Double Impact (1991)

i mean Jackie Chan not Jesus Christ!Indeed, it's a comedy kick movie set in Orient… honestly i am not fond of the action movies from the expandable cast but this one is not that bad! For me, there was 3 great things: 1) entirely shot on location in Hong Kong and that's fantastic for the exotic feeling: the sea, the jungle, the cultures...2) another attempt to do twins with a single one: lately, i keep watching movies using that trick: BTTF, Géaldine, Laurel & Hardy, Noomi, ... Here the result is not that bad, especially coming from JCVD who didn't attend Strasberg courses!3) the hot Alonna Shaw who is the perfect look alike of my famous shrink who crossed my way a long time ago! If i'm honest and remember well, it's this likeness that put me on the trail for this movie but it's another twin story...

Jean-Claude Van Damme and Geoffrey Lewis star in this 1991 action film. Van Damme (Bloodsport, Kickboxer) plays dual roles as Chad, a California aerobics instructor and Alex, a Hong Kong smuggler, twin brothers separated as infants who reunite after 25 years. Lewis (Tango & Cash) plays Frank, a family friend who raised Chad and takes him to Hong Kong where Alex resides. It's then, that the twins learn why their parents were murdered and must avenge them. This isn't a bad action flick, Van Damme is amusing as usual and his "Bloodsport" co-stars Philip Chan and Bolo Yeung also appear. I recommend this.

Yet another slice of Van Damme craziness, this one glossier and more B-movie-ish than the rest. The sheer unintentional humour value offered up by the fact that Van Damme plays twins make this film unmissable - the split screen work, where Van Damme converses with himself, is a must see. Aside from this unusual aspect, it's business as usual with Van Damme taking on a double quota of blonde bimbos and vicious enemies who die by the bucket load in various violent ways.This film achieves due to some very slick action sequences which don't scrimp on the violence. Baddies are kicked, punched, stabbed, smashed in the face with bottles, shot, burnt, just about every death imaginable. On top of this there are some gratuitous sex scenes, plenty of cheesy dialogue and more ham acting than you can shake a stick at. Van Damme is as wooden as ever, but he's actually not that bad in the dual role and creates a believable rapport between the two brothers - aided, of course, by some nifty special effects. Geoffrey Lewis, father of Juliette, who you may remember from countless westerns and thrillers of years past, enjoys himself as Van Damme's ageing sidekick. The other imposing presence comes from the mighty Bolo Yeung (BLOODSPORT), always a formidable opponent, who has a fantastically brutal fight with Van Damme at the end of the film! I loved this B-movie. Every aspect is enjoyable - dumb, yes, but eminently enjoyable. The showdown gives us a chance to watch the chief baddies die some very unpleasant - and fitting - deaths. This has to be one of my favourite Van Damme films because it achieves what it sets out to do - namely providing lots of hard-hitting action, some goofy plot twists, bad acting, and lots of big explosions. And what more could you possibly want?

"Double Impact" is the story about two babies Alex and Chad who are separated after their parents are murdered by business partners Raymond Zhange (Philip Chan) and Nigel Griffith (Alan Scarfe). Twenty-five years later, the twin babies become two sexy martial arts sensations with strong Belgian accents (both played by Jean Claude Van Damme) who vow to avenge the death of their parents.For the first thirty-five minutes, I really enjoyed "Double Impact." Jean-Claude Van Damme has this cool, confident and sometimes cocky persona that is often entertaining. Some of his martial arts sequences are fun to watch as well. Then the onslaught of shoot outs with machine guns and automatic guns and explosions came along and the movie tanked. I have not had any personal experiences where, armed with only two handguns, I had to kill several people who were firing automatic machine guns at me. But if I was in that situation, I suspect I would at the very least sustain several injuries, even if I was an action star. Yet there are several scenes in "Double Impact" where Jean-Claude Van Damme successfully takes on three Chinese criminals, armed with machine guns, and emerges unscathed. When the hero does that well in several gun fights, it sucks the excitement out of the movie. We no longer have any reason to be concerned for his safety, because we know he is invincible. As a result, the shootouts -- which presumably are meant to generate the most excitement -- are tedious and boring.The other problem with the movie are the explosions. When I saw my first explosion in an action movie at age ten, I admit I was impressed. But since then, I have grown tired of them. Watching explosions in movies, like "Double Impact," is like eating doughnuts, potato chips and drinking pop drinks all day long. At the end, I get this sick feeling inside. The problem with "Double Impact" is that there are so many explosions and so much property damage that it smothers the plot and the dialogue. I had so much more fun watching Jean-Claude Van Damme showcasing remnants of both his characters, Alex and Chad. Then the explosions, shooting and full sound came along and ruined it all. I was also hopeful in the beginning that this movie would have some kind of plot. But "Double Impact" has no plot after 30 minutes. Danielle Wilde (who is played by the stunning blonde model Alonna Shaw) has a bit part as Alex's girlfriend and secretary to Mr. Griffiths and she spends most of her on screen time rummaging through Griffiths' files to see if he was responsible for killing Alex's parents. Danielle's role, as far as I can tell, is to generate interest in a plot bereft of ideas (not even Alfred Hitchcock would pull this stunt). Danielle's investigative work is inconsequential because Alex and Chad have already made up their minds to wipe out Griffiths, Zhang and the Triads. The same has to be said for the female villain Kara (Corinna Everson) who combines violence with sexually assaulting Danielle. Kara's purpose, as a lesbian stereotype, is to help the producers of this film hedge their bets by adding some cheap thrills in a film that has run out of good ideas. A third source of cheap thrills is the sex scene involving Danielle and one of the Jean-Claude Van Damme characters, which really shows how low the producers were willing to go to sell this movie. Overall Double Impact was a big disappointment. 3.5/10