It’s not a first for old action heroes to make appearance in these even modestly funded projects. For many veteran action stars, the geezer teaser has repeatedly been a splendid opportunity to grab some fast bucks. However, these are often nothing more than the icing on a cake as the younger actor does all the heavy lifting. It is why I was quite happy to see Jean-Claude Van Damme emerge to the lead role and feature in almost every shot of Darkness of Man. For someone at his level, he is not opting for an easy way as many of his peers have and I think that is commendable.
Darkness of Man is a movie with a strong film noir style infused by a strong narration by Van Damme. We are mainly focused on his character, Russell Hatch, who is in crisis after the death of an informant and mistress. After taking on the guardianship of the informant’s child, Jayden, Hatch begins to cope with the consequences of her homicide. Russian and Korean mafia groups are competing for territorial dominance, so he acts to defend Jayden. The plot is stereotypical, but there is still a lot to be enjoyed. Hell, I would always cheer for JCVD to kick fools in the name of vengeance.
The latter half of Van Damme’s career has been very captivating. In contrast to the other action stars he grew up with and who rely heavily on body doubles for action scenes, Van Damme still performs a shocking amount of his own stunts well into his career. At 64, he’s no spring chicken, so it’s all the more impressive to see footage of him doing stunt work. And sure, at his golden age, he is not as sharp as he was in his prime in films such as Bloodsport and Kickboxer but it is impressive that he moves better than a 33-year-old myself. The filmmakers are smart enough to work around what Van Damme can and cannot do (so no, we’re not getting any trademark splits in this one). By now you should know how Van Damme’s acting is when it comes to his line delivery. You’re either down for it or you’re not.
Jean-Claude Van Damme portraying “Russell Hatch” in the action movie DARKNESS OF MAN which is released by Saban Films. Image from Saban Films.
It is understandable if the acting is somewhat better than awful even if most of the starring roles are occupied by people who do not speak English as their first language and are made to deliver their lines in English, which makes for some very uncomfortable interactions. There are a number of familiar names that appear in cameos. Since I’m an MMA fan, it was a surprise when I saw fighter Nick Diaz, though he is not going to be receiving any accolades for acting probably. What I found disappointing however, was that we did not get to see the altercation between him and JCVD. This appears to be lost potential. As a worried mother, Shannon Doherty also appears in the film. Its good she is able to still work considering the health issues she has been having.
The odd feeling of community that exists in the motel zone was somehow amusing. The characters who appear to have little importance are actually quite useful when Hatch is placed in a difficult situation. Spencer Breslin is hardly recognizable here as Hatch’s drug addict neighbor. For some reason I found Kristanna Loken hot as Hatch’s occasional sex partner. It is a thankless role that she handles well and even makes it better. However, my favorite performance was probably provided by Zack Ward who managed to make the two scenes that he had count. The guy seems totally mad and has some good eye appeal. If only he were in greater prominence, the film would have been much better. Because the bad guys do not seem like much threat at all even with all their efforts to try and scare us.
It has always been a dilemma for me because on one side the topic is quite interesting but on the other, the treatment is poor. There are a plethora of logical fallacies that take the player out of the immersion from time to time. Like a pistol that can be used a couple of times in the entire film or some characters who have ridiculous levels of invulnerability that just ruins the reality. And even when they have been murdered, or kidnapped, the high bar is never achieved. The storyline is extremely complicated and comes with holes that are so easy to poke about that made me go dizzy. I would like to introduce this movie as one of those ‘Leave your brain in the lobby’ movies, but one that does try to satisfy your primal urge of wanting to see something unjust being set right.
The Saban Films release, DARKNESS OF MAN, an actionfilm with Jean-Claude Van Damme as “Russell Hatch” and Andrey Ivchenko as “Lazar”. Photo courtesy of Saban Films.
I have to admit that for a very low budget yes most of the money went into additional shooting locations and the actors, but I really enjoyed the look of Darkness of Man. Setups are handled great and there are some slick shots. I appreciated how grounded the action is, with a nice car flip and even some squibs. In this age of all CGI gunshots, I just can’t fathom what the directors are thinking. Even if it’s not utilized 100% of the time, it’s nice. The second half of it is almost a completely different film. JCVD’s character goes from old who has been beaten and broke to a John Wick in seconds. Not that he does not show off a couple of skills in the first half, it just gets ramped up to such an absurd degree in the final half. He goes from shooting around people, so as not to kill them to directly blowing away heads. So the murder of his girlfriend does not put him into this mindset but a kidnapping does? Misguided is how it felt.
Overall, the film Darkness of Man did not form itself completely for me. There was a side I got to like and appreciate more and it was Van damme and the actors serious side. It was evident that this was more than just a job for him as he was one of the creators of tie-in with director James Cullen Bressack. And yet, the very plot is so weak that at times it disappears altogether. There is a shocking revelation at the end which is very unsatisfying because this entire film has been leading up to it. The fact that the movie chose that for the viewer to believe would be an “ahha” moment is sad. There are some good moments and this is definitely better than some of the straight to DVD gosh we would see in the 5 dollar bins. JCVD fans should celebrate because it is good to see him sandbox the lead here.
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