Ringo Lam directs Jean-Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge and Zach Grenier in this action flick where a French cop pretends to be his long lost, recently deceased, twin brother to solve his murder.

This Christmas my wife told me she prefers Steven Seagal to JCVD!? I don’t have much truck with that. Though unintentional nonsense poems like this don’t help my case much. There are two good practical Euro car chases that bookend the “story” that match anything that happened in Ronin the year previous. Natasha Henstridge rewards those who stick with the proceedings with some brief nudity. Lam makes a good stab at pairing Van Damme off with combatants who at least feel like a challenge. It all washes over you though. Very little landing as the plot is so slapdash yet also formulaic… This is a movie that edges rather than excites the viewer.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Double Team (1997)