"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
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