Jean Claude Van Damme is an actor I grew up with; with the only directors with whom he really showed off his talents was with the Chinese, especially Corey Yuen who showed us his best ability. This film, unfortunately, continued to demonstrate the cruelty of a fundamental point: it is one thing to look obscenely good in a kick, and another is to make the fight look real and gripping. In his directorial debut, Van Damme attempted to demonstrate his acting skills by the hand of the one he trusted most: himself. He surrounded himself with great actors (Roger Moore simply shines like the sun here, James Remar), spectacular production design, dazzling photography, locations that leave you open-mouthed, super costumes, and finally the film shows that despite the huge deficiencies in timing and choreography of fights we can conclude that it is a valuable film to entertain and dazzle.
