Theme: Vengeance

Cyborg (1989) – Jean-Claude Van Damme

Cyborg is a Mad Max style post-apocalyptic action drama starring a young Jean-Claude Van Damme just one year after his breakout movie Bloodsport.

Due to the amount of pain & suffering depicted, including plenty of murder & torture, this movie could qualify as borderline horror. The most gruesome shots are omitted but there’s still enough unpleasantry to warrant a bit of fast-forwarding.

Van Damme plays a ‘slinger’ called Gibson who helps get people out of a ruined New York City. He stumbles across a female cyborg (a robotics-enhanced human, like Robocop without the strength & weaponry) played adequately by Dayle Haddon. She needs help getting to Atlanta to deliver vital information to doctors so they can make a cure for the plague that’s ravaged the world.

He also stumbles across another female, played terribly callously & nonchalently by Deborah Richter, with an outwardly-confident nervous twitch, not dissimilar to the demeanour of an adult industry worker – no surprise therefore that she has multiple scenes of nudity here. She tags along with Van Damme’s character because she’s otherwise quite helpless in this scary wasted world, plus she’s trying to convince him to help the cyborg deliver the cure to Atlanta.

Along the way, Van Damme’s character Gibson faces a ruthless gang of pirates led by a guy called Fender (played very convincingly by Vincent Klyn) who rejoices in misery and wants to own the cure for himself. The same guy also murdered Gibson’s family, so Gibson has a vendetta to fulfil.

Due to its originality and its frequent action, with a fair bit of quality, while being let down by plenty of slow scenes with empty filler content that ought to have been condensed out, and due to the overwhelming amount of horror genre infesting this movie, I rate it So-So / Lower-OK from a smooth action hero movie fan’s perspective. It’s more than Watchable, but only just.

Fun fact: this movie was put together using the sets & costumes of the abandoned Masters Of The Universe 2 plus an abandoned Spider-Man movie. Due to budget issues, those movies were scrapped even though a lot of money had already been spent on them, so they made this movie Cyborg to put those sets & costumes to good use and it turned out to be quite a hit – well played Cannon!

The Specialist (1994) – Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone

Not a bad movie, starring Sylvester Stallone a CIA explosives expert turned mercenary for hire on the free market, and Sharon Stone as the woman who hires him. They both put on fine performances as expected, although the plot is a bit thin and steamy. Supporting actors include James Woods and Eric Roberts who both do decent jobs as the two main bad guys in this movie, both reporting to the mafia boss played by Rod Steiger who does an average job with a terribly fake sounding accent.

The movie’s mood is slow but captivating, and the action is intermittent but of a fairly high standard – overall it kind of works. With grand musical effects it has vibes of an old Bond movie just without the fancy plot – this one’s very one-dimensional but still an enjoyable watch if you’re not too busy and haven’t seen this movie in the last decade or so.

The Karate Kid Part III (1989) – Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita

This movie has plenty of the same creativity that made the previous two a success. Pat Morita does an outstanding job as Mr Miyagi, and Ralph Macchio does a decent job as Daniel-san too. This time the movie is set back in the States, but new rivals emerge in the form of an old student (Terry Silver) of the nasty Cobra Kai sensei (John Kreese), plus a new recruit (Mike Barnes) hired specifically to beat Daniel in the tournament and beat him up in the process.

Thomas Ian Griffith almost steals the show – he does an outstanding job as Terry Silver who makes it his mission to deceive and torment Daniel-san and Mr Miyagi. Sean Kanan does a decent job as Mike Barnes who bullies Daniel-san throughout the movie (as he’s hired to do by Terry Silver), and Martin Kove does a decent job reprising his role as John Kreese too.

Other cast members include Daniel’s new girlfriend Jessica Andrews, the lady from the pottery store across the road (played by Robyn Lively, who does a fair job), and Snake, a student of Terry Silver who is tasked with organising & assisting the bullying (played by Jonathan Avildsen, who does an excellent job, he is very convincing, albeit in a relatively minor role).

Due to creativity maintained, as set by prior movies in this saga, and considering the introduction of great new cast members, plus a strong ending as per usual, this movie deserves a 7.5/10 in my view.

This movie did well to develop the characters the way it did; but if it had a bit less bonsai tree drama, a bit more interesting action, a bit more meaningful philosophy, and a stronger leader female, plus dare I say a stronger lead male playing Daniel-san, this could be a more exciting movie worthy of an 8 or higher. It’s got so many strong ingredients that other movies don’t have. It’s fun to watch the whole series of Karate Kid movies back to back every few years, and these days we have the luxury of topping that off with the new Cobra Kai show which has six seasons out already and is still going strong. I recommend you finish every season of this show before moving on to Jackie Chan’s 2010 remake of The Karate Kid which has none of the same actors and is all about Chinese kung fu really, not Japanese karate.

