Best movie of this year hands down!

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Spoilers!!The basic story here in the Philippines is Van Damme rescues a woman in an alley, she buys him a drink, they have sex, he wakes up without his kidney and then has to get it back. It's nice to have both right? No! JCVD was about to donate his kidney to his estranged brother's dying daughter! Time is ticking away!Well, if you chose this movie after having read the plot description: kudos! Not saying this stuff doesn't happen in the world, as it clearly does, but they way it's set up and executed here is slightly on the preposterous side of things.You would think after many years as an iconic action figure, JCVD could land a roll that has a budget. (OR, maybe he could take a cut in his pay to help out the crew a bit? You know, like Keanu.) There is more green screen effects in this film than any random thousand public access TV shows from 1982. It's that bad. On top of that, there's way too much unnecessary CGI effects (bullet holes with smoke, bullets seen zinging by, really bad blood splatters, etc). Yes, it's a b-movie, but come on: have some pride in making your film and do it right! For a rather average action film, this whole premise is rather weird. Having our hero wake up from covert surgery and then load up on morphine and pursue bad guys is quite a stretch for any viewer. Then to have him quite viciously beat the crap out of several bad guys with almost no consequences on his wound, body, etc... kiinda silly. Then to throw in the convoluted back story of his niece/daughter dying is a bit much. There's one scene where JCVD's brother picks up the limp, dying body of the girl and asks JCVD if he wants to hold her; as if she's not real. He passes her to him and, of course, she wakes up! Later, after finding JVCD's kidney, after it was put in the body of a different dying 7 year old, there is a long moment where JVCD's brother is holding a shotgun to the kid and seriously about to kill him. Naturally, it doesn't happen. BUT, what a freaking odd moment to write into a JVCD film. When dying kids are tossed into the plot and moved around like pawns for the sake of action and/or drama, you can count me out.Finally, as you expect from a script this utterly stupid, the dialog is beyond bad. I got the feeling that whoever wrote it never studied language in any form, nor studied film either. Absolutely abysmal dialog crammed on top of a juvenile plot.And, yes, as per his contract in all his films, we get fully nude JVCD, including multiple rear end shots. Ugh.Buyer beware!

POUND OF FLESH is Van Damme's newest thriller, set in the Philippines and with a great premise: the story starts as a confused Van Damme wakes up, groggy from being drugged, in a hotel room and makes a horrifying discovery: his kidney's been trafficked while he was unconscious. The stakes are raised with an additional sub-plot which sees Van Damme's niece on the brink of death, requiring the very kidney that's been snatched. So we have our ageing action star on a quest as he hunts for the organ traffickers responsible and kicks plenty of ass along the way.The set-up is great but sadly POUND OF FLESH lacks when it comes to the execution. Director Ernie Barbarash does a very poor job when it comes to the filming style, choosing an over-edited mess which makes the film look choppy and somehow dull. The fight choreography is poor too, hiding some decent martial arts fighters in too-dark backdrops and over editing the fights so that they're generic and predictable. I still like Van Damme, and the supporting cast are okay here, but the film as a whole is just about passable rather than being the exciting thrill-ride it should be.

Reteaming with his ASSASSINATION GAMES and 6 BULLETS director Ernie Barbarash, Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as an ex-Special Forces badass who is planning to donate one of his kidneys to his dying niece. However, after a night of partying he wakes up in his hotel to find out he's become the victim of organ theft and he sets himself on a path of revenge to get it back. Say what you will about the quality of films that go direct-to-DVD, but it should be commended that they manage to sneak in social issue commentary from time to time. The premise for this film is actually an intriguing one, but to my disappointment the execution of said premise was trite at best, ludicrous at worst. It should also be said that one doesn't usually go into Van Damme films expecting great acting, but aside from Van Damme, who has actually gotten better with age, the entire cast sucked at delivering even the simplest exposition. Despite this type of film usually being an excuse to string together a bunch of fight scenes, they actually tried to make a story that you would care about. I mean, who wouldn't root for a guy to reclaim his kidney so that his young niece would survive? That's just one example of the cheap emotional theatrics that this sorry excuse for a film resorts to in order to gain audience sympathy. Seeing as how they expected you to take this story seriously, one would expect some logic in the plot, but alas there was little to be found. Characters weave in and out of the story as needed, basically showing up to say their lines and deliver some piece of information that the main cast needs. I could go on, but I'd be here all day. I also found the film lacking from a technical standpoint. Since it was probably filmed on digital video, every scene that isn't stock/time-lapse footage had this cheap, soap opera look. The only time that this really worked was in some early flashback scenes that were de-saturated to the point of being black and white. With some selective color flourishes, it had a "Sin City" vibe that I kind of liked. So, you might ask, how was the action, since that's what most Van Damme fans will probably care most about? I have to say, it was decent. I just wish there had been more of it. Unfortunately, the film is very front-loaded in this respect. There's a club scene early on, part of which is in the trailer, where Deacon (Van Damme) literally beats up some people with a Bible. This is probably the best fight in the movie, and Van Damme doesn't really get another good one until the end when he faces off against Darren Shahlavi's villainous Drake (for the second time, actually). Between then, it's just a lot of exposition interrupted by some relatively uninteresting gunplay. Generally speaking, the action was well-filmed and choreographed, but there wasn't enough of it, in my opinion. Smaller issues that took me out of the film were that even though this was supposed to take place in the Philippines, it was quite obvious that, apart from a couple of establishing shots, this was mostly filmed in China, as all of the signs were in Chinese. There was also some dodgy green-screen work and CGI blood, which is partially understandable, given the low budget. When it comes down to it, this probably one of the worst latter-day Van Damme movies I've ever seen. The whole thing feels cheap and low-rent, and the narrative conveniences pile up to such a degree that it feels ridiculous. Pretty much the entire cast can't act, making this painful to watch. If you want a good, recent Van Damme movie then check out JCVD, or the other two Ernie Barbarash collaborations. POUND OF FLESH isn't worth your time or money.

Superb film, I'd give it 8/10 any day of the week. Despite the negative reviews given to the film, it's a solid action thriller that keeps the viewer hooked till the very end. Despite the fact that Van Damme isn't as young as he used to be, his acting certainly is very sincere. He has made a few mistakes in his life, but now he is a man who is seeking redemption.The film is about a man, Deacon(Van Damme), who has a one night stand with an unknown woman, then later wakes up to find himself in a tube full of icy-cold water. He finds out that he had been drugged, and while he was incapacitated, one of his kidneys was removed.Now it is a race against time to recover his missing kidney. As any typical Van Damme lover will know, this movie has great martial art sequences. We also have the late Darren Shahlavi, who has an awesome physique and who also acts well. Aki Aleong(The Quest 1996 as Khao) makes a welcome appearance along with John Ralston(Life With Derek 2005). Charlotte Peters makes a change from modelling to acting. This is her debut, I believe, in a film with a cult action star.Van Damme Selection: Bloodsport, Cyborg, Kickboxer, Lionheart, Universal Soldier, Hard Target, Timecop, Street Fighter, Sudden Death, The Quest, Legionnaire. All these films I have seen and I highly recommend them to see/buy. Thank you for having the time to read my review. May you live long and prosper.