Blackjack

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)

Put simply, Dolph Lundgren is the real one man army!!



Swedish-born Lundgren is Jack Devlin, a bodyguard for hire who holsters guns all over his body and uses playing cards as deadly projectiles. He can take out an group of at least a dozen men armed with automatic guns with only the use of his pistols. Talk about unbeatable. This guy could teach Rambo lessons! Devlin's got one weakness, though, and that is the color of pure white. This is done so he's not portrayed as a complete superman!



"Blackjack" is a prime John Woo film, which is filmed in an expertly way. But that doesn't mean it's perfect. This film has a lot of drawbacks!! For example, Devlin has an unlimited supply of ammo, meaning he never had to reload his guns! That was an error that should have been corrected. But the dumbest mistake in this film is the fact that Devlin has a phobia of the color white! That is the dumbest fear ever since being afraid of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth (I'm not kidding!!) Plus, there were instances where Devlin touched a couple of white objects (i.e. doors) and he didn't react to them! Those were one of the weirdest and most boneheaded doozies ever shown on TV, and with a master director like John Woo, they should have been corrected!



But, despite all those miserable errors in this film, "Blackjack" is really a very enjoyable action flick, with great stunts, great performances (especially of Lundgren's, this has to be his best role for a very long time) and cool action sequences, which is typical John Woo-style adrenaline rushes. Watch this movie if you're in the mood for a guilty pleasure!

I can only assume that this is the work of a completely different John Woo, i.e. some vodka-sodden squinting tramp by the same name who managed to get caught up in some kind of top-quality mistaken identity farce. If not, then Dolph Lundgren may as well throw himself out of a top floor window right now, because if not even John Woo can make you look cool, you don't stand a chance.

In fact, what's the exact opposite of 'cool'? That's the only way to describe this film. I saw it on TV, and I'd still have felt cheated if I hadn't been laughing so much. How my sides ached at the sight of Dolph Lundgren sitting in a big lake of milk, trying to look all serious and pained as another meaningless flashback kicked in to further the cause of the most hilariously stupid cinematic premise in the history of everything in the world ever. "Oh yes, I've got this phobia of white things, but only sometimes when the bullets stop flying and we need to stop the audience from changing channels." And even that doesn't work.

He looks old, as well. If they're going to do (snigger) Masters of the Universe II, they'd better (snort) hurry up and get on with it...

Ah, me. The only advice I can give you is this: if you don't start laughing within the first ten minutes of Blackjack, give it up.

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"!

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!