See also: Cobra Kai – the new satirical action comedy drama TV show

The new Cobra Kai show sees many of the old Karate Kid actors return after several decades away, including: Ralph Macchio who plays a middle aged Daniel-san; William Zabka who plays a middle-aged Johnny Lawrence, Daniel’s nemesis from the original movie; and elderly versions of John Kreese (played by Martin Kove) and Terry Silver (played by Thomas Ian Griffith).

But that’s more for nostalgia than anything. The best thing about this series is the introduction of a new generation of outstanding cast members including Xolo Maridueña (from Blue Beetle) and Tanner Buchanan.

Note though, this show is a bit satirical, not so serious as the movies were. That doesn’t mean the acting is bad, it’s just a different vibe, a different genre now.

Assassination Games (2011) – Jean-Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins

Classic moody old Van Damme and classic moody prime Scott Adkins join forces in a beautiful depiction of two expert assassins colliding on a job then joining forces to finish personal vendettas against the odds. The only reason I don’t rate Assassination Games higher is because it has a fairly simplistic script and probably a lower budget than it deserves. The basic concepts in the plot are good, but they fail to flesh out into a more comprehensive plot to entertain us on another level which we should be considering the stars involved. The script is thin but the two action hero superstars carry this movie into a moderate success. The opening scene seems almost B Movie quality, but it quickly improves. Granted, there are some cool sets, like Van Damme’s apartment with secret rooms, and his agent’s lair was convincing too. All in all, it’s makes for decent viewing when you haven’t seen it in a while.

Supporting cast includes Kristopher Van Varenberg, also known as Kris Van Damme, and Bianca Van Varenberg, also known as Bianca Bree and Bianca Van Damme – these are Jean-Claude Van Damme’s two children from his current wife who he divorced then re-married (Jean-Claude has a son to ex-wife Darcy LaPier also – that one being called Nicholas Van Varenberg). Indeed, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s name is actually Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg. In this movie, his daughter Bree plays the comatose wife of Scott Adkins’ character, and Van Damme’s son Kris plays one of the enemies of Adkins’ character.

Bloodshot (2020) – Vin Diesel

Bloodshot is a novel concept – creative and action packed – great for anyone who’s never seen it before. It is a bit one dimensional still though. The introduction of the hacker is a nice plot development but aside from that it’s all very simple.

Vin Diesel is his usual self – a fairly entertaining action hero, but a bit dryer and slower than my favourite action movie stars, although he oozes energy from underneath the surface. This role doesn’t perfectly suit him, but he does pretty well in it nevertheless.

Supporting cast includes Eiza González, the lead female – she does quite well in her role as an attractive assassin being controlled by Guy Pearce’s character. Lamorne Morris does quite well as the coding whiz who hacks the controlling technology to set Vin’s and Eiza’s characters free.

Guy Pearce does alright as the main nemesis on the brains side – the guy who controls Vin Diesel’s character until he breaks free – but he is a bit too meek in demeanour for such a power hungry role – a naturally stronger character here could have made this is more convincing movie.

Sam Heughan does a good job as the main nemesis on the (tech assisted) muscles side – he has a very convincing attitude for the role.

Alex Hernandez also does alright as one of the main team members. Good attitude for the requirement of the role.

Toby Kebbell also does quite well, as the first victim of the mind-controlled main character played by Vin Diesel. He displays an impressive contrast of acting styles here, from a savage psycho killer with a screw-loose wacky side, to an innocent and vulnerable victim with strong understanding and quick reactions.

Talulah Riley plays Vin Diesel’s wife – her performance was fair enough, although it was a bit washed & wafery – a more attractive & powerful woman like Eiza González could have done a better job in this role and helped make the movie more convincing since the plot is so heavily based on Vin Diesel’s character being so attached to his wife and so moved and vengeance-seeking when she’s killed.

Overall it’s a busy action packed movie and quite creative in its core concept, but is a bit one dimensional in terms of extended plot detail. It’s especially interesting for those who haven’t seen it before or in many years. Due to the strong special effects, fairly rich action, generally decent cast, and quirky concept, but with a dodgy nanite theme in-keeping with so many movies released around 2020; I rate Bloodshot about equal to its rival Hobbs & Shaw, or Black Panther 1 and 2. Indeed it’s disappointing to see so much pushing of the idea that technology in our body is a beneficial and even cool thing, especially when it comes to nanobots messing around in our blood according to their own discretion or an outside controller. Bloodshot is an awesome movie the first time you see it, if you can forgive its dodgy theme features, but significant tedium sets in and significant flaws become much more apparent if you rewatch it too often.

Colombiana (2011) – Zoe Saldaña

Colombiana (2011)

Colombiana stars Zoe Saldaña as Cataleya (after a 30 minute backstory where someone else plays her younger self).

