Maximum Risk

As a Van Damme fan when i saw this film i was instantly blown away.The only thing i didn't like was the brother storyline again.How many brothers has this guy got.But seriously this is an action movie from start to finish.There is car chases, fights, and of course a beautiful woman.What more could you ask for?.Well nothing really,this movie has it all and to think it was from the start of Van Damme's drug taking days.He must have been on drugs to make Double Team which is'nt bad film ,just bad actors (Dennis Rodman).Any way Maximum Risk is a movie that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.The fight scenes are great and well directed.And it has Natasha Henstridge who acts well and puts on a decent performance.She is also easy on the eye in more ways than one.

Maximum Risk is the first US feature film from acclaimed Hong Kong director Ringo Lam with Van Damme as star. He previously brought in John Woo to direct action classic Hard Target, but JCVD and John Woo didn't exactly hit it off creatively. Ringo Lam and JCVD worked well together and would continue to work together on two more films(Replicant and In Hell). Maximum Risk is much different than the movies JCVD normally works on, it is pretty dark, gritty and has less stylish action that he is known for. The film is mostly devoid of humor and is presented in a serious and more realistic manner. Ringo Lam gets Van Damme to focus more on his acting and by the time he works with JCVD next, his acting improves significantly. While the whole twin brother plot has been done to death at this point, JCVD is a cop and must investigate the circumstances of his estranged twin brother's death. Natasha Henstridge is good in this as JCVD's love interest and damsel in distress. I would regard this as more of a thriller than straight up action movie, but as a mash up of genres it does it fairly well. This is also the 1st action movie I seen that involves the Russian mob, which nowadays is common with movies like John Wick, The Equalizer, etc. As a whole this was done well and JCVD would work next with legendary Hong Kong director/producer Tsui Hark on Knock Off which is unfortunate because that movie is a giant turkey of a movie, completely terrible. But that is another story...

This Jean-Claude Van Damme action vehicle gets good marks for sound, low profanity, some very good action scenes and some interesting characters that keep your attention. It loses marks for excessive violence, too much "Rambo" mentality (good guys don't get hit despite a barrage of bullets) and, yet, another modern-day film in which the FBI is corrupt.

This is also another of these action films that has TOO much action. It would be better with some more lulls. It almost gets ridiculous in spots. Nevertheless, some of the scenes such as car chases, fires and explosions are so well-done you have to admire the great stunt work in here. Man, those stunt men earn their money!

You would be hard-pressed to find two leads in any film with the bodies of Van Damme and Natasha Henstridge and neither are shy about showing them off, so you have the usual gratuitous sex scenes, but they are brief, as is the profanity. This is a loud film. If you have good speakers, be ready to have the room shake with lots of bass.

Overall, it's about 100 minutes of mindless but entertaining diversion.

This has to be the best Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie he has made. It has it all, and it has it in spades. This movie is 100 minutes, and 95 of those are pure action.

You have great car chases through the streets of Nice and New York.

You have a whole lot of people the Government is not going to have to arrest and try because they will not be around.

You have three, count them three outstanding fights between Jean-Claude Van Damme and the biggest, baddest dude you can imagine.

And, you have Natasha Henstridge in the bathroom making love and giving us a view we will long remember.

What more can you ask for?

If you see only one Van Damme film...see Maximum Risk. It is a decent thriller, not just a martial arts flick. Unfortunately, after seeing how good Van Damme can be (yes, he can act - something we've yet to see from Stephen Seagal who he's usually compared to) it makes you sad to see how many bad films he's really made.