Universal Soldier

On the heels of Double Impact, Universal Soldier is released and it is another really good movie, uh oh, Mr. Van Damme is dangerously close to developing a trend. I sense a streak coming on. In much the same way Double Impact was aided by a the unique concept of having Van Damme playing duel roles and bringing Bolo Yeung back to play the lead henchmen, Universal Soldier is aided by an interesting story idea and co-star slash fellow comrade in the action movie buff category, Dolph Lundgren.

Universal Solider is about a top secret genetic engineering super soldier program. Military geneticists have found a way to regenerate dead human tissue and therefore are able to revive former soldiers killed in action. By regenerating dead tissue they are also able to increase the soldier’s strength, speed, endurance, and accuracy making them virtually unstoppable. Private Luke Deveraux, Van Damme and Sergeant Andrew Scott, Lundgren were Vietnam War Vets that killed each other when Deveraux tried to defend some innocent villagers from the homicidal blood lust of Scott. These two were among the firsts dead soldiers to take part in the program. After three successful covert missions the US Military is preparing to take the program public when Deveraux and Scott have mental relapses. Deveraux escapes their military instillation where they are kept in an attempt to return home while Scott takes it upon himself to lead the manhunt for Deveraux.

Given the fact that the movie is about super soldiers it is not hard to guess most of the action was gun fights, there were a couple of hand to hand scenes, one took place in a diner, with shades of the Kickboxer, type of fight choreography expect this one was a little more grueling, but also some what tongue and cheek. At one point Van Damme punches a guy and lands hard enough on pool table to sink three balls into the corner pockets. To further add to the scene instead of playing it drunk this time Van Damme is preoccupied with eating, as a super soldier the are fed intravenously, so every time he knocks a guy out he goes back to eating something. He is also emotionless in the scene because is a brainwashed super soldier. So he just goes about wiping the floor with a bunch on Midwestern tough guys and take breaks to finish eating his lunch. Good stuff.

The movie climaxes with the final scene, an extended fight between Scott, Lundgren and Deveraux, Van Damme. This is a great fight sequence. Mostly because he though he is a big guy, Lundgren can move around and is light on his feet. While he does not through too many kicks he does have a complete inventory of different punches and throws so his attacks were no redundant and boring like we have seen from previous Van Damme movie baddies. When the fight concludes Van Damme uses a lot of his patented kicks and jump kicks to defeat Lundgren by kicking on the spikes of an industrial sized rotor-tiller. It is worth noting that the final blow was not the jumping spinning round house he is famous for, but rather a straight heel kick to the face.