Double Team (1997) starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman, Mickey Rourke, Paul Freeman, Natacha Lindinger, Valeria Cavalli, Jay Benedict directed by Hark Tsui Movie Review

Double Team (1997)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Jean-Claude Van Damme in Double Team (1997)

Home for Agents

Having retired 3 years earlier counter-terrorist Jack Quinn (Jean-Claude Van Damme - The Quest) is lured back in to action when his nemesis Stavros (Mickey Rourke - Another Nine & a Half Weeks) returns to cause the agency a ton of problems. But things don't go well for Quinn when after heading to Antwerp to buy weapons from Yaz (Dennis Rodman) a confrontation with Stavros in an amusement not only sees Stavros's young son killed but Quinn seriously injured. When Quinn comes to he discovers himself in a top secret facility on a remote island called "The Colony" where top agents who are officially declared dead are taken as part of a think tank as they are too dangerous to be allowed to retire. The only trouble is that Stavros knows that Quinn is not dead and so Quinn must come up with a way to escape.

That is a lot more plot than I usually type for a Van Damme movie but don't fear as "Double Team" whilst having a purposefully convoluted storyline is about two things; action and comedy. And whilst "Double Team" is not up there with some of Van Damme's movies I can guarantee that if you are a fan of Friday night beer and pizza action flicks then this will entertain.

Mickey Rourke in Double Team (1997)

In truth it is better not to try and make sense of "Double Team" because this is science fiction where we have a think tank for high value reportedly dead agents and just enjoy all the outrageous action. And that really starts with the amusement park bloodbath as we have guns being shot from all angles whilst Van Damme twists, turns, flips and jumps his way around the place whilst dispatching a bad guy or two with a fancy break dance inspired kick. It is all seriously over the top but a lot of fun with things culminating in a maternity ward, how a maternity ward is that close to an amusement park is beyond me but it is shall we say explosive. And it is a good job to as when "Double Team" is not serving up action or comedy it struggles due to the limited ability of much of the cast to create drama or believable characters.

But as I said there is comedy as well, all tongue in cheek humour as we have purposefully corny dialogue and plenty of face pulling. There is of course the flamboyant Dennis Rodman who in revealing clothes is a comical site right from the moment we meet him. But the best performance comes from Mickey Rourke, well at least when it comes to playing a character he does make Stavros a stereotypical bad guy with more than one dimension.

What this all boils down to is that "Double Team" is three things; it is amusing, it is action packed and it is really for only those who enjoy Van Damme's movies from the 90s and are looking for something to watch on a Friday night.


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