Tom Jolliffe mans up in preparation for The Expendables 2, taking in an overdose of explosive action cinema with ‘The Jean-Claude Van Damme Rampage’…
The Muscles from Brussels left his native Belgium for the US with nothing but hopes, dreams and the ability to do the splits. He became an action icon with his breakout film, Bloodsport. Van Damme’s career blossomed in the late 80s and early 90s before dwindling under the weight of addiction, erratic behaviour and poor career choices.
As Jean-Claude has matured, so too have his performances. He’s improved as an actor and offers something different to many of his fellow action heroes. With the plum role of main villain in The Expendables 2, Jean-Claude has the opportunity to not only steal the movie, but remind audiences of his high kicking exploits.
Tighten your buns, get your black silk underwear, and slaver plenty of gel on your mullet because it’s time for the ice cold refreshment of the Jean-Claude Van Damme Rampage:
Hard Target:
This is one of Van Damme’s best films. Not only does he play something of an enigmatic and more sensitive than normal character, but it’s John Woo’s Hollywood debut. Woo is renowned for his high octane, expertly choreographed action sequences. Hard Target still remains the one stateside film of Woo’s that comes close to the sheer carnage and relentless stylised violence of his Hong Kong classics like Hard Boiled and The Killer. Face/Off may have the more elaborate plot and more stellar cast but the sheer epicness of Hard Target’s finale is the sort of crazy shootout that John Woo will probably never produce again.
Van Damme dons his best denims and his best greasy mullet to open up a few cans of whoop-ass. There’s so much action in Hard Target, with such a simple premise. In addition there’s a really decent pair of villains with Lance Henriksen and Arnold Vosloo both suitably intense. Van Damme’s trademark kicks are also matched brilliantly by Woo’s trademark style and they’ve probably never looked as majestic as here.
Best Kill:
Tough choice, as generally, JC de-lifes the bad guys with such aplomb here. Arnold Vosloo and Lance Henriksen both get memorably dispatched but it’s Lance’s departure that wins by a shade; grenade down the trousers followed by a head butt that sends him flying 20 feet in the air. He tries in vein to disarm the grenade but a spark and it’s all she wrote!
AWOL (Lionheart):
Jean-Claude’s done quite a few films that feature him fighting in tournaments or for money. Here, Van Damme, having deserted from the Legion, takes to the underground fighting circuit to try and earn money for his recently deceased brother’s family.
AWOL is brilliant. I have to be honest here. Very few films have made me shed a tear, and hell knows why, but this is one of them. Claude’s just beaten a beast of a villain called Attila and is being taken back to the Legion, away from his new found family. His little niece played by Ashley Johnson, complete with an Annie fro, looks heartbroken. His cold as ice captors lead him away and out of sight as the girl stands waiting at the door. But the baddies have a change of heart and let Van Damme go, and to a crescendo of music, Jean Claude appears in the distance running back to his family and yep… it all got too much for me. Yes, a Jean-Claude Van Damme film made me cry.
Un-manly tears of shame aside, the film has plenty of vintage Van Damme fight scenes. Then there’s co-star Harrison Page as Joshua, who befriends Van Damme in the film. He really adds heart to this with a performance of charisma and pathos.
Best Kill:
Van Damme’s brother is a drug dealer who is doused in petrol and set alight. He doesn’t die straight away – he waits until Van Damme escapes from the Foreign Legion and gets all the way to America and dies just before seeing him.
Second in Command:
Van Damme was well and truly into the dark caverns of straight-to-video world by the time Second in Command came out. Despite this, he managed to mature as an actor, particularly in Wake of Death. It marked a move for Jean-Claude away from characters who were fairly simple and morally one dimensional to those with a darker edge, haunted pasts and driven by darker desires such as revenge.
Second in Command fails to sparkle. It’s mediocre and never pushes Van Damme in the same way as Wake of Death or In Hell (not that these are works of art or anything!). Lifeless, flat and devoid of any of the tension required, this lacks punch and enough action to make this one of JC’s essential viewings. There’s no flair to the direction and it’s a film almost a symptom of its time stylistically with lots of handheld shots, crash zooms and shaky cam. It’s all rote.
However, Jean-Claude gives a bit of soul to his character and the finale packs in a decent amount of action (though some unfortunately horrific CGI mars this somewhat).
Best Kill:
Jean-Claude takes on the terrorist leader in a knife fight. Jean-Claude wins.
Until Death:
Until Death was a brave choice of film for Van Damme. Gone were the high kicks, morality and infallibility of your typical Jean-Claude action hero character. Instead, Claude plays dirty cop who’s spiralling into self-destruction. A heroin addict who’s losing a hold of his career and his marriage, whilst obsessing about taking down his ex-partner (Stephen Rea) who has now become a crime kingpin.
This film delves into some dark territory, and though we’ve seen this sort of thing before – and better – Until Death is still a pretty decent 70s style gritty action thriller. Some poor plotting, lapses in realism and logic let this down somewhat, but Van Damme’s committed performance carries the movie. He’s really good here. All trace of ego goes and he really immerses himself into a role of ugly outer and inner appearance. The real shame is that the other performers don’t come up to his level. It’s almost treated as a job to the remainder of the cast, although Stephen Rea (The Crying Game) is a decent villain, gobbling scenery in his all too few scenes.
The second half of the film isn’t as strong as the first as it shifts from Bad Lieutenant to Regarding Henry with its plot. A good finale helps end it with a bang though.
Best Kill:
Van Damme gets shot in the head and lives, and when it comes time to return the favour to the man who shot him, Claude shows how it’s done!
The Dolph Lundgren Rampage
The Jason Statham Rampage
The Sylvester Stallone Rampage
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Rampage
The Chuck Norris Rampage
Tom Jolliffe
External resource for heroin detoxification: http://www.detox.net/articles/heroin-detox/
