Hard Corps

"The Hard Corps" came out only three months after "Second In Command". That was fast. The plot is: Phillip Sauvage (Van Damme) is hired to be a bodyguard for a heavyweight boxer named Wayne Barclay (Raz Adoti) who is receiving death threats from gangsta Terrell Singeltery (Viv Leacock). Sauvage not only has to protect Wayne, but also his sister Tamara (Fox).

The movie is fast-paced at 110 minutes, but it still could be edited a bit. One character named Leonard, who is Terrell's nephew, is annoying and has way too much screen time. Besides that, the movie has some good action sequences, including the Uzi gun battle in a parking lot, and a excellent fight between Wayne and Phillip. It shows Van Damme can still kick ass any time.

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The movie is not that bad. It's probably one of the best Van Damme did since (the Van Damme mania time). But it doesn't beat the time when he was everywhere. The money is one reason for sure. They are all B-Movies so the money's not in it that much so. But VD does play well and most of the cast too. I do miss the AMAZING VAN DAMME but who knows, maybe he lost it a bit. He's not that young so...I don't know I'm just saying he doesn't fight like BLOODSPORT,KICKBOXER or DOUBLE IMPACT time. The action is more like street fighting,shooting or boxing. There isn't any VD karate extra moves in it so...Don't look for that. He fight but...Streetfighting kinda moves.

Give it a try it's still worth watching. I've see a lot worst. Still..I give a 7/10.

I have to admit that around Maximum Risk and Knockoff (late 90's era JCVD), Jean-Claude lost me. I found no enjoyment in either of those films, and while I absolutely loved Double Team (1997), anything after went straight to home video, which usually means low-quality films, and that's just never a good sign. I did try a few of his films here and there, but I could never sit through one completely. They just weren't any good. So I pretty much strayed from him films until 2008's JCVD. But even then, with his career seemingly at a resurgence, nothing that came after that was any good either. In fact, the only thing I actually liked from him in the last 20 years is easily the Amazon show pilot for Van Johnson, where he was just absolutely brilliant. I haven't heard anything new about it yet, but I do hope it gets picked up for a series.

Philippe Savauge (JCVD), an army vet suffering from PTSD, is hired as a bodyguard for local boxing champ Wayne Barclay (Razaaq Adoti). When a local drug kingpin, Terrell Singletery (Viv Leacock) is released from a prison stint, he sets his sights on exacting revenge on Barclay from a long-running feud. Savauge soon realizes he has his work cut out for him and things get even more complicated when it seems like Barclay's sister and manager Tamara (Vivica A. Fox) might have a thing for Savauge.

The Hard Corpse reunites Van Damme with his Lionheart and Double Impact writer/director Sheldon Lettich, and honestly, that was the only selling point for me to actually make the effort to watch this. Sure it had been many, many years since either of them had a hit, but I went in hopeful. And you know, it wasn't bad. Not at all the kind of film I was expecting, but it wasn't terrible either. It was shockingly able to keep my attention even though it ultimately ended up being the kind of film that I don't necessarily seek out. And after having seen it, it's not a film I will probably ever watch again and won't go down as one of Jean-Claude's better films.

There's really not much motivation for you to actually check this out, unless you're a die hard completest of JCVD films. There's really not a lot of action, and you only ever see him use his martial arts skills during one scene in the film. Even then, it comes across so "blah". You'd never know these two (Lettich and Van Damme) were the same team behind some of his earlier classics like Bloodsport, Lionheart and Double Impact (a personal favorite). But still, it's not a bad film. Just not a good or enjoyable one. Sheldon Lettich, while one of the few who spearheaded the whole martial arts/action movement in the late 80's to early 90's has clearly lost his mojo by this film. While he would only ever direct 8 films in his career, this would be his last. What makes the experience more trying is that Van Damme just looks so tired and uninterested here. He literally looks like he couldn't give a damn anymore than he already does and comes across as completely bored and unmotivated. Sad day indeed. Not one of his worst, but you can certainly find a better way to spend an hour and a half of your time. www.robotGEEKSCultCinema.blogspot.com

This film just lets itself down towards the end. From the start I thought maybe this one was going to be different and not the same as Vann Damme has been doing for the last 5 years, which has been in most cases disappointing. But these films seem not have the stamina to finish the race, and the plot seems a little hard to swallow. But I do like Vann Damme's idea of moving away from the action, more for the acting but he needs to find the right material or its just a waste of time. In closing quite a lot of things were bad from the make-up to the acting. Vivica A. Fox who did your make-up girl, they need shooting. Your not missing anything new by missing this one.

Hard Corps reunites Jean-Claude Van Damme with frequent collaborator Sheldon Lettich for the 4th time.The first time was 1991's Lionheart,followed by the classic Double impact,until 2001's interesting,but flawed The Order.Hard Corps is a nice return to form for the talented director who should clearly be making more movies than he has.

On one side we have battle-traumatized soldier Phillip Savuage(JCVD) who lands a gig as a bodyguard to a head-strong(but well to due) Boxer named Barclay(Raz Adoti) all the while answering to his sister played by Vivica Fox.Tensions arise when a Gangster with an army of thugs put away by Barclay is released from jail wanting serious payback.Can Savauge rise to occasion?

The production looks like a medium-budget movie.Good photography and locations add to the "american" look of the movie.

We get a lot of character detail.Some nice fights.especially the Savauge/Barclay throw-down.Some nice humor involving rap music form critic Savuage.A rather Macabe scene that revolves around the "feeding" of Singleterry's dogs.

HCs gives JCVD a fully rounded character for once.There is a nice sub-plot that is handled very well involving his character's battle record and misplaced guilt.He still has the chops that developed very well at the start of Replicant and shined through WoD.He is a way more subtle here though.Why can't Hollywood see this?

Vivica Fox is very commanding and reactive.Charming as well.She has some nice Chemistry with JCVD.Shame she does not get to go Kill Bill for a few scenes though.Raz Adoti is very likable as the Boxer-turned-entrepreneur.He gets better in every movie he is in. As gangster Singleterry Viv Leacock gets to set on the sidelines and bark orders and does not make that imposing of a villain.That part is left to the imposing Ron Selmore.The supporting cast is good.

The only real fault is that the action scenes are far and few between scenes.At 110 minutes you would think there would be more.A lot of opportunities end up wasted.I was expecting a little more myself after some of the stand-out action seen in Hell and WOD.

However no bad CGI Trains,helicopters,Jets,Moths,or bad slow-motion is nice for once.

7.5/10