Sunday, December 14, 2008

Jason watches "JCVD"

As in, Jean-Claude Van Damme. And he's a total trouper in this self-mocking movie where he plays himself, struggling with aging, divorce, custody, and legal debt. So he takes a little vacation to his native Belgium, where he's still a hero. He goes to the post office to pick up a wire money transfer, and stumbles onto a robbery/hostage situation. Worse yet, when the robbers force him to help move a cabinet to block a window, the cops mistakenly think he's the robber, the news gets word of this, and legions of his fans show up outside. He has some ideas from his movies to help (help the robbers, so they won't make a bad situation worse), but mostly he's as powerless as any hostage. It's really a long joke about the difference between movies and reality, and at times it gets surprisingly bitter (there's a breaking-the-fourth-wall monologue that's the heart of the movie and seems shockingly sincere and angry). Yeah, I have new respect for the Muscles from Brussels. Maybe not enough to look forward to "Universal Soldiers III", but enough to enjoy this movie.

2 comments:

baceman007 said...

You mean you were ok with watching Universal Soldier I and II?

puppymeat said...

Okay, confession time. I've never seen Universal Soldier I or II. I was just surprised when I went on IMDb and saw part III was in production. In fact, I was surprised to learn that JCVD has in fact worked very, very regularly, without any real lull. It's just his movies aren't being shown in American multiplexes. Probably just as well.