Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

Led by Luc Devereaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) a cloned UniSol Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) are now wanted by the government who will do anything to find them a wipe out their UniSol army for good.

Universal Soldier fans maybe left scratching their heads, however, sci- fi action fans looking for slick, stylish direction with hard hitting violence and a Philip K. Dick tone - in the vain of Impostor (2001) maybe impressed by director John Hyams offering.

While not a fun hammy 90s hit like it's original this is smaller personal story adds another angle on UniSol. Reckoning may have benefited from being a stand alone low budget Dredd/Memento/Bourne-like film as it's so far removed to the original's feel.

This is actor/stuntman Scott Adkins film with very limited screen-time for Van Damme or Lundgren which isn't such a bad thing as their characters have become dismembered to those in the first outing. Nevertheless, Adkins as John carries it under Hyams games console shoot 'em up direction. While this film may not be Adkins Jason Statham 'star vehicle' it shows he's a convincing action man with some range of emotion to match as John goes on his hunt for Devereaux in some Apocalypse Now (1979) homage of sorts.

With excellent camera-work, lighting, stunts, ambiguous script, perfect moody atmosphere it's not a normal action film - and with nudity, blood and horror like gore it's not for the faint hearted either.

Don't expect a rehash or even the Universal Soldier you fell in love with and you may be surprised by this basic, dark, testosterone injected ride.

Now somebody needs to remake 1987's cheese-fest Dead Prey with Adkins as the lead.

-Plot : Strange follow-up with three veteran but exceptional action men : Van Damme as Luc Deveraux , Lundgren as Andrew Scott and Scott Adkins as John . With top-secret technology, the undercover agency has created a next-generation Universal Soldier - an elite fighter genetically altered into a programmable killing machine , forming a tough army of genetically enhanced warriors . With this "UniSol" Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) leading the way, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski , and Dolph Lundgren , both of them are threatening to unleash a world rebellion . The only one who can stop them is John (Scott Adkins) , a UniSol who's been decommissioned for years and living an easy family life . John looks to take down Luc Deveraux after a home invasion claims his wife and daughter. The fight pits John against Andrew Scott and an army of genetically enhanced warriors ; meanwhile, he must contend with a UniSol in relentless pursuit . John must make a full-out assault on the heavily armed hideout . But inside, John'll discover these virtually indestructible warriors . Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), Deveraux's (Luc Deveraux's codename in the UNISOL program is GR44) vicious UniSol enemy from the original Universal Soldier, have been secretly reanimated , upgraded and leading a riot . As Deveraux has emerged operating the Unisol Church of Eventualism, taking in wayward Unisols whom the government has been secretly operating as remote-controlled sleeper agents . Luc is preparing to government overthrow and build a new order ruled by Unisols without state control . Now, these elite fighters led by Deveraux are loaded and programmed to kill; and the fate of millions hinges on this high-action showdown . John carries out a dangerous travel until the fateful meeting with Luc Deveraux (in similar role to General Kurtz/Brando from Apocalypse now, about a boss turned crazy) who has gone murderer and nut .

-Comment : This moving picture contains noisy action , thrills , shootouts and fierce combats in brutal, life-and-death style . This exciting story by the same director John Hyams& Doug Magnuson and Jon Greenhalgh and producer Moshe Diamant deals with a strange journey proceeded by John to investigate his origins and discover the family killing until find out the terrible truth . The starring's travel is narrated as a surrealist odyssey leading to the dreadful and violent final but when the protagonist find Luc Deveraux the scenarios are darkest and gloomiest . Thrilling screenplay dispenses absurd excitement as well as violence and lots of fights . Acceptable action movie full of struggles , crossfire and tension , this is a stylized action-suspense film , though there are some slow-moving scenes . The tension of this picture keeps snowballing as the clock ticks ever close for a groundbreaking as well as spectacular final . Jean-Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins have some scenes together at an impressive fighting . Dolph Lundgren filmed his parts for the movie in just 5 days, whilst Jean-Claude Van Damme filmed for 20 days , though they have no scenes together. The director, John Hyams, is son of notorious cameraman and filmmaker Peter Hyams . However , P.J. Pesce was considered to direct the movie and Simon Fellows was originally signed to direct but he was replaced during pre-production . Released theatrically in a few countries and Direct-To-Video (DVD & Blu-ray) in the rest of the world . Filmmaker John Hyams quickly understood the freedom and malleability that direct to video presents and has gone about creating some incredibly interesting genre fare. According to director John Hyams, the fight between Scott Adkins and Jean-Claude Van Damme was designed to be much flashier and more acrobatic but had to be redesigned when Adkins tore a ligament in his knee prior to filming . Hyams made his feature length film in 1997 when wrote, directed, and produced the critically acclaimed "One Dog Day," , he subsequently filmed ¨Universal Soldier: Regeneration¨ , this ¨Day of reckoning¨ and ¨Dragon Eyes¨ , in which displayed an acute understanding of the action genre .

