Hard Target 2 has Adkins as an American (why always Americans with him?) MMA fighter named "Wes" who kills his best bud in the ring, and in his despair after runs off to Thailand to hide away in the underground fight world. That's when baddie millionaire Robert Knepper shows up and offers him money for a big fight. What he doesn't know is there is no fight, Adkins has been tricked into being the prey in a hunting game Knepper and some other rich folk are playing in Myanmar. Luckily as he's running, Adkins happens along a beautiful local woman (is there any other kind) and together with his martial arts skills, they decide to fight back.
This is neither good or bad, it just is, and "just is" usually gets you to the church on time in a nice, tight, 90-minute package; but 104 minutes it's a tougher sit. We've seen all this before, and often that's the idea--turn our brain off and enjoy some action for a bit--but with this kind of Most Dangerous Game story, 104 minutes turns into Most Dangerous Spinning Your Wheels, and the person most in danger in that scenario is us the viewer. That said, Adkins is great in the lead, Knepper great as the baddie, and supporting cast members Rhona Mitra, Temuera Morrison, and Ann Truong (as the beautiful local woman) are all good as well. Give us 88 minutes of this, and I think it would've worked better for me. Out of the four I watched in the Adkins Fest--the others being Castle Falls, One Shot, and The Eliminators, this was the one I liked least.
Usually when we talk about adding someone to the DTVC Hall of Fame, we say "it's been a long time coming," but with Adkins I think it's about right, just before he hits the 30 Club, but not too far before that. There was a point when he was pumping out 5 DTV flicks a year that we thought he may challenge Dolph for the most on the site, but he's since slowed up and is also doing more big budget things--plus foreign films, like Egyptian and Chinese productions. We also used to talk about him as being the next wave of great action stars, but really, he's closing in on 50 himself now, and the reality is as much as he has carved out a great career for himself, the Boomer and Gen Jones stars of the 80s and 90s never really faded out enough to allow him to be that next wave like we all expected. I think that makes his success that much more remarkable though, just through sheer force of will and talent he was able to carve out this name for himself when distributors were still looking for names like Dolph, Seagal, and Van Damme on the tin. It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here as he becomes a bit choosier on what projects he wants, but we still have a good amount of his films to cover, and it'll be fun on our side to see what he has next.
The Robert Knepper baddie is always there to push a film like this over the goal line. Though he was born in Ohio, he has the Euro Trash baddie down, and the moment you see him onscreen you know he's going to be up to no good, but up to no good while drinking an expensive bottle of wine and letting you know that he knows it's expensive. I first remember him in a TV movie called Kidnapped in Paradise, where he played a Euro Trash baddie pirate who kidnaps Charlotte Ross, and her sister Joely Fisher needs to employ a down-on-his-luck sailor to help her track down Knepper and her sister. Finding out all these years later that he was from Ohio was a shock, and even seeing him in this, it's still a shock, but as we're seeing with the SAG strike, finding work in the acting business isn't always easy, so for a guy from Ohio to make himself into a go-to Euro Trash baddie in DTV and made-for-TV movies, I say good for you, and for us watching, good for us too, because he makes these movies that much more enjoyable.
The original Hard Target might be my favorite Van Damme flick, and in no way did I expect this to live up to that, but a movie with that name and Scott Adkins should have been better. I was trying to think where this ranks among Van Damme DTV sequels to his big screen movies that don't have him in them. Right away, it's not better than Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor, that may be the best of those. Also, you can't beat Bloodsport 4 with Ben Franklin running a Dark Kumite in a prison. I do have this as better than the Cyborg sequels and Universal Soldier made-for-TV films; I'd also put it above Bloodsport 2 and 3, and definitely above Kickboxer 3. On the other hand, I put it behind Kickboxer 2 for me, just because I think Pyun did a better job on that one. That leaves us with Kickboxer 5. I mean, for the pure zaniness of that one, could I put it above Hard Target 2? First off, we have Mark Dacascos vs. Scott Adkins. I think that's a push. Then we have James Ryan vs. Robert Knepper, and as much as I love Ryan, I think we need to give the edge to Knepper there. Runtime definitely gives the edge to Kickboxer 5, in and out in 87 minutes. From a location standpoint, I think this one looked better, so I'll give the edge there. So maybe that's it, Hard Target 2 barely edges out Kickboxer 5 for fourth-best on the Van Damme film DTV sequels that don't have Van Damme in them list.
Finally, I saw recently where Adkins posted a picture of himself and his family at Disney World, and I thought "how cool would it be to bump into him there?" Of course, when would I ever go to Disney World again myself? The only reason I've ever been was because my mom loved the idea of taking my younger siblings, and I was dragged along. I have seen a celebrity there though under similar circumstances. In the early 90s when I was there, while we were taking a break, I saw late comedian John Pinette. He was with his family, I think maybe he had a niece among them that he had lifted up and was swinging around. Early teens me was starstruck, because I'd never seen a celebrity out in the wild like that before. My mom was on me to get some pictures of my siblings with some of the Disney characters, but inside I was like "shouldn't I be getting a picture of John Pinette?" And looking back, even as an early teen, I didn't want to bother him, so I didn't introduce myself, but I think if I'd had, at my age, he probably would've been receptive--how many 13-year-olds did he get in his career coming up to him and saying "I love your Chinese buffet routine!" Unfortunately Pinette left us in 2014, one of my all-time favorite comedians, and one of the great underrated Boston comedians, and while I never got to see him perform live, Adkins's social media post reminded me of the time where I at least saw him standing two feet away from me.
And with that, let's wrap this up. This thing bounces in and out of streaming services, so if you haven't seen it yet, just be patient and you'll get your chance. Adkins and Knepper are great, but for me it's a bit too long to work as a rental. Also as we're inducting Adkins into the Hall of Fame, you can go back to episode 101 in the DTVC Podcast archives to check out the Adkins Fest. He's definitely deserving of his inclusion in the Hall of Fame, and I'm glad we could get him in this year.
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5241578
Looking for more action? Check out my new novella, Bainbridge, at Amazon in paperback or Kindle!
No comments:
Post a Comment