Death Warrant

"Go fuck yourself, you pudgy bastard."

Death Warrant isn't van Damme's best work film of the early 90's but it is still fun. Van Damme undercover in a prison, what more could you want from him? Maybe a split. It is a shame he didn't do one, but he did show up in his birthday suit again! Some trademark to have.

Anyway in Death Warrant our boy Jean-Claude has to find out who does the killing in a prison and why. The mystery behind it is alright! To be honest, I couldn't remember much of Death Warrant. It must have been at least 15 years since the last time I've seen this one. But I did remember the why and the amazing shot of JCVD getting hit in the face by a wrench. Such a great moment.

We don't get a lot of roundhouse kicks, no split, some epic facial expressions but Death Warrant isn't as rewatchable as some of his other early 90s movie like Hard Target, Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Nowhere to Run and Lionheart. Now that I'm listing these films, this might be his worse film of that period. Still if you like the Muscles from Brussels, Death Warrant is worth checking out!

Not the best movie by Van Damme, but still alright, better than later ones. The guy really like his spinning kicks in this one.

Not his best but still a classic Van Damme. Make the split if you are a fan of the man.

Not the first time I've watched this one but I was bored so I gave it another try. Typical JCVD stuff in his prime: a ton of fight scenes (excruciatingly staged and painfully slow), a detective dressed like he just stepped off a fashion catwalk, his well-moussed hairdo hardly gets moved out of place even in a prison riot or a fight to the death, the hilarious facial expressions that are always saved for the final fight-to-the-death scenes, bell-bottom jeans and platform shoes (yes, even in prison they allowed him to dress stylishly), etc etc. It was all great...for an 90's JCVD movie. By today's standards, it was laughingly painful but I wouldn't rule it out; you just have to unplug your brain, sit back and enjoy the fight scenes. The rest of the movie is just ugly wrapping that you have to rip through. Cynthia Gibb was...mehhhhh....a part of me wants to say "hot", but she really wasn't. Just kind of an attractive nuisance, really. Granted, her character was an integral part of the story, but honestly, she was just kind of...there. And with a pretty face. Supporting characters like Hawkins, Priest, even Sgt. DeGraf were all great in this one, so I give a nod to those as well. This definitely wasn't his worst movie...but let's face it, Jean Claude van Damme was never going to win any Oscars for his acting chops. We enjoyed watching his (staged) fight scenes. It's easy to believe he got his butt tossed out of a NY bar by a bouncer; I'm not sure what his real martial arts expertise (if any) amounted to, but I can't see him pulling off any realistic, high-action, high-intensity fight scenes; they're all incredibly stiff and slow in his movies, so I'm not sure whether he really _had_ any martial arts expertise. He could sure twist his face into some incredible contortions, though. This is worth watching but again, you have to disconnect your brain and remember this was at the height of JCVD's popularity, nothing more.