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I will say upfront that my review might be a bit bias, since I am a pretty big Jean Claude Van Damme fan. I feel that over the past ten years or so he has produced some of his best work in the realm of acting. He still has the kicks and the punches, but he has really tapped into his inner thespian as of recent. I believe any fan of JCVD or action fan will find this movie enjoyable.
“Pound of Flesh” is the third pairing between Van Damme and director Ernie Barbarash. This movie follows the same vein of the other films these two have worked on, dark and brutal. In this film Van Damme plays Deacon, a former soldier of fortune and prepared to donate his kidney to his niece. However, after he engages in a one night stand, he awakes in a bathtub full of ice to find that his kidney has been taken. After he teams up with his estranged brother (the father of said niece), Deacon decides he is going to find his kidney and still give it to his loved one at any cost.
On paper the plot is a bit absurd, given that anyone who had their kidney hacked out in a hotel room wouldn’t be running around doing flying noodle kicks. However, this type of logic needs to be thrown out the window in order to enjoy this movie. After all, this is a Van Damme movie.
I must stress that this movie is a direct to video film and at times showcases the limitations of its budget. For instance, there is a scene where Van Damme is in a night club and it is an actually night club and/or set. Then for some reason, the actors are in front of a green screen with the club behind them, not very subtle at all. Some of the acting is better than others. Van Damme is solid all the way. He looks very gaunt and almost ill, which makes sense since his kidney was hacked up. The actor who played his brother was okay, he went from being annoying to the moral compass and back again. Nevertheless, these types of films aren’t praised for the acting, rather the action. Van Damme still is quite impressive physically in his early to mid fifties and there is one scene where he does a split involving a car that was pretty awesome.
If this movie is taken for what it is, a lower budget action movie, which at times also travels into some soap opera melodrama, I feel that a person will have a good time. Van Damme fans will probably want to pick up the DVD or Blu Ray. I purchased the former and am quite pleased. In addition, to the feature there is ten minute making of and the original trailer/preview for the film.
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