capsule : trippy , hyperspeed action machine from hong kong 's accomplished tsui hark .
van damme and rodman have nice chemistry
, the stunts are eyepopping , and stuff gets blowed up real good ; what more do you want ?
i admit i was all set to loathe double team ; it reeked of cheapjack timing - oriented marketing ( stick dennis rodman in a movie , quick , while he 's hot , and do something about jean - claude van damme 's flagging career while we 're at it ! ) .
surprise -- double team transcends its dumb roots and turns out to be a mess of fun
.
bring some friends , get some pretzels , and have a blast .
van damme is jack quinn , an ex - agent who is brought back in for " one last mission " -- you 'd think any spy worth his shoe phone would run like hell when he hears those words .
but van damme 's character has a pregnant wife who 's also a sculptor , and some unpleasant pressure gets used to get him to come through on this mission .
he 's been assigned to take down an old enemy , a terrorist named stavros ( mickey rourke , looking oddly subdued ) , who may be back up to his old tricks .
in the first showdown between quinn and stavros , the movie wears its ambitions proudly on its sleeve : nonstop action .
an amusement park , a hospital , a private " retired spy " 's retreat , most of rome , various houses , planes , cars and other modes of transport , and the coliseum ( ! )
all become arenas for some of the most bone - rattling shoot - outs and punch - outs filmed .
they are better seen than described and are reason enough to see the film : one jaw - dropping scene has van damme taking on a man who uses a switchblade with his * feet * .
( van damme is a good , dextrous athlete and fighter , but he is often upstaged . )
there are other nice touches .
stavros and quinn both want the same thing : to retire in peace with their families .
that ambition ties them together in various ways , and also humanizes them a bit .
one of the things about hk action movies is that there 's always some form of human element , and that 's carried over into this movie as well .
it gives weight to scenes that would otherwise be forgettable .
also good is dennis rodman , playing a weapons dealer named yaz -- a character who sticks out like a fistful of broken fingers and who is funny just standing there .
rodman is natural on screen ; he 's fun to watch , especially when slinging bad guys like basketballs , and deserves to get a movie of his own , based on what 's seen here : a lightweight , fast - moving entertainment
that showcases all of its pieces excellently .
lightweight , fast - moving entertainment natural on screen ; he 's fun to watch showcases all of its pieces excellently nice chemistry there are other nice touches trippy , hyperspeed eyepopping turns out to be a mess of fun