12 May 2015Last Updated on 12 May 2015Written by David Cantu0 Comments
The Movie:
In China to donate his kidney to his dying niece, Deacon (Jean-Claude Van Damme), an former black-ops agent, awakes the day before the operation to find he is the latest victim of organ theft. Stitched up and pissed-off, Deacon descends from his opulent hotel in search of his stolen kidney and carves a blood-soaked path through the darkest corners of the city – brothels, fight clubs, back-alley black markets, and elite billionaire estates. The clock is ticking for his niece and with each step he loses blood; Deacon with the help of his former underworld connections and his civilian brother will journey through society’s seedy underbelly, proving to anyone who crosses their path, nothing means more to a man than his flesh and blood.
Remember those action movies that you used to watch back in the early to mid 90’s? Well this falls kinda, somewhat in the same category. The only reason that I say kinda is because it teeters a line between action film and drama. We don’t see 100% of the Van Damme that we are used to but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t kick some major ass in the film. The story feels like it was stripped straight from the past and it made for a fun watch. Yes, even the parts that were cheesy. I’m looking at you “Green screen bar scene”. I think since the film JCVD came out he realized that dramatic acting can work to further the story rather than just fighting and doing splits. So this film has it’s fair share of dramatics but it’s not so much that it takes away from what the film is meant to be. I see this film as a turning point for Van Damme. It isn’t perfect but I think that it has the right idea. Van Damme gives a pretty good performance with shades of the action star that we all remember and because of that I recommend checking it out. 6/10
Pound Of Flesh is NOW PLAYING in select theaters, on VOD and iTunes!
