Hard Target

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme

The much anticipated (by me, anyway) teaming of Woo and Van Damme turns out to be a bit of a letdown. While it is certainly head and shoulders above JCVD's other "movies," it isn't good enough to be his breakout picture (the way "Under Siege" was for Seagal). Woo tries, but despite his strenuous efforts, cannot drag the picture out from under the weight of a leaden script and Van Damme's woodenness. The picture is woefully short on humor, and the few times JCVD tries for a few Bondian bon mots, it comes across as dreadfully forced and awkward. Part of the problem is he can't act, but there is also no way to get a fix on his character because there IS no character. And excuse me for getting petty, but please get a shave and a shampoo. The action itself is mixed. A pretty good fight scene early on, then not much until the climactic chase and showdown (which occupies about the last third of the picture).

Unfortunately, even this is not up to par. It's a noisy but conventional chase that ends (claustrophobically) in a big warehouse with a lot of Mardi Gras floats and loud explosions (why, by the way?). The problem is there is no dramatic basis for the chase; it's ordnance for ordnance's sake, which does not allow it to rise above the ordinary (compare to the chase in “In the Line of Fire”). I think Woo is capable of more than this (I consider myself a Woo expert, having seen one other of his pictures, which is one more than most people). Maybe the pressure of having to go Hollywood clouded his judgment. More likely though, the weak script couldn't be covered up by any amount of gunfire. (8/25/93)