Piège à Hong Kong

Just like Universal Soldier II, this film gets bad reviews from you guys. Can't understand why. It was pretty good. Van Damme is not a hollywood actor, but he's still a cool actor. When I first saw this movie in a cinema I was pretty surpised. There was action from the beginning till the end. And when you go to a Van Damme movie you just want a 1.5 hour of fun, So don't expect more than that. I also liked it when I rented it for a second time. Now - this movie has some really cool camera angles and special editing, so it would look like a Hong-Kong movie. As for me, I saw couple of HK movies, and this one 's no different, in fact it was quite refreshing. Maybe Tsui Hark wanted this movie look like a Jackie Chan movie, but he did some real great work. The plot is quite hard to follow, but after seeing it twice you'll catch up.

One of Jean Claude Van Damme best movie. 9/10

Knock Off is a great movie, if you are into Hong Kong action flicks. Because it is an action movie, it does not require any deep thinking, just sit back and watch the action roll.

The movie also seems like an experiment in filmography because the filming is a bit quirky and unusual, but that is what makes this movie such a unique action movie.

If you like action, you have to see this movie. It is one of Van Damme's best movies (which unfortunately doesn't say much for the guy's acting skills).

A jeans manufacturer finds a conspiracy among triads that places micro-bombs in the jeans he sells. Of course the first shipment were slipped with knock offs but now they must make sure that the new shipment of clothes isn't shipped with the micro-bombs. Knock Off is the type of movie that would be right at home in a James Bond thriller. The movie is utterly ridiculous however this makes it strangely watchable and the whole confusing camera angles to which we see the inside of a phone, the inside of the bomb and even Van Damme's foot going into a sock all make this a very strange movie indeed. The action sequences are filmed with such crazy angles once can't tell what the hell is going on and it's not until the movie is over, where you realize what the hell you had just saw. Knock Off is one of the most surreal movies you could ever see, seriously. It's one of those movies that years from now may be looked at as a camp classic due to it's stylish excess. I for one, still can't tell you what the movie was about.

* * out of 4(Fair)

I didn't expect Knock Off to be the film it was. I thought it would be another lame bit of Van Dammage, just like all the others, but wow! This is in a league of it's own. First of all, let me say this: it's not a good film: of course, it isn't! The script's diabolical, the acting is dreadful and the plot has got to be one of the silliest ever written.

Oh yes, but Knock Off works because it is truly bonkers. Truly out of its mind. Tsui Hark is a great director (check out the insane Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain, as well as the Hark produced A Chinese ghost Story, which is truly wonderful) and his irreverent approach works wonders here. Some of the camerawork here has to be seen to be believed: here, we have a shot from the inside of a shoe, the camera moving through a wall and through a computer...while, the action is wildly OTT and hilariously preposterous. Rough around the edges it may be, but the action is genuinely imaginative stuff. Like Van Damme's Hard Target, Knock Off has been blessed with a director who can stage great action, but unlike the irritatingly melodramatic john woo, Hark directs as though he's having a great time: even the dramatic (!) scenes border on intentional parody.

And then there's Jean Claude Van Damme, easily the funniest out of all the Schwarzenegger/Stallone/Seagal crowd. Funniest? Why? Cos he really looks like he's trying, bless 'im! The scenes where he gets all emotional (check out the bit when he confronts Hendricks on the roof top: 'YOU LIED TO ME!') are painfully funny because he just can't act at all. And because of his accent, lines like 'Don't you understand what you do....i-fax me?' (the 'i-fax' is supposed to be 'affects') sound highly amusing. Unlike that dullard Steven Seagal, van Damme's limitations as an actor are precisely what makes him watchable. Then there's the deeply stupid Rob Schneider, who plays EXACTLY the same role in everything he's ever done, and Paul Sorvino, who continues to destroy whatever credibilty he gained starring as Pauly Cicero in GoodFellas.

Plus, what's with the green explosions? The walkie-talkie dropping into the gangster's hand from nowhere? The bullet-shot that goes through the can of beans? Rob Schneider whipping Van Damme with a fish? The song at the end of the film? It's a complete mess!

Knock Off is easily Van Damme's best film, without a shadow of a doubt. It's utter rubbish, yet it's one of the funniest films I've ever seen. Of course, you need plenty of irony and an appreciation for stupid action movies to really get the most out of this. there are some people who will think that Knock Off is absolutely atrocious. And you know what, they're probably right too. But what's also correct is that in some deeply disturbing, dangerously perverse way, it is a work of genius.

How can anyone hate such a beautiful film? The combination of poor dubbing, Van Damme's "acting" and "grasp of English", Schneider's queer-ass jokes, and Lela Rochon's breasts, I thought, would make Knock Off an Oscar contender for sure. In addition, it is a valuable tool for young amateur cameramen. They clearly just bought a new camera before they started filming, and were trying out all the new gadgets (when Van Damme reaches into the box of watches, or when they go into the barrel of the gun, or when they pan up from everyone's feet, or use multiple exposures to create the illusion of a quality film).

As for the soundtrack, Ron and Russell Mael deserve a Grammy, or, at eh very least, a Source Award. I mean, "It's a Knock Off" emerges as the single that will truly be the soundtrack for the lives of teens in the new milennium. All-Star Sam Hui also contributes to the album. His ground-breaking "Ten Girls" ,which goes a little sumthin' like this:

"Sal pon ass hi cow go yang si ming ming hi lo how wow bom hi sam chung gay yeah chop hay bing si ching chun may li chow mo so pli" ...is sung by Van Damme. It speaks to you. It tells you to leave the theater.

Another interesting aspect of this film is that it was the only Western film allowed to be in production in Hong Kong during the handover to China. They try to work this into the first action sequence (which is 90 minutes long and followed by the credits)by making sporadic, frenzied, obscure references to the ceremony that don't make sense or have any effect on the outcome of Van Damme's struggle against the Russian mafia.

Ultimately, if you want to see green explosions, Paul Sorvino returning from the dead, Rob Schneider and Van Damme engage in S&M during a rickshaw race, Lela Rochon's breasts, and a Russian with bronchitis chop people up with his eyeglasses, Knock Off is the movie for you.