Hard Corps: Unité d'élite

Better plots make all the difference, especially for films that are of the arcade game action and thrill type. Sony Pictures had a better plot for this Jean-Claude Van Damme film. It's not original, but it is more down to earth and interesting. The hero is Philippe Sauvage, an American veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After some VA hospital recovery from the psychological effects of the war, Philippe joins a former sergeant for a private job of guarding a celebrity. He is the reigning heavyweight champion and a philanthropist. But Wayne Barclay, played by Razaaq Adoti, has one particular enemy who would like to see him dead. And when Terrell Singletery gets out of prison early, the fireworks start.

"The Hard Corps" isn't a good film, but it is fair. Philippe's buddy gets killed early on, and he is hired to run the protection. So, he brings in some more veterans with experience. But Barclay wants some of his buddies from his gym as bodyguards as well. The two forces mix and the vets train the others.

This has some good scenes and is refreshing in that it isn't constant machine gun firing back and forth. There are some lulls when the cast get chances to try to act. It's an improvement over some of his last films, but the violence and flashes of partial nudity make these films not suitable, or enjoyable for many.

The picture concerns an Afghanistan/Irak veteran (Jean-Claude Van Damme) , he's living at hospital when is hired as a bodyguard . He must protect an ex-heavyweight champion , now a building magnate (Adoti) and his sister (Vivica A. Fox) against a dangerous rapper recently out of prison . The war veteran sets up an experienced team (Mark Griffin , among others) called ¨Hard Corps¨ to save menaced ex-boxer .

This movie direct to video packs violent action , suspense , shoot-outs , boxing and martial art fighting and results to be quite amusing . Suffering Van Damme plays finely a sad and affected veteran , splendid Vivica A. Fox as enjoyable sister who falls in love for him and the brother played convincingly by Adoti who acted along with Jean-Claude in his former film ¨Second-in-command¨ . The movie is pointlessly energetic , occasionally fun and entertaining and for that reason will appeal to real devotee Van Damme . It's produced in middling budget by Pierre Splenger who produced last films of Steven Seagal and Van Damme . The movie was professionally directed by Sheldon Lettich. He spent several years in the US Marines Corps , including a time in Vietnam war . Lettich is filmmaker of Van Damme previous hits such as ¨The order¨ , ¨Double impact¨,¨Lionheart¨ ; furthermore , he is author of hunk men vehicles such as Daniel Bernhardt : ¨Perfect day¨ , Dolph Lundgren : ¨List patrol¨, and Mark Dacascos : ¨Only the strong¨. Rating : Acceptable and passable .

JC seems to be mellowing these days. His film roles are those which play up to his age, his experience, and have JC as more grounded individuals. In Wake Of Death he impressed with a performance that stretched him. In Second In Command, the film wasn't very good, but Van Damme gave a solid performance, albeit in a role without much depth. Now we all kind of realise that in the direct to video world, it's very unlikely you'll find a really decent film, so first and foremost a DTV viewer strives for competence. Wake Of Death had that, as had VD's previous film, In Hell. Second In Command came close, but the crap fairy waved his magic wand and terdinated the film slightly. The Hard Corps regains a level of competence again for Van Damme.

Here JC teams up with long time friend and collaborator, Sheldon Lettich. Together they have made Double Impact (great fun when you're in the right mood) and Lionheart as well. Lettich knows how to get the best from Van Damme, and on the most part does. He also gives the film an assured touch that was lacking in SIC. The plot centres on world heavyweight boxer, and entrepreneur, Wayne Barclay (Raz Adoti), and his sister Tamara (Vivica Fox). As it happens Barclay is far from popular with Rap mogul, and gangsta, Terrell Singleton, as Barclay had him sent to prison years earlier. Upon Terrell's release, the first order of business is to wipe out Barclay. Tamara insists that Wayne hires a security team and contacts a Vietnam Vet who also served in Iraq and Afghanistan, who in turn contacts his old, war scarred buddy, Van Damme. Van Damme is in a veterans psychiatric hospital, tormented by an incident in Iraq that left a school of children destroyed, with dozens of dead kid's inside. So Van Damme hops aboard the Barclay security. On the first night an attempt on Barclays life leaves Van Dammes pal dead, and from there he takes over and then he begins to develop a relationship with Tamara, much to Wayne's disgust. The plot outline seems simple enough, the trouble is the film seems segmented into three stories, and can't divide the screen time (a lengthy 110 minutes) right. As such the film lags in moments and there just ain't enough JC in it. His war torn character is not given enough depth. When we begin to delve into the character, the film takes us away to one of the subplots. In truth the film would have been better at 90 minutes, and with more focus on Van Damme. Still there's good support from Raz Adoti, and also the Foxxy, Vivica Fox.

Anyway, those who see this puppy at their local Blockbusters (probably on a lower to middle shelf, but at least not bottom) will not be too interested in how the plot is. It's the Van Damage they crave. The action here, is okay, with the biggest problem being that not enough time and money is spent on them. Gunfights for example lack impact because of a lack of practical effects. Also because the film isn't all that violent, despite it's R rating, people don't get shot, have their chest burst open with a gallon of blood and fall to the ground in a mangled bloodied heap. Being from the UK, this film is what I'd call standard 15 certificate, which equates to a soft R. Whereas for these movies I prefer a hard R, which over here means an 18 cert. What I mean is that when there's not that much punch in the action, when someone gets shot, there really needs to be a POW. We need to see the blood flying. As an example take Dolph Lundgren's The Mechanik (The Russian Specialist as it's also known). It's a low budget piece which actually did spend its money well on the action, but obviously can't compete with bigger movies that can double the explosion outlay. However the film was very violent, people got shot and you really knew it. Harry Knowles (AICN) himself in fact gave the film a brief mention in a Second In Command review, stating he dug the bloodletting that Dolph let loose upon us. I wouldn't imagine he'd say the same of this. Also the fight scenes although nice and rough, a too few and far between in all honesty. However Van Damme does get to deliver some trademark kicks, but he's still holding back the Helicopter kick for B-2 (a sequel to Bloodsport none the less).

Overall though THC, is a fair piece of entertainment, that surpasses anything Steven Seagal is doing at the moment. Really it's a film that won't blow your socks off, or stick its hand in your underwear and pleasure you, but it's a lot better than watching paint dry. As a point of interest though, Van Damme's next film, Til Death could be great. It's a dark film, that seems to be going for a 70's styled, Death Wish, Get Carter vibe, that sees Van Damme donning a leather jacket and sideburns. It promises to hit hard with the action and get a level of nastiness we saw in VD's Wake Of Death. And if that doesn't get you excited how bout this: Stephen Rea, the Oscar nominated actor recently seen in V for Vendetta, co-stars. AND if that isn't enough, it's also written by Dan Harris, one of the guys responsible for Superman Returns, and X Men 2. But who knows we may even see JC face off against Jackie Chan in Rush Hour 3! I hope so. **1/2

"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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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