With both Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren - not to mention a hodge-podge of ideas stolen from other sci-fi and horror yarns - "Universal Soldier" may be the summer movie that will knock "Batman Returns" from its No. 1 box office perch. If only temporarily.
But even indiscriminate action fans will likely feel that a nonstop run of chases, shootouts and explosions can't compensate for wan story development."Universal Soldier" opens with a precredits sequence set in 1969 Vietnam that offers moviegoers some hope for the rest of the picture - Van Damme and Lundgren kill each other off. Unfortunately, after the credits roll, both are brought back to life, so we must endure a cross-country duel to the death . . . a battle of the accents.
The first big action sequence is the best, a wild battle on Hoover Dam between generic movie terrorists and a new Army combat unit, Universal Soldiers, dubbed UniSols. The UniSols are indestructible and robot-like and reporters are told this is their third successful mission.
What the press is not told is that they are also dead, soldiers who were killed in Vietnam and have been brought back to life, without any human emotions or memories of their past lives. At least that's what the government scientists who have been playing "Frankenstein" think.
Soon Van Damme and Lundgren begin having memory flashes and Van Damme is on the run when he saves a particularly snoopy TV reporter (Ally Walker) and Lundgren, thinking he's fighting traitorous soldiers in Vietnam, is hot on his trail. (Lundgren collects human ears and wears them in a necklace.)
Despite his obvious infatuation with himself, Van Damme does have some charm and screen presence; he's a fairly likable hero. And Lundgren isn't a bad villain, though he seems more self-conscious than Van Damme.
But they are not served well by the material here. The script, by three screenwriters who specialize in generic adventures, steals so blatantly from other movies that fans of the genre will immediately spot inspirations from "Total Recall," "Westworld," "The Road Warrior," both "Terminator" films, etc. These guys are more interested in stunt setups than progressing the story logically or answering obvious questions, and some of the scenes are surprisingly mean-spirited.
Director Roland Emmerich, whose credits include the straight-to-video films "Moon 44" and "Eye of the Storm," thinks nothing of connecting all the action scenes with little, if any transition. He's also of the school that believes you can't have too much automatic weapons fire. Even worse is the level of gore, right up there with "Total Recall."
"Universal Soldier" is rated a most deserving R for excessive violence and gore, profanity and several nude shots of Van Damme. - Chris Hicks