Amazon finds the Hard Target.
Jean-Claude Van Johnson is one of three new comedy pilots Amazon is releasing on Friday, August 19th as part of their latest “pilot season.” The decision will be made down the line on whether it will be picked up as a full series or not.
When you think “funny,” you don’t quickly think Jean-Claude Van Damme, but at least the action movie star – whose heyday was in the late-1980s to mid-1990s – seems to have a good sense of humor about himself, or at least clearly realizes that it’s a savvy career move to go along with jokes at his expense.
In 2008’s Belgium-made JCVD, Van Damme played himself - caught in the midst of a post office heist. The film was a rather fascinating, introspective look at Van Damme (complete with a hell of a monologue, delivered in his native tongue), and in the years since, he’s had fun with his image in pop culture, perhaps most notably in a popular Volvo ad where he did his famous split in-between two trucks.
And now comes Jean-Claude Van Johnson, his new Amazon pilot. Once more, Van Damme plays the role he was born to play – Jean-Claude Van Damme. And once more, as in JCVD, we begin with him down on his luck, experiencing the life of a has been. But Jean-Claude Van Johnson is a total farce, and it’s a really good one. Because here, when Van Damme decides to go back to work, that has a double meaning.
Jean-Claude Van Johnson posits that this entire time, Van Damme was also a secret agent, using his public persona as a movie star as cover to travel the globe and battle the real life forces of evil - his his other identity, Jean-Claude Van Johnson. And now he wants back in.
This is a very funny pilot with writer Dave Callaham (whose own action-heavy resume includes The Expendables) and director Peter Atencio (Keanu, Key & Peele) doing a great job combining the comedic and action elements. Van Damme’s history -- and the era that begat his career -- are lovingly roasted along the way, as are tried but true action movie elements like the training montage.
Van Damme is still, for the most part, not the most emotive of actors, but again, he’s in on the joke, and seems to be enjoying himself in the process. Phylicia Rashad makes for an amusing inclusion as Van Damme’s manager (for all of his business dealings) and Kat Foster and Moises Arias are both fun as Van Damme’s secret agent teammates.
While Foster is good as the tough Vanessa, I do wish there was some acknowledgement that she’s nearly 20 years younger than her costar, while playing his ex-lover. If Jean-Claude Van Johnson goes to series, this is just the sort of Hollywood cliché they could have fun with, but it stood out to awkwardly see it ignored here.
While not every joke lands here, the majority do, and Jean-Claude Van Johnson does a good job parodying not just action movies and Van Damme specifically, but also the Hollywood system and the constant search to reboot and update familiar titles. Suffice to say, it gets mileage out of both the acting world and the spy world its lead character exists in.
The Verdict
I do wonder if this wacky idea is sustainable as a long-term series, as it's hard to think the joke wouldn’t wear thin after time. But does Jean-Claude Van Damme deserve its shot as an Amazon series and to, at the very least, get a full season? Very much so. Based on this strong pilot, I’d love to see more of the Muscles from Brussels adventures, both on set and off.
Editors' Choice
→
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire