Double Impact (1991) Columbia/Action RT: 110 minutes Rated R (strong violence, sensuality, language) Director: Sheldon Lettich Screenplay: Sheldon Lettich and Jean-Claude Van Damme Music: Arthur Kempel Cinematography: Richard H. Kline Release date: August 9, 1991 (US) Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis, Alonna Shaw, Corinna Everson, Philip Chan, Alan Scarfe, Bolo Yeung, Andy Armstrong, Wu Fong Lung, Peter Malota, Sarah-Jane Varley, Kamel Krifa. Box Office: $30.1M (US)
Rating: **
It turns out twice the JCVD amounts to less than one of him. The Belgian-born martial arts star plays a dual role in Double Impact, a thoroughly mediocre actioner from director Sheldon Lettich (Lionheart). It has some good action scenes, but its lame storyline hurts it in the long run. Other than JCVD playing twins separated at birth, it’s as routine as revenge-themed action movies come.
Identical twin brothers Chad and Alex grew up separately after their parents were brutally murdered while they were still infants. They’re executed by a Triad hit squad acting on behalf of the father’s greedy business partner Nigel Griffith (Scarfe, Iron Eagle II) who’s in bed with Chinese mob boss Raymond Zhang (Chan, Hard Boiled). Alex is rescued by the nanny who takes him to a Catholic orphanage while the family’s bodyguard Frank (Lewis, Every Which Way But Loose) takes Chad to America by way of France.
25 years later, “Uncle Frank” starts to clue in Chad, a Beverly Hills karate instructor, about his family legacy. He tells him they have to go to Hong Kong to deal with some business. That’s where Chad learns he has a twin brother Alex who makes his living dealing in black market goods. It’s not exactly a joyous reunion to say the least. Frank further explains they need to work together in claiming what’s rightfully theirs; namely, royalties from Victoria Harbour Tunnel which their father helped build. It’s going to take some doing to get the proof they need. It’s a good thing Alex’s girlfriend Danielle (Shaw, Cyborg Cop) just happens to work for Griffith. That it’s also a mission to avenge their parents goes without saying.
The funny thing about Double Impact is that JCVD has absolutely no chemistry whatsoever with JCVD. I know it sounds strange saying this about an actor playing opposite himself (courtesy of split-screen processing), but it’s true. Performance-wise, it’s difficult to differentiate between the two brothers. JCVD plays them both with the same wooden style. The only way to tell them apart (for a little while anyway) is that Chad wears a stylish haircut and brightly-colored clothes while Alex sports a black leather jacket and slicked-back hair. We lose this gauge when Chad starts dressing like Alex. In its place, we get more scenes of people mistaking one brother for the other.
The rest of the acting in Double Impact isn’t much better. The actors all play stock characters including Bolo Yeung (Bloodsport) as Zhang’s brutal main henchman. However, he’s the best thing about the cast. It’s always great to see him turn up in one of these movies. He’s a classic martial arts villain. Lettich puts him to pretty good use, but I still wanted to see more of him. It also would have been nice to see more of JCVD displaying his true talent. This one is disappointingly short on martial arts action and heavy on gunplay and explosions. To its credit, it doesn’t skimp on the action and violence. There’s enough of both to keep fans interested. One of my favorite scenes is when one of the twins (I forget which) literally smashes a bad guy’s face in.
I think somebody made a mistake trying to turn JCVD into a more conventional action hero. He’s not James Bond or Dirty Harry or whoever. He’s in the same class as Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris and Jeff Speakman in that he’s a martial artist first and an actor last. Like his peers, he has no real talent in the latter department. He’s not a terrible actor per se; he’s just not a very good one. But he kicks ass real good! That’s what really counts when it comes to one of these movies.
To its credit, Double Impact is a slick production with some well-choreographed action. It’s too bad it doesn’t have a decent plot to support it. It’s weak and it doesn’t make a lot of sense. For example, there’s mention of a big drug deal. It seems like it’s going to be a major plot point based on how it’s introduced. Instead, it gets lost in the confusion and chaos. Of course, it’s possible I missed something.
Admittedly, my mind wandered more than once while watching Double Impact although it hardly makes a difference with a movie that knows where it wants to go, but takes a route with too many detours. Take the scene where Chad leaves their island hideout to get Danielle out of a tight spot with her boss. Alex, believing that his girlfriend is cheating on him with his brother, gets drunk and imagines a scenario where they’re getting it on with each other. It’s an unnecessary deviation from the main plot. BTW, Shaw gives the movie’s worst performance as Danielle. Lettich could have replaced her with a plastic mannequin and nobody would be able to tell the difference.
I wanted to like Double Impact with its Corsican Brothers premise, but I just couldn’t get into it. Frankly, I was bored at a few points. At 110 minutes, it runs longer than it needs to. Lettich could have trimmed away some of the fat to make a tighter, leaner action picture. In the end, Double Impact is just okay. It has its moments, but doesn’t work as a whole. It’s less than the sum of its JCVDs.
