Double Impact Review

• 12th Sep 2011

It’s fitting that as we head towards the end of our action heroes retrospectives we come full circle back to the Van Dammage with this re-release of Double Impact.

The joy for me here is that I get to throw in a few words about the film as, despite writing seven of the JCVD retros, I didn’t do a write up on Double Impact, which to this day is still a firm favourite for me (I won’t spoil anything here, so do check out the retrospective).

Jean-Claude Van Damme plays twins Chad and Alec. Separated at birth when their parents are assassinated by business rivals, they’re brought back together by the family bodyguard (a wonderful Geoffrey Lewis) in order to go back to Hong Kong, take down those that wronged them and reclaim their birthright.

Of course the brothers don’t see eye to eye at first. Chad, raised in LA, is quite naive. Alex is a street tough smuggler who isn’t impressed by anything. But work together they do and slowly form a bond, if not much of a loving respect for one another.

The action and effects in the film are dated to an extent, but the director was wise enough to keep it all to a minimum relying on as many practical effects as possible. The action remains impressive even if they do borrow a trick or two from other films. One moment particularly recalled the end of Lethal Weapon 2 (but that may have been because LW2 had only been released a year or two before this one came out). So they get a pass for that as it’s still a great moment in the film.

But most people will remember this for the hilarious fight JCVD has with himself in the film. The man pulls it off, but for some reason or another it’s still so funny to watch him give himself a right whooping back and forth.

So is there anything bad to say about this title? Well there’s a sharp sudden YES there. Basically the release isn’t making much sense. It’s a vanilla DVD release only. No Blu-ray, no extras? So while I encourage anyone who likes JCVD or is remotely interested in retro action and doesn’t own this film to buy it, there’s nothing else here that requires anyone to re-buy.

It’s almost a crying shame that we’re still not giving JCVD the full or even semi-treatment on re-releases. Especially in the wake of his return to popularity. Enough time has passed for JCVD and film-makers to band together for a few interviews, retrospective docs and even the odd commentary. So I’m left after viewing this disc hungry for more.

Steven Hurst