Product: Replicant (2001)
Rating: 5.0
Amazing Performance by Van Damme
JC Van Damme was my favorite action star when I was younger. Before Crouching Tiger and Rumble in the Bronx started the neo-Chinese martial arts movie invasion, Van Damme was king. I watched him get sidelined, disappear for a while, then release movies right to DVD.Replicant should change all that. JC has remained in top form physically, and even improved as an actor. I am not joking when I say he should have gotten an Oscar nod for his dual role in this film.If you can look past the horrible science, namely that a clone has the mind and memories of the original, then we have our story. A just-retired cop, Jake, cannot rest as a serial killer targets mothers and savagely murders them. Grim scenes, here. Jake gets a chance to test a secret NSA science project, a replicant of the killer, to see if it will work to catch the killer. If it works, they would clone terrorists and such to track them. The script really gets five stars because there are no holes in it, the viewer is not saying "what about . . . they forgot . . "The science project is Van Damme as a nameless clone. It is hard to watch the scenes as Jake abuses him like a dog, how the clone is so baby-like and cowers before the only person he knows. The killer is so evil, I really forgot I was watching the same person play both roles. And you will too.I cannot wait to purchase this film for my collection, and I will be telling everyone about it.