Zoe Saldaña is perhaps best known for being the main blue chick in the Avatar movie series, as well as the main green chick in the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies. She also played Uhura in the Star Trek movies. But as strong as all her other roles were, nothing tops her performance in the lead role of Colombiana so far as action hero movie connoisseurs like myself are concerned.

From its well crafted opening with great patience, sound effects, camerawork and cast members (including Amandla Stenberg who expertly plays a young version of Cataleya, plus Cliff Curtis who quite well plays her uncle Emilio living in USA, Jordi Mollà who quite well plays the main baddie early on, and many other strong supporting cast members)… To its smooth yet committed plot development that scarcely fails to retain the viewer’s fixated attention (especially for first time viewers but quite effectively for occasional rewatchers also)… Colombiana is an understated memorable near-masterpiece as far as female assassin movies go.

Lennie James also puts in a strong performance as the FBI agent in charge of identifying, tracking down and capturing Cataleya.

Colombiana has a simplistic plot, but it’s generally well executed with great tempo, acting and effects all round. When a less captivating scene starts to drag on too long, it tends to change pretty quickly soon after, in order to relieve the frustration, so boring bits are scarce and short at the worst of times – credit to the directors for that.

Having said that, the chunky middle of the movie is by far the best of it; stylistically reminiscent of Jessica Alba in the Dark Angel sci-fi series. The start, and even more so the long action scene near the end, are a bit gritty and one-dimensional, which can get tedious for frequent rewatchers of this movie. So while I would rate the majority of this movie ‘very good’ alongside the best male-led assassin movies like The Equalizer, Hitman, and The Transporter; due to its weaker ending (sure, it’s got a long & loud action scene, but that’s not everything) I have to shave the edge off it and rate this movie overall as merely ‘pretty good’ alongside the best female-led action hero movies like Wonder Woman and Ghost In The Shell, which is no poor achievement by any means – they’re still fairly strong movies, quite well made.

Colombiana (2011) starring Zoe Saldana

Ninja II: Shadow Of A Tear (2013) – Scott Adkins

Ninja II: Shadow Of A Tear (2013) starring Scott Adkins

This movie sequel is about as good as the original Ninja movie from 2009. It carries some of the same core characters and plot references, but has plenty of new plot material to work from. In this movie we see another vengeance-led mission except this time Scott’s character has nothing to protect – he’s lost everything and is on a “kill ’em all” kinda mission now as he tracks down the untouchable druglord who he thinks killed his pregnant wife, taking out everyone he encounters along the way. It’s a solid movie, about as good as the original – some things are better, some things are worse. This time it’s not set in America though, it’s set in Thailand & Burma.

The Foreigner (2017) – Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan

The Foreigner (1997) poster

ACTION BUSYNESS ⭐⭐⭐⭐
MOOD SETTING ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
SCRIPT COHESION ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
PLOT DENSITY ⭐⭐⭐

This movie is thoroughly entertaining – it’s one of Jackie’s slightly more gritty performances but still provides great action for his usual fanbase just with the omission of the usual comedic edge. The only letdown is the socio-political message being pushed by this movie. That aspect of it really stinks. Still, Jackie holds it down very well so it doesn’t upset the movie too much. We’re treated to a very strong performance by Pierce Brosnan too, as an Irish politician and former IRA leader who has to defend his farm-come-castle from an angry elderly Chinaman who happens to be ex special forces – a role played flawlessly by Jackie Chan with the help of a great all-round movie production.

It’s slightly minimal on plot aside from the core concept – hardly as many twists & turns as The Matrix – but that’s fine. It focuses on one theme – a slowly developing scenario – and does it exceedingly well.

We’ve previously seen how fantastic a movie can be when a top martial arts movie star teams up with a former James Bond, as happened when Van Damme worked with Roger Moore on The Quest (1996). The Foreigner is no exception to this trend – Jackie Chan makes a great team with Pierce Brosnan here, only this time they are adversaries.

There’s a good amount of combat but this movie, but the entertainment value comes more from the story. Action wise, it’s not nearly so complex or grandiose as James Bond, but it’s got a good amount of simple action throughout. Script wise, it’s a very simple story, well executed. Cast wise, there are several strong characters in this movie.

Rumour says Jackie had been craving a more serious romantic or dramatic role (minus the comedy) for a long time. Now that he’s finally had one, we can see why. He’s an outstanding actor. It’s a very moving movie. This follows the pattern of his first few American movies, where he wasn’t permitted to choreograph his fight scenes in the ways he knew would work best, because the directors couldn’t think beyond trying to imitate the old established style of screen combat, but when Jackie eventually gained enough authority to do his own thing, the world loved it, and I hope those early directors held their heads in shame.