Enemies Closer

Maybe the 8 stars is more because of how surprisingly entertaining this Van Damme movie is compared to some of his recent stuff. I actually only even took a chance on it because Orlando Jones was in it as well. Van Damme seems to be channeling the creepy acting methods of Willem Defoe, Christopher Walken and Jack Nicholson in this one, and he pulls it off really well. If you are looking for mindless action with a basic plot line, this one provides just that with a few little twists to boot. No Academy Awards here, but for pure action movie submersion without a whole lot of need to think too deeply, this movie was a pleasant surprise.

Why is phone standing on the table? It looks nice! Wow! I did not hear such a line in a long time! For a low budget film this is not bad. Van Damme is cool! I like his style of acting! He died in style! Other actors are pretty good too. Plot is interesting and imaginative. It is an island, and everyone is invited! Opening shot of a plane crashing is cool. It was very promising, and it turned out to be a very solid film. I liked how they switched the Keyla from a neutral character to a very bad girl. The fighting scenes are well made, the tree fight for example. All in all if you want some decent entertainment but not to expect a lot this is a film for you.

Peter Hyams' "Enemies Closer" begins with a crash and ends with a bang, and nothing more or less. The crash belongs to a plane flying below the radar between the US-Canadian border, conforming my belief that Hyams hates aircraft following the odd destruction of helicopters in "Narrow Margin" and "Sudden Death" (I jest), but also setting off a chain of events at the nearby national park involving two war veterans at odds with each other and a deranged vegan-eco lunatic mercenary hell bent on killing anyone who gets in his way and eating wild fruit from the forest. It's the simplicity of Eric's and James Bromberg's cornball script that caught my attention - most big budget films today tend to be somewhat pretentious in their depiction of certain themes. "Enemies Closer", made with a budget of only US$ 5 million but looks and feels about 4x as much, is about as straightforward as a bullet to the head, without a hint of self-awareness or pretentiousness. It takes itself so seriously, you'll swear you're back in time between the late 80s and early 90s. Hyams may never be considered an auteur filmmaker in his lifetime, but he is undeniably a skilled craftsman - able to make films of various genres with considerable flair despite not having his own artistic trademark, save for his lush and underrated cinematography (a skill that he is supremely better at than directing) which works wonders for this film as it makes the film look more expensive than it is. Lovely stable shots of dark shadows and silhouetted fight scenes illuminate throughout the last two thirds of the film, stitched together nicely by Hyams' son John (director of the last two "Universal Soldier" films, both equally directed with considerable skill and crisp timing). Special mention goes to Hyams regular production designer Philip Harrison for making the Bulgarian local look and feel like a genuine Canadian-US woodland. Tom Everett Scott and Orlando Jones are the protagonists in this one. Scott portrays an everyman park ranger who is an ex-soldier haunted by his past (as always), and Jones is the vengeful brother of a soldier who was killed under the ranger's past command. While they will never be considered as real action stars, both Scott and Jones do a believable job with the material they are given, and best of all, NOT annoying. Both lock horns and one is about to kill the other when a group of French Canadian mercenaries led by the psychopathic Xander crash the party to steal a stash of heroin from the downed plane. This Xander, he is a real piece of work. He is played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, and boy is he having fun with this role.Borrowing bits and pieces from Silva from "Skyfall" and Heath Ledger's Joker, complete with an outrageous hairdo, bizarre mannerisms, and a penchant for badmouthing everything that isn't "green", Van Damme steals every scene he's in with his oddball yet energetic performance. Ever since "The Expendables 2", he looked as if he could have a second life playing great villains. With this movie, it probably could reboot his career if others are willing to see it. His exit from the movie alone deserves a perfect 10/10. Look, this is not a great movie, not by a long shot. It's corny, it's cheesy and it sounds cheap (the music is pretty bad). However to quote Van Damme, "let's not think about the negatives". The strengths outweigh the flaws, and somehow Hyams, Van Damme and the rest of the cast and crew manage to make this movie work. An efficiently made, straightforward action thriller that pulls no punches, and does what it sets out to do. Now if only the producers at EON could see this and consider JCVD as a Bond villain...

