Enemies Closer - Gefährlich nah

When I first sat down to watch this movie; I was certain Jean-Claude was going to disappoint me in his old age. Boy, was I wrong. While certainly not a blockbuster, This film is sure to entertain. At first Glance, Some of the acting seemed a bit cheesy, and poorly done; take for Instance when One of our female characters meet with the protagonist, I knew something was being foreshadowed by the way they had this particular eye contact; and of course was later revealed. Not many movies nowadays I can honestly say I would enjoy viewing again, this is one of those. And Jean-Claude's ending line was hilarious; most definitely setting the movies ending.

I am so delighted to have seen this corny, lousy but enjoyable grade Z movie. It is forbidden to watch it in another way, period. So, don't see it with the same eyes you could have for a Marty Scorcese's movie. Please. The most interesting for me is of course JCVD performance, because he has here the bad guy character, and he is shown, he fights as if he was the good one. The true heroes of this feature are nearly transparent, and the film focuses on JCVD the heavy dude. Don't you find this interesting and so unusual? He has here a weird and totally f...up guy, a killer fond of nature and ecology. A killer who is, I repeat, shown as if he was the hero.

So, you see, a film can be damn bad but also be interesting.

Pure enjoyable time waster.

And, one more thing, another Die Hard scheme, not the most famous although.

Right, well having grown up watching all the action movies on the late 1980's and the 1990's, then the name Van Damme is not a stranger to me. Indeed his prime was back then, but he is still going strong and making enjoyable movies.

"Enemies Closer" is not your typical Van Damme movie. Whereas previous it was him alone taking on countless numbers of bad guys and their goons, but "Enemies Closer" differs from that. Especially given the fact that he is actually playing the bad guy here, a ruthless killer who deals in drugs.

The story in the movie is straight forward and requires absolutely nothing from the audience. No need to participate or emerge yourself in anything; just sit back, disconnect your brain and watch the action on the screen. Much like most other Van Damme movies. So is that a bad thing? Not in my opinion, so I will say hardly so. I enjoyed the movie for what it was, an action movie that was predictable but still fun enough to watch.

You know what you get when you sit down to watch this particular movie, so don't get your hopes up too high. The action scenes were nice enough, though hardly amongst the best of any Van Damme movies prior to this one. And of course, you know the outcome of the movie right from the very beginning.

As for the story and dialogue, well, let's just say it was there. It will not impress or make your jaws drop down in awe. It is there in all its simplicity.

"Enemies Closer" is definitely worth a watch if you grew up watching Van Damme's movies, and it is nice to see him in a non-heroic role again (as in "Expendables 2").

However, there is nothing innovating or inspiring to be seen here, and if you have seen a handful of action movies, then it is very likely you will not be amazed here. I am rating "Enemie Closer" a definite 5 out of 10 stars given its predictability, generic and stereotypical definition of this particular genre and because it is, all in all, mindless entertainment.

A low budget B-movie action film with lots of fighting to recommend it, ENEMIES CLOSER is a film by former big bucks director Peter Hyams. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme in one of his bad guy roles, playing a crazed drug smuggler who sets his sights on tracking down a couple of fugitives in the woods.

The plot is a load of old nonsense of course, designed solely to pack as much action as is possible into the running time. Given the low budget nature of the production, there are few car chases and shoot-outs here, just a couple of guys battling it out in a darkened wood. It's one of those films where seemingly every character knows martial arts of some kind and the choreography is decent to boot: I was certainly satisfying by the plentiful and hard-hitting combat scenes.

Van Damme plays his villain as a comedian, delivering his lines with energy and wit. He's by far the best actor in the production. Elsewhere, Orlando Jones is a deadly serious man out for revenge, while Tom Everett Scott (AN American WEREWOLF IN Paris) a park ranger who finds himself out of his depth. Both are adequate and acquit themselves well in the action stakes. ENEMIES CLOSER is a silly but violent production that's enough fun for you not to care about its various shortcomings.

This straight-to-DVD Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick is distinguished by a "name" director (Peter Hyams; '2010', and JCVD flicks 'Timecop' and 'Sudden Death') and somewhat recognizable B-list faces in Tom Everett Scott and Orlando Jones. I don't know that they make the film any better, but they certainly give it a sheen of credibility so often lacking in these affairs.

But the real star here is Van Damme. Years of hard living has left the once matinée idol looking like a hobo with a gym membership, but he brings a quirky energy to his rare villain role.

'Enemies Closer' is an efficient, moderately entertaining little action movie, and a good step or two above the usual straight to video trash flooding the bargain bin at your local Wal-Mart.