-Universal Soldier Series : being based on Christopher Leitch and Dean Devlin characters , they are the followings : The best film of the series was the original ¨Universal soldier¨ by Roland Emmerich with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Dolph Lundgren , Ally Walker , Ed O'Ross ; it was followed by ¨Universal soldier : the return¨ with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Michael Jai White , Heidi Schanz , Xander Berkeley and Justin Lazard as subsequent Universal Soldier films ignore the events of The Return and outright contradict it in a number of ways ; while still an official entry, it is no longer considered part of the series canon . ¨Universal Sodier : Regeneration¨ by John Hyams with Van Damme , Dolph Lundgren , Andrei Arlovski and ¨Universal soldier : day of reckoning¨(2012) by John Hyams with Scott Adkins , Andrei 'The Pit Bull' Arlovski , Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme , but here they have not scenes together . And two TV films : ¨Universal soldier : Brothers in arms¨ (1998) by Jeff Woolnough with Matt Battaglia , Gary Busey , Burt Reynolds , Richard McMillan and Chandra West and ¨Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business¨ (1999) by Jeff Woolnough with Burt Reynolds Juan Chioran , Claudette Roche and Matt Battaglia .

The new Unisol film is a surprisingly fresh take on an old franchise. The tone of the movie is completely different from the previous entries that it's hard to compare to its predecessors.

Our hero, john (Scott Adkins), awakes to find intruders in his home who kill his wife and daughter. After spending several months in a coma John awakes with a memory loss, only remembering the man who murdered his family, Luc Devreux (Van Damme). The storyline then becomes less comprehensive as we tag along John as he tries to piece everything. The main problem is that nothing is answered, the back story remains hidden and the characters motivations are left unexplained. The movie also suffers from bad pacing, the first half being painstakingly slow with no action happening for the first half of the movie.

The good news are that the second half features some badass action sequences and the R rating is used fully, it's a gory movie as it should be. Even though the frequent use of slo-mo is tiring, it doesn't ruin the experience. Too bad all of it is packed in the final scenes of the movie.

The movie draws inspiration from different places, from video games to horror movies to Apocalypse Now (you won't miss it), the unique style sets this movie apart from the others but it doesn't help the thin plot or anemic characters.

Universal Soldier 4: Day of Reckoning is unique and fresh and I applaud the director for taking a different approach. Adkins does a great job and proves his more than a stuntman. JVCD and Lundgren's roles are smaller than you would expect, but it's a treat to see them on screen again. The lack of a comprehensive plot and or continuity to other films of the series is what hinders this movie from getting a higher rating.

Final score: 6 out of 10

OK this is a very odd film. It does not feel right, its hard to explain but on this film Hyams has nailed it (with help) the direction/editing/cinematography/music....its all too good for this type of film. Not long in to the film I was shocked at how good it all looked from a film structure point, its not a Alien or Godfarther standard but its far above straight to DVD movies, its far better than most big screen films. The only thing that reminds you that this is a small screen film is the cast and their acting ability's (Scott does a good job where he can), but then again if you rented this film you would not be expecting any Oscars, but when it comes to the action side they do a very good job, its very upfront and bloody. The film sits around the 7/10 area, most of these films would normally hit a 5/10 but this one picks up points for the effort that has gone in to making something more than a cheap straight to DVD film. I hope that the same guys who put this together get a bigger film with a upgrade in actors, if they can make a film that looks this good with a low budget I would like to see what happens with a few more million thrown in.

The Universal Soldier franchise as terrible as they've been must have been profitable otherwise they wouldn't have lasted. So with that in mind it begs the question, why would they overhaul the entire formula?

The Universal Soldier films have been brainless action flicks about the genetically modified undead soldiers but here it goes in a totally different direction and is no better for it.

It tells the story of a man who witnesses his wife and daughter murdered by home invaders. He wakes up from a coma and begins to investigate what happened to him, why he was targetted and the man who was responsible Luc Deveraux!

Yes thats right, Van Dammes character and the main protagonist throughout the franchise. So with Van Damme reprising and Lungren along for the ride yet again we see a brand new type of Universal Soldier movie.

Sadly it just doesn't work, though it starts strong it quickly becomes apparent that the writers had no idea where they were going with this new approach and it all falls apart. The plot is a jumbled mess and the only redeeming factor is the action which is more on point than usual.

Sadly its impossible to get past just how much of a baffling mess Day of Reckonings story is, what they've done to the two recurring characters and makes me very much hope this is the last addition to the franchise.

The Good:

Interesting opening scene

SFX are actually on point

The Bad:

Makes absolutely no sense

Major shift will not have please fans of the franchise

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Upon seeing a gun mens penis's shrivel up

This movie is NOT for epileptics

Losing half of your foot won't affect your ability to walk