Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

The new Unisol film is a surprisingly fresh take on an old franchise. The tone of the movie is completely different from the previous entries that it's hard to compare to its predecessors.

Our hero, john (Scott Adkins), awakes to find intruders in his home who kill his wife and daughter. After spending several months in a coma John awakes with a memory loss, only remembering the man who murdered his family, Luc Devreux (Van Damme). The storyline then becomes less comprehensive as we tag along John as he tries to piece everything. The main problem is that nothing is answered, the back story remains hidden and the characters motivations are left unexplained. The movie also suffers from bad pacing, the first half being painstakingly slow with no action happening for the first half of the movie.

The good news are that the second half features some badass action sequences and the R rating is used fully, it's a gory movie as it should be. Even though the frequent use of slo-mo is tiring, it doesn't ruin the experience. Too bad all of it is packed in the final scenes of the movie.

The movie draws inspiration from different places, from video games to horror movies to Apocalypse Now (you won't miss it), the unique style sets this movie apart from the others but it doesn't help the thin plot or anemic characters.

Universal Soldier 4: Day of Reckoning is unique and fresh and I applaud the director for taking a different approach. Adkins does a great job and proves his more than a stuntman. JVCD and Lundgren's roles are smaller than you would expect, but it's a treat to see them on screen again. The lack of a comprehensive plot and or continuity to other films of the series is what hinders this movie from getting a higher rating.

Final score: 6 out of 10

I'm just going to say that this movie seriously should come with a seizure warning because I almost passed out from the flashing at certain scenes.

DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE IF YOU ARE PRONE TO EPILEPTIC SEIZURES!!!!!! No joke.

Otherwise it's good to see these guys on the same screen again. The movie is a little slow in parts but picks up quickly. Story develops quickly then plateaus a bit then picks up again.

Nothing that's going to curl your toes.. but a good flick.

Cheers!

OK this is a very odd film. It does not feel right, its hard to explain but on this film Hyams has nailed it (with help) the direction/editing/cinematography/music....its all too good for this type of film. Not long in to the film I was shocked at how good it all looked from a film structure point, its not a Alien or Godfarther standard but its far above straight to DVD movies, its far better than most big screen films. The only thing that reminds you that this is a small screen film is the cast and their acting ability's (Scott does a good job where he can), but then again if you rented this film you would not be expecting any Oscars, but when it comes to the action side they do a very good job, its very upfront and bloody. The film sits around the 7/10 area, most of these films would normally hit a 5/10 but this one picks up points for the effort that has gone in to making something more than a cheap straight to DVD film. I hope that the same guys who put this together get a bigger film with a upgrade in actors, if they can make a film that looks this good with a low budget I would like to see what happens with a few more million thrown in.

Certainly, this "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" is no match for the first movie in the series, but it is at least better than the last couple of movie that have managed to be spawned off this franchise.

However, this movie is all testosterone and action, and there is surprisingly little storyline to it. So I am guessing you'd think that it would make it a man's movie? Well, hardly... I would say that this movie is sort of falling into the category of something to watch when you have a really, really bad hangover the next day and just want to relax on the couch without having to put your mind to work. This movie is mindnumbingly devoid of any inspiring storyline or anything that even remotely starts to would appeal to anyone looking for a movie with some depth.

This is simply put, action, fighting and car chases, nothing more.

"Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" is a little bit too experimental for my liking as well, bordering on being too avantgarde and artsy at times. Especially the scenes with the mind-control stuff. If you are prone to epileptic seizures from flashing lights, stay well clear of this movie.

The upsides to "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" is the amount of fighting, action and raw violence that it has. Basically, it is all that is has.

However, if you get suckered in by Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren on the cover, as I did, you are in for a rude awakening. Sure they are in the movie, but only have small roles and do not actually have that much screen time. So it is sort of a lame attempt of luring in people to the movie by using their names on the cover.

"Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" is not the choice of movie to watch if you want something to stimulate your mind or at the very least have you using your mind to follow a storyline. This is just action, pure and simple.

Well Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning was brutal to say the least. Dark from start to end. Fight scenes were played out well, it didn't feel rushed to get the fight over like a lot of movies seem to do, it took its time and gave you the feeling like you were just standing there watching the thing happen, thanks to a wide pulled back viewing angle and steady cam. Even tho they were super human this made the combat feel realistic and solid in a visceral and disturbing way, As someone who hasn't seen a Universal Soldier movie since i was a kid i found the plot a little slow yet slightly confusing like i was missing some important information which actually kept me interested enough to care about what was going on even tho it ended up the only way it could have. No one goes into a movie like this expecting to have there mind blown away by the story anyway so it cant be faulted here. I believe this movie is a success because it does what it was trying to do so well.

Acting - 7 Story - 5 Pacing - 7 Action - 9 Overall Feel - 7