Blackjack

There's something about Dolph Lundgren that makes him a likable actor. It may be because of his (seemingly) clean personal life, or that he has never tried to portray himself greater than he is (unlike actors like Steven Seagal.) Here, Lundgren gives one of his better performances. He seems very comfortable and assured here, giving off more emotion than he has in other movies. And it's always fun to see Saul Rubinek and Fred Williamson in a movie, and their presence boosts things.

Other than the actors, all I can say in favor of this movie are that the production values aren't bad for a made-for-TV movie. This movie is a mess! Starting with the action scenes. Now, I know Woo was confined by TV censorship rules, but he clearly could still do a lot. Yet every action scene is horribly done - badly edited, improper use of slow-motion, and with the camera often in the wrong place and/or angle. You see the great potential in these scenes, yet Woo botches it each time. Seeing them, it's hard to believe this is the same guy who did the action scenes in HARD BOILED or THE KILLER.

There are plenty of plot holes as well. For example, how does Lundgren get in the fashion show near the end when it's supposedly been tightened up with security? Where is the villain getting all these people to help him? Why does the villain retreat back to his hideout after the secrecy of it was blown? And on and on. But the worst thing about the movie is that it's simply boring. It's slow-moving, and filled with a lot of unnecessary things that easily could have been edited out. Don't "bet" on this one should you see it in the video store - it's a "bust"!

Dolph Lundgren stars as Jack Devlin a bodyguard who is blinded by a flash grenade which gives him a color phobia (It gets even more ridiculous) seems Devlin is afraid of the color white and is trying to stay low while he conquers his fear. However when a supermodel is hassled by her psychotic ex-husband it is only Devlin that can protect her from certain death in this made for television movie which is slightly more watchable than Woo's other TV movie bomb but basically suffers from too much length and lack of grip on the subplots which overwhelm Blackjack's overall story. Blackjack is along the line of "Do you think we can fit one more subplot to the other 7000 ones, Let's see how it works!" There is of course the color phobia, Lundgren being a new parent, the homoeroticism between Lundgren and Rubinek, the supermodel and her psycho ex,The bad guy being a failed actor, the supermodel addicted to prescription drugs, his best friend's injury, the friend's company which is taken over, the parents of the little girl who die under mysterious circumstances, Lundgren's shrink and Lundgren's tragic past. That is like five more subplots than the movie needs and really Woo cannot make it work, especially when there is too much going on. Still Blackjack has it's moments. The action sequences while watered down for Television consumption has it's degree of punch and Lundgren gives a not too shabby performance. Certainly better than you would expect but really this is only for curious John Woo fans who want to see him make a Hong Kong styled TV movie. It is a combo that doesn't work but at least it isn't because of lack of trying.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

Ex-FBI agent Jack is taken on to protect the daughter of his friends from mobsters. Years later his friends are killed in an accident and Jack is left to look after Casey himself. He is also brought into a protection case by his old friend Jim. Cinder James is a model who is being threatened by her ex-husband. However the killer discovers Jack's weakness and uses it against him. Jack has a phobia of the colour white.

Yes…you heard me. The hero is scared of the colour white! That fact alone is a good indication of the film as a whole – silly nonsense that is almost laughably poor at times. My favourite scene is the one where our `hero' is rendered almost totally helpless by the sight of spilt milk! The story makes about as much effort to make sense. The opening 15 minutes just seem to be an excuse for a gun fight – the friends are killed off quickly and Casey is relegated to background character.

The main plot is silly and full of holes….if Cinder's husband is working alone (indeed he's the only one they're looking for) then who are all those guys on motorbikes who come racing out of nowhere every time there's an action scene? It's holes like this that tell you that the writers aren't even trying – all they want is a few action scenes and an excuse to make them happen! The action scenes are average at best – if I didn't know this was Woo I'd have assumed that it was someone ripping him off badly. Occasionally we have a bit of slow-mo diving around – but other than that it is pretty lacking of style.

Lungren isn't terrible, it's only in the `serious' scenes where he has problems. In the other scenes he looks like he's enjoying himself and not taking it too seriously – that helps us relax and enjoy! Heskin is an empty blonde as Cinder – didn't anyone want to give her a character?! Likewise MacKenzie doesn't have much to do as Rory – he seems lie the most interesting character in the film but he gives in to hamminess too often. Jim is a nice cameo from Fred Williamson but that's about it!

Overall this is daft, lazy and totally lacking in the style that Woo has build his reputation on. The TVM sets and actors just make it worse. To me the point where I knew for sure that this was a `bad movie' was when the doctor (played by the Z-grade Vernon) told Jack (with a look of total seriousness) that `your sunglasses are the only protection from all the white out there'. Rubbish – makes you realise how good things like `Die Xue Shuang Xiong' and `Lashou Shentan' are!

First and foremost this was never intended as a movie. So I do think that should be taken into consideration when viewing.

This was a TV pilot for a show that was never picked up.

After this the pilot was restructured and released DTV to capitalize on Dolph Lundgren's popularity in DTV market.

It probably had the opposite effect and really harmed his career.

Although it got released before, Blackjack (1998) was filmed after Dolph Lundgren's two previous films, Fallen Knight (1998) and Sweepers (1998), that he had made back to back earlier that year (1997).

This 'movie' as an hour long TV pilot would probably be quite fun. It's mostly set up and introducing us to the world of Jack Devlin played by Dolph Lundgren, a U. S Marshal who protects high-profile clients when it comes to a matter of security.

The character Jack Devlin is hit with a strange phobia - fear of white color.

It's a very silly premise but Dolph Lundgren is quite charming in the role. We get introduced to characters that would have been recurring characters in a TV show.

The action for a TV show at the time is actually handled quite well.

'Alias' and 'Dark Angel' would come out a few years later so there was clearly a market for this type of TV spy thriller.

Sadly we will never know if this could have worked as a TV show.

This is more of a curiosity for Dolph Lundgren fans. It would have been fun to see him pursue a TV career as 'Blackjack' seem to represent a real downtrend in his output and popularity.

I do think this film harmed his career and it is evident in the movies he did after this. The quality of his output declined.

I don't think I would recommend this but, if you have low expectations and view it as a curiosity in both Woo and Lundgren's careers you can enjoy some of the action.

It's very slow and unnecessarily long.

1.5/5 stars. Fans only.

John Woo, whose film resume consists of classic action films

such as "Face/Off" and "Hard Boiled," steps into the world of

television in this action-packed, yet awfully dull thriller. Big

Swede Dolph Lundgren stars as Jack Devlin, a bodyguard with a

penchant for arming himself with so many handguns in his body,

it would make Charlten Heston blush! Devlin is hired to guard a

hot fashion model named Cinder (the fine Kam Heskin) from a

vicious serial killer on a huge ego-trip.

"Blackjack" has many fine looking stunts, with cool gunfights

and pyrotechniques that trademark John Woo's style of film. Yet,

this movie isn't as violent as his previous films, because

obviously it was shown on the USA network. In other words, a

cable channel can't go for excessive gun-induced violence.

Also, the editing in this film was lousy and trite as well.

There was a scene where Devlin shoots a guy several times,

supposedly killing the assassin. But later, the same man comes

up unharmed, ready to try to waste our hero twice! Huh??! What,

is that one hitman immune to bullets?

The acting in this film is at least more decent than the

production values. Hey, Lundgren still needs to work on his

lines, but compared to his past movies, at least the script is

much smarter. Maybe it's just the actor who needs improvement.

Overall, "Blackjack" is a good movie, but it ain't great folks.

Go blame that on the fact that it is a