JCvD is getting better and better the older he gets. But since most reviews already mentioned his part in the movie I'm gonna do a short comment of another things in it. The only thing that is really bothering me about the film, is the shitty fighting skills of the Forest Ranger and ex S.E.A.L. Seriously, even a 3 years ex S.E.A.L and former drunk would have wiped the floor with Clay (angry brother) and most likely all the drug ppl too. A S.E.A.L is trained to master Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Krav Maga, so even if some time has passed he should be a hell of a lot better. I got my black belt in Jujitsu about 25 years ago, and I had to quit a few months after. But I still remember most of it, it's like riding a bike. But besides that the movie is worth watching.

. . . which is saying a lot, since there have been so many many inane films in the past 125 years. ENEMIES CLOSER, a Jean-Claude Van Damme feature, looks like it's been plotted by a three-year-old playing with toys from his toy box. The opening "crash" of a supposed drug smuggling plane reminded me of that exactly. No, Jean-Claude, you CANNOT substitute Louisiana for Maine for your five minutes of "location shots;" they look nothing alike. No, Jean-Claude, you don't find Larry-the-Cable-Guy-type "rednecks" in the American far North. No, Jean-Claude, Bulgaria is not a BETTER substitution for the American far North. No, Jean-Claude, you do NOT sound like a Canadian Mountie, and only a comatose person might take you for one. No, Jean-Claude, not even YOU could kill six heavily-armed American law enforcement personnel (or even six Yankee dog catchers) with your bare hands in three minutes. No, Jean-Claude, the rangers in U.S. "STATE" parks do NOT wear National Park Service uniforms. No, Jean-Claude, all the tourists in America do NOT have Bulgarian accents. No, Jean-Claude, a homely chick with a smile is not enough to totally bamboozle a U.S. Navy S.E.A.L. No, Jean-Claude, a U.S. Navy S.E.A.L. would NOT tie up a terrorist from a cell that had already killed 8 American cops and 2 civilians with a slip knot in the middle of an active war zone (he'd shoot him twice in the face!). I could list another 87 totally asinine aspects of Jean-Claude's latest "entertainment," but why bother? I'll just point out that if this type of bogus crap gives America's enemies--foreign and domestic--the idea that the U.S. is a "soft target," the blood of the resulting carnage will be on Jean-Claude's head!

This is exactly how to do a low budget DTV movie right. The location is quite simple, yet big enough to carry the movie and what will happen. The characters are pretty good. I would say the protagonists where fine, the Ranger was lovable, the black dude was OK, but the show stealer is definitely Van Damme. He has been going out of his comfort zone lately in different type of role, and after having seen him in Expendables 2, i knew he could pull off a bad guy. In this movie, he is just so over the top and nuts its amazing. He is really what give a special feeling to the movie. In lots of his post 2010 or so roles he appeared as a depressing, never smiling anti-hero and even tough some of these movies where nice(6 Bullets, Assassination Games) i was eagerly waiting for him to do something else which he is doing with this and Welcome to the Jungle. I loved the role of Xander, and he got the hair cut to go with it ! The story itself is pretty simple yet OK, don't expect a high budget of special effects, but the fights are done nicely and there is enough action to satisfy most fans. Overall a nice addition to your Van Damme collection, and for a guy that is now not so young, i am glad he can still pull out movies like that.

i am the type of movies' fan who tries to now what kind of movie he is about to watch before watching it, in order not to have expectation from pop-corn movies or fighting ones and be prepared to be astonished by exceptional films. That's me and because of that i have enjoyed Oscar films, as i have enjoyed JCVD's and Seagal's movies amongst else. But, this one? Saw some mercy for God's shake! I shall not give any spoiler but some advice to the Belgian (once) super-fighter Mr Jean Claude: If there is no money for a descent scenario if there is no descent director if there is not enough budget to hire some descent actors for the other roles if there is no plan for a movie to be filmed at descent locations in daylight or at night with descent machinery if there is anything like what you offered to play n such a fiasco, ...then PLEASE DON'T PLAY IN A MOVIE LIKE THIS AGAIN!* *and if you play, please realise that you are not 40 any more, you are 54 d@mn it, act like a 54 years old!!!