Soldado Universal 3: Regeneração

In the third and by now the last Universal Soldier series, both Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren are back for one last showdown together.

This time they are both in a different place a different time for a different reason. But with the same anger and history.

So, is it any good? Well, being a STV and the fact that i's filmed in Bulgaria, it's pretty good actually.

I would say that it's not by far the same as the first Universal Soldier, but still good old action fun with two old action stars.

Anyways, good action, so so on the story and some cool violence and effects. The movie were kinda fun.

I'll rate it 7 out of 10 stars, cause I like Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. :)

Amazingly enough I went into this movie thinking it would be complete crap because of JCVD and Dolph "I can't act" Ludgren, but it was much better than a lot of other action movies, including Terminator: Salvation.

A lot of people might be hesitant because of the conflicting reviews, but ignore the whole "This is bad because it has Jean Claude in it..." stigma and you might be as surprised as I was after watching it. In fact, I found myself watching it a few times again because, through and through, it's an extremely engaging film.

What actually shocked me is that it covers an important social issue of terrorism versus political tyranny; using terrorism to maintain (and gain) freedom as well as capitalist control of armies without nations. Yeah, it's a movie that actually covers something important about sociality.

As a lot of other people pointed out, though, Jean Claude and Dolph only lend their faces for brief (in Dolph's case) and extended (in Jean's case) cameos. This film is not really about the aging action heroes but rather, they play a part in the outcome of things, very similar to Snipe's role in Blade 2.

As for quality...the movie is shot to look like the Bourne Identity and even has a cool chase scene like it, too. All the action is depicted with startling realism and all fist-fights result in such because people either run out of ammo or get too close to use weapons. In other words, all the fight scenes in this movie make a heck of a lot of sense and are very realistic and practical. Added to this, the musical score is extremely fitting to the science-fiction overtones.

Overall, this movie is leaps and bounds better than every other Universal Soldier movie made before it and actually takes itself serious enough to deserve better praise than what it's been receiving.

There's really not much to write about, so I'll keep this brief.

The film delivers where it needs to. The gun battles are extremely satisfying (especially the sound effects), the hand-to-hand combat is brutal and in places quite creative, and some of the sequences are amongst the best I've seen from straight to DVD action.

A few scenes stuck out as particularly well done: A sequence with Van Damme entering a building and systematically taking out the terrorists with only his knife was excellent. The inevitable Van Damme Vs Lundgren confrontation won't disappoint either, with walls being demolished and windows shattered as the two legends fling each other about with scant disregard for the structural integrity of the building surrounding them.

The main antagonist is played by Andrei Arlovski, a UFC champion, he really is an excellent fighter and his scenes are just as fun (and my favourite parts of the film).

Don't expect a coherent story, it's absolutely ridiculous. And anyone expecting to see Van Damme in new light after JCVD will be severely disappointed, he's almost comatose thought the entire film. No other members of the cast are worth a mention.

Strictly for action buffs, this film is a lot of fun if you're prepared to only turn your brain off, but completely remove it from your cranium for the duration.

4/5 for action, 1/5 for the film itself.

I really really did not want to see this movie, but boy am I glad I did. It was very well directed, well acted (for the most part), and well shot. I would have gladly paid 10 bucks to see this on the big screen. The problem is I (and most people) didn't know it until after we had seen it. After the god awful sequels I thought this outing would be the same garbage. John Hyams created a much darker bleak Universal Soldier that out shines the first installment. He has a very bright career ahead of him. The world he created in this film has the same look and feel as Terminator Salvation did. In fact this film is as good if not better than T4. Mainly because it had nothing to live up to. All the fight scenes were top notch, and graphically violent (which is a good thing). Even Dolph Lundgren was interesting. And near the end of the film there is a shot, of JVCD standing in front of a doorway looking at the kids that are his mission, that is just amazing. If you do not like action films you won't have any fun, but if you do your in for a real treat. You can give it a rent, or the better option would be to buy it on blu-ray. It's just a shame we can't see it on the big screen. Because after all these years JVCD finally has an action film thats worthy of it.

This was great entertainment, Story:well scripted to avoid the many pitfalls the this kind of movie could have fallen in to. More layering and character development that you could ever expect from a film like this. Acting: no Oscars gonna be won here... but hey it's a JCVD flick and he and the rest of the cast do a good job in it. Action (fights): No Jason Bourne, or Taken, but pretty close!, you can see how much went in to choreography and rehearsal, very well done. Production: Nice cutting, great timing, superb use of location. Maybe the only weakish spot was the score, it sometimes felt out of context and/or under-produced.

Anyway: Director sure knew what he was doing here, and i liked it a lot.

Please Mr Hymas (Sr and Jr?) find a big budget, a great script and go do a Jason Bourne movie!