18 years after Jean-Claude Van Damme and
Dolph Lundgren starred in the original Universal Soldier film and
following a string of unrelated and largely ignored sequels, director
John Hyams evidently thought the time was ripe for another entry in
franchise. The two action movie stalwarts agreed, and pleasingly for
fans of the original the results are actually pretty damn good.
A group of terrorists led by the malevolent
General Boris (Aki Avni) kidnap the son and daughter of the Russian
prime minister. A lengthy car chase and much gunfire ensues, and the
high-octane sequence is probably the most visceral and expertly staged
of its kind since the Bourne trilogy. The pair are escorted by
the General to his compound inside the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant,
with the fiendish fellow and his criminal cabal demanding the release of
political prisoners in exchange for the lives of the two children.
The Russian prime minister doesn’t know
that the General also has a secret weapon: a machinelike soldier who is
impervious to pain, fatigue or human emotion – a Universal Soldier, or
UniSol (mixed martial artist and former UFC champion Andrei ‘The Pitbull’
Arlovski. The General doesn’t know that the rogue scientist who works
for him also has a secret weapon – a UniSol of his own (Lundgren). As
you might have guessed, the US Army has a little something up their
sleeve. What could it be? That’s right, a Universal Soldier, in this
case a sensitive and newly deprogrammed Van Damme. A couple of
injections later Van Damme is good to go, and when the three UniSols
finally stage their reunion the results are typically bloody, with
plenty of high kicks and martial arts wirework thrown in for good
measure.
The strength of Universal Soldier:
Regeneration is far and away its action sequences. These are
cleverly staged, inventively shot, artfully executed and resonate with a
savagery that lends an impressive urgency to proceedings. The film lags
in one or two spots when too much exposition creeps in, but thankfully
the script is tight and the performances, while generally not
spectacular, are certainly worthy of the task at hand. Ultimate Fighter
Andrei Arlovski has both an impressive physicality and a suitable
abundance of menace, Van Damme builds on the success of JCVD with
another solid performance and Lundgren, though he only features briefly,
is also in great shape, unlike certain of his contemporaries (Steven
Seagal, anyone?)
The Blu-ray release of this film features
both an impressively understated soundtrack that bursts into life
admirably when required, as well as a crystal clear image with plenty of
depth. Also included are a funny and incisive Making Of which features
interview with the director and each of the leads, and gives an insight
into the stunts and the shooting of action sequences.
Universal Soldier: Regeneration
thoroughly succeeds in fulfilling its promise, and as far as
straight-to-DVD action fare goes it’s a cut above. The lead actors each
bring their own adrenaline-fuelled flair to proceedings, the stunts and
fight sequences are top notch and the storyline avoids unnecessary
convolutions. Plenty to offer fans of Lundgren and Van Damme’s action
flick heyday, and those who like their films to feature a monumental
body count and plenty of gunfire.
