Double Team

Director - Hark Tsui (Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame, The Swordsman)
Starring - Jean-Claude Van Damme (Bloodsport, Kickboxer), Dennis Rodman (3rd Rock from the Sun, Baywatch), and Mickey Rourke (Sin City, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man)
Release Date - 1997
Genre - Action/Comedy
Tagline - "They don't play by the rules"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Last week I took a week off work.  Covid-19 has wrecked the world and left many of us in uncertainty.  I took the vacation so I could help my wife with housework and the children where she has been stuck at home for several weeks with schools shut down.  Looks like I took vacation at the wrong time due to the changing work climate at the company I work for.  My job was taking safety precautions before when all this started but has now shifted to focus more on sales.  I needed to take my mind off all this so I tossed in some cheesy action flicks that was sent over from Mill Creek Entertainment.  The first I put on the chopping block is the 1997 action comedy Double Team starring the unlikely paring of action super star JCVD and Bulls legend Dennis Rodman.  I remembered renting this on tape as a could and was looking forward to spinning it again.

     The film follows secret agent Jack Quinn (JCVD) who is unable to capture an international terrorist and is demoted after a horrible fight has left his body broken.  When a series of terrorist attacks shocks the globe he discovers that the man that escaped him before is back and now has his wife who is due any day now with their son.  Jack teams up with arms dealer Yaz (Rodman) who agrees to help him for a substantial sum of money.

     I remembered liking how crazy and over the top this film was when I was younger but after revisiting it some 20 years later I can safely say that it did not hold up.  In fact, the cheap action and cheesy dialogue is far from fun and just comes across as cringy.  Regardless, the movie was not as entertaining as I remembered but it did have a few cool moments.  The acting in this one is what you would expect from a JCVD flick co-starring the most eccentric man in sports.  The dialogue is given unemotionally and unenthused while the action is dialed up to 11.  It makes the scenes feel uneven and off balance.  The cast is clearly there for the check and make no attempt at delivering memorable characters and unforgettable performances for the viewer.  This was on the back end of JCVD's popularity and his head was bigger than his acting skills.  The story for this one is one we have seen countless times before.  We follow an agent trying to stop a global terrorist from killing thousands, if not millions, of people.  We've seen the Bond films tackle this same story along with action stars like Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Dolph Lundgren, Stallone, and so on.  It's a popular action story but Double Team doesn't deliver anything new or authentic to make it their own.  Just shove mediocrity down our throats along with one liners that were not funny.  Finally, those of you looking explosions, gun fights, and some martial arts fights you will find them but you will also find that they are done in such a manner that they bring very little joy to the viewer.  Overall, Double Team is a cash grab and that's about it.  I love cheap action flicks with boobs and bad acting but this one is a struggle to finish.  The humor does find it's mark, along with the unintentional humor, but the overall film is a tough watch.