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Blackjack
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by Walt Disney Video
Sales Rank: 49645
Price: $9.99
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The director and action-magician John Woo (<I>Face Off</I>) can always be counted on to create spectacular violent set pieces, with bodies and broken glass gracefully airborne in slow motion. But everything else in this feature-length TV pilot is grindingly conventional. Woo managed to rise above Jean-Claude Van Damme in <I>Hard Target</I>, but there's not much he can do with Dolph Lundgren's Jack Devlin, a kick-boxing former U.S. Marshall turned bodyguard, assigned to guard the body of a drug-addicted supermodel (Kam Heskin, from TV's <I>Sunset Beach</I>). Between shootouts, the elements of the future series are wheeled creakingly into place: a spacious Ikea deluxe apartment with a built-in armory, a caustic eye-patched sidekick (Saul Rubinek), and even a precocious freckle-faced girl (Padraigin Murphy) who becomes Devlin's stepdaughter, when his best buddy is rubbed out. The gorgeous showdown scene between Devlin and the psycho-stalker bad guy (Phillip MacKenzie) takes place in a milk-bottling plant, with the white stuff splashing all over---but this is TV fare, so there's no red stuff mixed in. Action addicts are advised to stick with the world-class gunplay films of Woo's Hong Kong period, <I>A Better Tomorrow</I>, <I>The Killer</I>, and <I>Hard Boiled</I>. <I>--David Chute</I>
Viewer Reviews
"Blackjack" shows where Dolph Lundgren's career was at this point in time: as one of his first non-theatric releases, this John Woo-directed action vehicle doesn't crash and burn as painfully as other first-time DTVs (i.e.: Steven Seagal's "The Foreigner"), but it's a considerable step down from the likes of "Universal Soldier" or "Showdown in Little Tokyo". Solid enough, though, it'll satisfy Lundgren-devotees and keep casual fans of action pictures on the couch. Fans of Woo, however, will wonder what their hero was smoking when he filmed this.
The story: Jack Devlin (Lundgren) is bodyguard whose last job has left him with a fear of the colour white. After a fellow bodyguard is taken out of commission whilst protecting an up-and-coming model (Kam Heskin, "Pride and Prejudice") from an obsessive stalker (Phillip MacKenzie, "Small Pleasures"), Devlin takes over to save the starlet from the stalker, as well as herself. Little does he know that this prowler is all too aware of his phobia...
In short, everything about this film screams "made for TV", from the opening credits to the uninspired camera angles. The unsavoury production is especially disappointing, as it's coming from the same man who had and would make films like "Hard Target" and "Mission: Impossible II". In addition, the action has its moments (i.e.: the motorcycle ambush) but, overall, is none-too-special: same old gunfights and karate from Dolph, who cannot be had when the field is level.
The phobia of Lundgren's character is an interesting touch, but essentially only exists so the villain can beat on him a couple of times after taking his sunglasses. The acting is hit-and-miss (MacKenzie and young Padraigin Murphy are respective misses), but can generally be covered by the script that requires some silly things from the actors (Lundgren dancing with Heskin to detox her is only the tip of the iceberg). Action scenes spring up in decent abundance, but not enough to completely distract for the silliness of the rest of the picture.
Cumulatively, "Blackjack" is a fun two-hour time-waster, but having watched it once on TV will be enough for non Lundgren fans.
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Blackjack
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