Mike sees an old hero anew in JCVD
Hands up who likes Jean-Claude Van Damme... come on kids, don't be shy! OK... that's not a bad showing, and I'm sure some of you are just not going to admit. So next, keep your hand up if you like him because of his quality acting talents and nose for a quality script... Thought so. Well on those results, I'm tempted to suggest that the 'muscles from Brussels' has become a bit of a novelty. A kitsch figure whose appeal comes from the obscure figure he cuts among his 80s action peer friends who include the success stories that are Senator Scwarzenegger and Steroids Stallone. He's the guy who was in that movie about a kickboxer, where he hit a coconut tree or something, and also played a dude from STREET FIGHTER. He's also become a bit of a drunk. And apparently his kids hate him. If this has started to depress you then I'm sorry. But there is light at the end of the tunnel! No I didn't mean suicide, you morbid bastard. It turns out that this tragedy of the entertainment world has actually been turned around into a recipe for a quirky postmodern take on the existence of action heroes, so hurrah for the art of cinema for reviving Jean-Claude's screen career from the world of straight-to-DVD movies! NATIONALITY? Writer/director Mabrouk El Mechri has taken all of the corny fight flicks and parodied them in a story that is as lame as it is comic genius. We see Van Damme accidentally walk in on a bank robbery and end up in a word of trouble that has far reaching consequences. Whilst the silliness seasoned with heavy doses of irony make the film enjoyable, it's the far reaching consequences that really make it worth watching. JCVD isn't just a new money-spinner you see, it's actually a redemption movie on the scale of THE WRESTLER - Darren Aronofsky's giant therapy session for one Mr Rourke. The depths we are allowed to plunge into the lead's own life is really to be applauded, and one scene which see him deliver a heartfelt monologue about his past misdemeanours directly to the audience is more than just a pretentious gimmick, it's really an emotional moment. So perhaps the big man should, like Mickey Rourke, be given this last chance to prove himself to the movie-watching public. He's won me back, that's for sure.