Piège à Hong Kong

Wow ! What a movie! Van Damme is at his utmost best and gives one of the finest performances of his career playing a down and out "knock off" jeans designer. This film has it all: action, danger, intrigue, comedy etc. The best of it's kind. It ranks up there with Cyborg and Street Fighter ! The Triple Crown of Van Damme films. IT's a must see !!

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.

Most importantly, Knock Off is unlike any other Van Damme movie. It is much more like your Hong Kong action movie, and is actually quite better in the action respect than any of his other movies. Rob Schneider is really funny, and the acting (even from Van Damme) is pretty good. Probably the best thing about this movie is it's cinematography, which has such great shots as the foot-cam, the shoe-cam, and the box-cam, in which a little window opens up so you can see Jean-Claude's hand as it's reaches into a box! This movie is great for one goofy laugh after another, while not beeing too bad to watch. If you see it, rent it! If you like it, buy it!

I don't mean to offend the few people out there who enjoyed this movie, but when I first saw this film, I didn't like it. But I was at my video store, and I was still attracted by the cover of the movie so I decided to rent it again. And this is after I read the positive comments. I felt so different from the last time I watched this movie. I was enjoying it. I thought "Man! I was stupid!" This movie was funny. I didn't like Rob Shnieder at the beginning, but I liked him this time. He was playing his role as the comic relief guy right this time. I like Jean-Claude Van-Damme. I think he's a cool actor. The only reason why the movie haters don't like him is because of his accent. I think his accent's cool, After this, I'm gonna start sending my comments to Van Damme movies. The action sequences were awesome. The chases, fight scenes, gun battles, all great. I loved the direction by Tsui Hark. His camera angles, the zoom-ins, the stobes, tracers, slow-motion, it was so cool. I was like: "Woa! That was cool that zoom in on the inside of electronics and stuff!" This movie was so much fun. This is the kind of action movie I wanted to see. I loved it. I've totally forgotten how I didn't like this movie in the past. I like a good movie. I like movies such as "Titanic," Schindler's List," L.A. Confidential," "Citizen Kane," and "The Godfather."

So it's not the best movie ever made. Knock Off at least accomplishes what too many movies these days fail to do--entertain. It made us laugh. The filming was unusual.

And Jean-Claude's departure from the usual character portrayal was refreshing. He should try losing the ego and do comedy more often.