Double Impact starts in Hong Kong where a team of Triad hit men kill Paul (Andy Armstrong) & Katherine Wagner (Sarah-Jane Varley), however they fail to kill their two 6 month old twins who are rescued by Paul's friend Frank Avery (Geoffrey Lewis) who takes one to America & their nanny who dumps the other outside a Hong Kong orphanage... Jump forward 25 years where Frank & Chad (co-producer Jean-Claude Van Damme) run a Californian karate studio, Frank has tracked Chad's twin brother Alex (Jean-Claude Van Damme again) down in Hong Kong & together they fly out there. Frank introduces the two & reveal that their parents were murdered by a Triad gang run by slimy businessman Nigel Griffith (Alan Scarfe) & underworld boss Raymond Zhang (Philip Chang), Frank convinces them to join forces, take them both down & avenge their parents...
Co-written, co-produced & directed by Sheldon Lettich this is the first time JCVD plays twins although it wouldn't be the last, Double Impact was one of JCVD's earlier efforts just prior to his first big hit Universal Soldier (1992) & I didn't think it was anything special. The script by Lettich & JCVD (I wonder which one thought up the sex scene where JVCD gets to do the business with Danielle...) is a pretty by-the-numbers out for revenge action flick, the added interest of having two JCVD's doesn't really add anything to the film & some may actually see this as a reason to avoid Double Impact. It's all rather predictable with all the bad guy's not being able to shoot straight, not being able to fight properly & are just generally incompetent while the good guy's hit everything they shoot at, they can take an absolute pounding yet walk away with minor cuts & bruises & of course they never, ever run out of bullets while they seem able to avoid the attentions of the local police despite running around beating people up, killing people & destroying property. The story itself isn't particularly engrossing or original, the dialogue isn't that good, it's full of clichés, the character's are poor & the action scenes are repetitive. To be honest it moves along at a reasonable pace, it never bores, there are the usual unintentionally funny moments because of bad scripting, duff editing or horrible acting so I suppose it entertains on a dumb brainless action flick level but there are much better examples out there if you take the time to look.
Director Lettich does OK but it's all rather generic, bland & a touch lifeless. There's nothing particularly memorable here, there are a few predictably one sided martial arts fights, shoot outs & a few explosions although how did the fire on the boat magically put itself out? The entire hull full of flammable barrels explode yet in the very next shot the boat is fine & there isn't a single flame anywhere to be seen! Most of the scenes involving JCVD as twins is achieved through doubles & not showing them together in the same frame but when the film does the effects are less than satisfactory although ironically these days you could probably do the split screen thing with more convincing results on a home PC today with a decent movie making package. Other than that Lettich has Alex smoke a cigar whenever he's on screen as a sort of trademark while he has Chad dress in brightly coloured tight fitting clothes neither of which are very subtle. The fights are OK but get sort of boring as JCVD never seems to get injured or tired & they are just so one sided.
With a supposed budget of about $16,000,000 Double Impact did reasonable business, it's well made using nice enough locations in Hong Kong & I particularly liked the ending which is set on-top of a huge crane. The acting isn't that good, JCVD can't act, Geoffrey Lewis is awful & no-one else impressed either. Porn actress & low budget horror film starlet Julie Strain makes an early screen appearance.
Double Impact is an average JCVD vehicle, it doesn't make much sense when you think about it & generally speaking it's pretty predictable but if your looking for a few mindless fights & a few laughs then this will pass the time harmlessly enough.
Co-written, co-produced & directed by Sheldon Lettich this is the first time JCVD plays twins although it wouldn't be the last, Double Impact was one of JCVD's earlier efforts just prior to his first big hit Universal Soldier (1992) & I didn't think it was anything special. The script by Lettich & JCVD (I wonder which one thought up the sex scene where JVCD gets to do the business with Danielle...) is a pretty by-the-numbers out for revenge action flick, the added interest of having two JCVD's doesn't really add anything to the film & some may actually see this as a reason to avoid Double Impact. It's all rather predictable with all the bad guy's not being able to shoot straight, not being able to fight properly & are just generally incompetent while the good guy's hit everything they shoot at, they can take an absolute pounding yet walk away with minor cuts & bruises & of course they never, ever run out of bullets while they seem able to avoid the attentions of the local police despite running around beating people up, killing people & destroying property. The story itself isn't particularly engrossing or original, the dialogue isn't that good, it's full of clichés, the character's are poor & the action scenes are repetitive. To be honest it moves along at a reasonable pace, it never bores, there are the usual unintentionally funny moments because of bad scripting, duff editing or horrible acting so I suppose it entertains on a dumb brainless action flick level but there are much better examples out there if you take the time to look.
Director Lettich does OK but it's all rather generic, bland & a touch lifeless. There's nothing particularly memorable here, there are a few predictably one sided martial arts fights, shoot outs & a few explosions although how did the fire on the boat magically put itself out? The entire hull full of flammable barrels explode yet in the very next shot the boat is fine & there isn't a single flame anywhere to be seen! Most of the scenes involving JCVD as twins is achieved through doubles & not showing them together in the same frame but when the film does the effects are less than satisfactory although ironically these days you could probably do the split screen thing with more convincing results on a home PC today with a decent movie making package. Other than that Lettich has Alex smoke a cigar whenever he's on screen as a sort of trademark while he has Chad dress in brightly coloured tight fitting clothes neither of which are very subtle. The fights are OK but get sort of boring as JCVD never seems to get injured or tired & they are just so one sided.
With a supposed budget of about $16,000,000 Double Impact did reasonable business, it's well made using nice enough locations in Hong Kong & I particularly liked the ending which is set on-top of a huge crane. The acting isn't that good, JCVD can't act, Geoffrey Lewis is awful & no-one else impressed either. Porn actress & low budget horror film starlet Julie Strain makes an early screen appearance.
Double Impact is an average JCVD vehicle, it doesn't make much sense when you think about it & generally speaking it's pretty predictable but if your looking for a few mindless fights & a few laughs then this will pass the time harmlessly enough.