
Sudden Death is a better Van Damme movie and I enjoyed it. All but this stupid sporting commentator in the booth, but then this is what you expect from commentators. I generally do not watch sports because first I find them boring, but mostly because the commentators are prone to say the stupidest things. These guys tried to make themselves look tough, when they really just didn't think about what they were saying. Actually, it was even worse because it was scripted.
I liked it, and I am sure Van Damme fanatics would love it. Personally I would rather go back to the original Die Hard. That is a finely crafted movie.
The vice president is going to the Ice Hockey finals and some guy, the movie really never actually explains who he is, only that he knows the government security operations very well, holds him hostage so that he can force the president to remove money from frozen bank accounts. The problem is that they grab a nosey little girl who turns out to be Van Damme's daughter, and that brings him into it.
Van Damme's character is a fireman who quit after a girl died in his arms. Now, the thing that annoyed me is that they showed this part, and it really had nothing to do with the movie. It could have just as easily been explained afterwards than to show it. I think that it would have been much better for the plot line if they spent some time describing who Foss, the antagonist, was. They dropped hints but they never actually went as far as outlining everything. Some might say that it is not important because this is an action movie, but I think it is. It makes for a very poor movie to simply disregard plot for action.
Sudden Death is a better Van Damme movie and I enjoyed it. All but this stupid sporting commentator in the booth, but then this is what you expect from commentators. I generally do not watch sports because first I find them boring, but mostly because the commentators are prone to say the stupidest things. These guys tried to make themselves look tough, when they really just didn't think about what they were saying. Actually, it was even worse because it was scripted.
I liked it, and I am sure Van Damme fanatics would love it. Personally I would rather go back to the original Die Hard. That is a finely crafted movie.