Jean-Claude Van Damme’s best performance is in this haunting action thriller

The 1980s saw the birth of many of the most popular action stars of all time, including Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, And Harrison FordWhile each of these stars has at least flirted with more prestigious projects over the course of their careers, Jean-Claude Van Damme apparently had no illusions about the quality of the films he appears in. Films like Bloodsport, Double Impact, Timecop, or Lion Heart may not be everyone’s idea of ​​”great cinema,” but they certainly benefited from the impressive physicality and unique charisma that Van Damme was always ready to bring to the screen. Van Damme’s history in B-movies made his dramatic turn in the Legacy sequel Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning even more of a revelation.

The term “legacy sequel” is often used by studios to describe long-awaited sequels in which older cast members return in a respective franchise. While technically, films like Top Shooter: Maverick, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Believeand the youngest Halloween The reboot trilogies push their continuities forward, they are actually just a “highlight series” of past successes, aimed at introducing the characters to a younger generation. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning turned the original premise of the franchise on its headallowing Van Damme to deliver one of the most unique performances of his entire career.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

In Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, the story takes a darker turn when John, played by Scott Adkins, awakens from a coma to find his wife and daughter murdered in a burglary. John’s quest for revenge leads him into a labyrinth of secrets that calls into question his identity and his place in the Universal Soldier program.

Release date

October 4, 2012

Duration

93

Authors

John Hyams, Doug Magnuson, Jon Greenhalgh, Moshe Diamant, Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch

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What is Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning about?

Universal Soldier has one of the strangest timelines of any science fiction franchise. The original film from 1992 Roland Emmerich was nothing more than a generic rip-off of James Cameronwork on The Terminator franchise, albeit with far less charm or intelligence. Van Damme played former Vietnam War veteran Luc Deveraux, whose mind is taken over by the U.S. military to turn him into a relentless killing squad. When his former rival, private Sergeant Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), is also resurrected, Deveraux must become a hero. Scott wants to burn the nation to the ground, but Deveraux hasn’t broken the oaths of loyalty he swore while serving. It’s a pretty easy excuse for two muscle-bound action stars to trade blows, and certainly wouldn’t land on any list of the decade’s best.

Although Universal Soldier A series of largely forgettable direct-to-DVD sequels followed, but in 2009 the franchise changed when creative control was taken over by John Hyamsthe son of the celebrated 2010: The year we made contact director Peter Hyams. Hyams’ film Universal Soldier: Regeneration showed an older Deveraux returning to the field while dealing with the severe trauma of his past crimes. While Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is stylistically closer to modern action films like the Bourne Franchise, It’s more of a psychological horror film about the evils of toxic masculinity. Strangely enough, a silly action film like Universal Soldier became an existential thriller that gave filmmakers like David Lynch, Paul Verhoeven, Alejandro Jodorowsky, And Nicolas Winding Refn.

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Jean-Claude Van Damme is terrifying in “Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning”

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning undermined expectations by Turning Van Damme into a villaina role he almost never played. The film introduces the new soldier John (Scott Adkins), whose family is murdered by Deveraux in an opening scene that bears strong similarities to the Michael Haneke Horror movie Funny Games. John then sets out on a quest for revenge to track down Deveraux, who has begun to build a cult of violent extremists who worship him as a leader. It’s admirable that someone as known for his heroic roles as Deveraux was able to “go wrong” in one of the roles that made him an icon in the first place.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning uses Van Damme’s impressive qualities to essentially turn him into a slasher villain. Although he has been criticized in the past for his portrayal of emotionally cold characters, these traits fit perfectly with his new interpretation of Deveraux; the character no longer adheres to a code of chivalry and is only defined by the violence he can inflict on others. Van Damme manages to use his enigmatic traits to become the spiritual leader of a generation of men who follow him obsessively. At the end of the film, he even wears the same type of war makeup as Marlon Brando did, as Colonel Kurtz did at the end Apocalypse now.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is a better actor than people give him credit for

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning has a important message about the cyclical nature of violence which is made even more powerful by Van Damme’s portrayal. In the story, Deveraux’s followers are drawn to violence as a form of expressionism because of the template he created for them. It serves as a condensation of viewers taking what they see too seriously and trying to imitate the characters they see on screen. This suggests that Van Damme was aware of the cultural impact that the Universal Soldier franchise had and was willing to subvert expectations by changing the genre. It speaks to his courage as an artist that he was willing to give the material such a dramatic twist. It is a far more psychologically profound project than many of the other films he has been a part of.

The most impressive thing about Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is this Van Damme gets the chance to deliver a real performance that is not just based on his physicality. This is one of his underrated virtues, often overlooked when discussing retrospectives of his career, as Van Damme managed to deliver a surprising dramatic performance in the semi-autobiographical film : JCVD. Although many of his films are considered “so bad they’re good” classics, Van Damme showed that he had the ability to fully immerse himself in a character, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning can be streamed on Pluto TV in the US

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