Hatch - Protection rapprochée

Set against the backdrop of a grim Los Angeles, the film weaves a complex narrative around Hatch's promise to a slain informant to protect her son, Jayden. As Hatch grapples with his own demons and the city's underworld, "Darkness of Man" delves into themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the cost of survival. While the film does not boast the high-octane action sequences of Van Damme's heyday, it compensates with a gritty atmosphere and a focus on character-driven storytelling. The noir elements are executed with a commendable finesse, adding layers to the plot and elevating the film above many of its DTV counterparts. Van Damme's performance is nuanced, showcasing his range beyond physical prowess. The supporting cast, including Emerson Min and Andrey Ivchenko, deliver solid performances that anchor the film's emotional core. The action, when it occurs, is well-staged, albeit less frequent than one might expect. The violence is visceral, with a raw edge that suits the film's darker tone. The cinematography and score complement the narrative, creating a cohesive and immersive viewing experience. In conclusion, "Darkness of Man" is a laudable effort that blends action with a moody, noir aesthetic. It may not reach the heights of Van Damme's classic works, but it stands as a testament to his enduring appeal and ability to adapt to the evolving landscape of action cinema. The substitles reminded me of JOHN WICK Substitles and the action was quite pleased, made me intense a little bit.

Stumbling upon the 2024 action thriller "Darkness of Man" by random chance, and seeing that it was starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, of course I opted to sit down and watch it. Solely because it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, much less actually heard about, and for the nostalgia of watching Jean-Claude Van Damme on the screen.

Sure, I can't claim that I was harboring much of any grand expectations to "Darkness of Man", as Jean-Claude Van Damme haven't exactly been spewing out overly great movies for the better part of two decades. But hey, I opted to give director James Cullen Bressack's movie a fair chance, if for nothing else, then just for the sheer nostalgia of fondly remembering Jean-Claude Van Damme from the prime of his career.

The storyline was a bit sluggish. There wasn't really much of any momentum to the narrative and it felt like the movie was running in Neutral throughout long parts. So writers James Cullen Bressack, Alethea Hnatko-Cho and Jean-Claude Van Damme didn't exactly conjure up something overly memorable or entertaining here.

The acting performances in the movie were fair, and it is showing that Jean-Claude Van Damme is getting older, naturally. So you shouldn't expect this movie to be up to par with something like "Bloodsport", for example. There are a couple of nice appearances on the screen, albeit rather short appearances, by the likes of Kristanna Loken, Shannen Doherty, Cynthia Rothrock, Zack Ward and Eric Roberts.

While I did manage to sit through the entire movie, I was only mildly entertained. But this is definitely not a movie that will be returning to watch a second time. "Darkness of Man" was a semi-watchable action thriller, without an abundance of action or thrills.

My rating of "Darkness of Man" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

The film noir poster on the wall is significant, Van Damme plays the washed-up agent with alcohol problems. The focus is on that mime, JCVD focuses on acting aspects in the autumn of acting, certainly also because physical action is only possible to a limited extent. His ambitions in all honour, but let's be honest, what is it that we want to see from him? The budget was there, that's obvious, Darkness Of Man looks good and has some nice cameos. In terms of staging, however, it overreaches itself, wanting to be more audience-orientated than it should be. Above all else, the voiceover constantly echoes with the audience, no doubt intended as a Hemingway-esque pretension screw.

Once again, the cultural enrichment through immigrants is thematised. The living conditions of the original citizens are improved by robbery, murder, receiving stolen goods, drugs, prostitution, blackmail and so on. Funnily enough, we find these officially pure fantasy products in every second action film. Just misplaced stereotypes, I'm sure.

Speaking of action, there's a little brawl every 25 minutes. But Van Damme is just a boxer, with no kick. In the last half hour, there is a categorical final revenge campaign according to the standard formula, at least the level is ok. This release will not end up in any top rating.

International police Russell Hatch (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is almost killed during a raid. Masked gunmen attack his confidential informant and faked her suicide. He promised to care for her son Jayden. It's two years later in L. A. Jayden is caught up in a Korean gang and Russell intervenes.

This is a crime drama B-movie trying to inject some neo-noir style. JCVD has been around for forty years and his acting has barely improved. This has a lot of narration from him and his accent is still the same. The filmmaking is mostly uninspired and the story is blandly derivative. There is one action scene where they try to make it interesting. The camera is stationed inside a van as the fight goes around the van outside. It would have been nice to have it a long uncut scene. JCVD is an older gentleman now and that may be asking too much from him.

I know JCVD isn't exactly young anymore and i am not expecting a full blown action movie, but somehow he manage to often book himself in roles where he is meant to appear discouraged with life, depressed and bored. His best roles in his second half of his career in my opinion are the likes of Welcome to the Jungle and Enemies Closer. Movies where he plays a full of energy over the top excentric character. The depress schtick has really gotten old for me.

Now if this was the movie only low point, but its actually one of the lesser problem. This script is dull... and barely has any action. A few sluggish boring hand to hand fights, altough one ill admit use an original perspective but it looks like its made to cover up for Van Damme lack of mobibility. Then a few very uninspired and boring gun fights.

Most of the movie's tough is Van Damme monologing, drinking, and i was just so bored. I litterally watched the movie in 3 shots. I watched 40 minutes and took a break to play some online games as i was too bored, then i came back and watched another 30-40 minutes, and when i realize it would basically be more of the same til the end i just turn it off and watch the remaining part a day later.

This movie looks basically like one of those scripts in the 2010s that Nicolas Cage would say yes just because he needed the money. The kind of script that was stockpile in the "bottom DTV" pile and that just needed a recognized lead to somehow draw a few fans to it. But no... JCVD actually co-wrote it, so he really wanted to make it.

In term of esthetic the movie does not look bad or "fake" but for the minimal action there is in, i think most of the budget got into the actors and cameos.

For some reasons you have Shannen Doherty and Cynthia Rothrock showing up in some of the most pointless cameos ever, and apparently Eric Roberts was in it, but i didn't even noticed him. Kristanna Loken wich still look fantastic plays his love interest and she's actually in the movie for a decent lengh, but the character's highlight remain an underwear scene...

Its true that we will always associate Van Damme with action and spinkicks, but there is ways to make movies in an older age and remain interesting without a need for big crazy action scenes. Sylvester Stallone did it brilliantly in Tulsa King and to an extent Arnold also made something fun and with decent action in Fubar. They are older than Van Damme as well.

Honestly for me this movie was like some of the last Steven Seagal movies he made before retiring (or being forced to maybe). A recycled predictable script, rather boring, and not even really entertaining as a disposable movie.

I will be generous and give it a 4 out of 10 because the movie was "competent" in some aspects, but its definately below average. Even for 1$ i wouldn't buy it on DVD to put it beside my other Van Damme movies. Its in the same category as other slugfests he did (We Die Young, Lukas and a few more...) that i would never watch again.