DOUBLE TEAM

"DOUBLE TEAM"
(1997) (Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Moderate	Moderate	Mild	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Heavy	None	Minor	None	Mild

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	Mild	Minor	Minor	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action: A counter terrorist agent and a flamboyant arms dealer team together to battle a terrorist who has a personal grudge against the agent.

PLOT:: Jack Quinn (JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME) is persuaded to come out of retirement and resume his career as a highly skilled counter terrorist agent. His target is art dealer/terrorist Stavros (MICKEY ROURKE), a long time enemy of Quinn's. After a violent encounter with Stavros (where that man's son is killed), a wounded Quinn is taken to the "Colony," a remote island filled with former agents. There they decipher world crisis events, but can never leave the highly protected island. Quinn slowly rebuilds his strength and manages to escape, and then enlists the help of urban arms dealer, Yaz (DENNIS RODMAN) to find Stavros. What Quinn discovers, however, is that the terrorist has taken his pregnant wife, Katherine (NATACHA LINDINGER), under his wing while planning his revenge on him.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of previous Van Damme films, or NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman, they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For non-stop action violence.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME plays a counter terrorist agent who uses appropriate force when necessary to defend himself or stop the "bad guys."
DENNIS RODMAN plays an arms dealer who's profession and shock value appearance doesn't make him a good role model.
MICKEY ROURKE plays a two-dimensional villain whom we know anything about, but is a bad role model nonetheless.; DENNIS RODMAN plays an arms dealer who's profession and shock value appearance doesn't make him a good role model.
MICKEY ROURKE plays a two-dimensional villain whom we know anything about, but is a bad role model nonetheless.; MICKEY ROURKE plays a two-dimensional villain whom we know anything about, but is a bad role model nonetheless.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 2 out of 10: Never known for his thespian skills, Jean Claude usually provides his audience with an entertaining, but mindless time in the theater. Not so with this release, a mishmash of plot lines, boring setups, and just really bad film making. Those thinking this will be another black and white partner movie (as in the "Lethal Weapon" series) will be disappointed. Other than a brief scene near the beginning, Rodman doesn't show up until the second hour and they don't get into much of the typical bantering back and forth regarding their differences. While that should come as a relief (since it's one of the most overdone bits of dialogue used nowadays), this film could really use that comic relief. As it is, the comedy unintentionally comes from the ridiculous plot, acting and everything else associated with this film. Van Damme is as stiff as ever, and perhaps one day will learn from Schwarzenegger or Jackie Chan who already know not to take themselves so seriously, or try so hard at being "actors." At least Rodman chews up the scenery when he's on screen, but he better not hang up his basketball shoes yet, or ever. Plot pieces are illogical, including a long period of the film devoted to Jean-Claude's time at the "Colony," a remote island filled with former agents who are the "last line of defense against global terrorism" that "no one knows exists." They sit around and analyze terrorist acts that have already occurred and don't seem to be doing much to stop them. Van Damme's time on this remote island seems like a lame excuse to show him working out and doing his trademark splits, although this time he's only stretching when we see it. At least we're not subjected to seeing his bare butt once again (as in most of his other movies), but the time spent on this island is illogical, doesn't serve the plot, and slows what precious momentum there was to a crawl. The ludicrous dialogue and the scenes Van Damme and Rodman end up in are enough to make the audience howl. And when the two find themselves in the Roman Coliseum with a shirtless, muscle bound Rourke, Van Damme's infant baby, a bunch of land mines and a tiger thrown into the mix, you know you're seeing a quality film. The pinnacle comes when the land mines explode and a maelstrom of fire rips through the Coliseum's ancient hallways. A trio of conveniently placed Coca Cola machines come into sight and Rodman grabs one and shields himself and several others from the cataclysmic fireball that surrounds them. The moral here is that when you're faced with danger, always find a soft drink machine, preferably serving Coke, to protect yourself. While there are some decently filmed martial arts encounters, too many slow motion scenes where bodies are thrown or tossed through glass and/or doors ruin the fun. There are just so many ludicrous scenes that pop up out of nowhere, such as Rodman's monk acquaintances who use the Internet to track crime, that the film becomes hilariously bad. If you like that kind of stupidity, this film is for you. Otherwise, you'll find this to be tedious, boring, and maybe one of the worst films you've ever seen. Due to the fact that it's so bad it's somewhat silly, we give it a 2 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: If you've seen most any other Van Damme movie, this one pretty much looks and behaves the same. There's a great deal of action, and many people are killed by the "bad guys." What's missing is the trademark love scene where we see the bare butt of the "Muscles from Brussels." Profanity is also very light which is surprising since most violent movies are chock full of rough language. Beyond the violence and martial arts action, there is Dennis Rodman. Looking past his recent actions on the basketball court (where he kicked a photographer), his appearance may cause parents some concern, what with his often changing hair colors, his tattoos and various pierced body parts. Since many older boys will probably want to see this film, we suggest that you examine the content before allowing them to do so.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: People drink in a bar.

BLOOD/GORE: Many people who are shot have small bloody bursts come from them as they're hit by bullets.
Stavros' son is a little bloody after he's shot to death.
Stavros' neck is bloody after a fight with Quinn who is also somewhat bloody.
Quinn uses an exacto knife to slice off a thin layer of his fingerprint in a moderately graphic scene that's also bloody, but localized to a small area.
Quinn has a small stream of blood running down his face at the beginning of the last big fight.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Obviously Stavros and his men have both, especially when he places a grenade alongside a baby, knowing that Quinn will try to save the baby and hopefully be blown up.
Yaz steals a car for himself and Quinn to use.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Some viewers may find scenes listed under "Violence" as tense, but they are more action-oriented than suspenseful.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Machine Guns/Knives/Hand grenades: Used to threaten, injure, or kill many people. See "Violence" for details.
Yaz is a gun runner and has a large arsenal of exotic weapons.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Bastards" and "Bite me."
Yaz's appearance, with wildly colored hair, tattoos, and earrings piercing many different parts of his body, may inspire some kids to imitate his look.
The many martial arts fighting scenes that occur throughout the movie may cause kids to imitate these actions.
Yaz is a gun runner and has a large arsenal of exotic weapons.
Quinn often dives through glass windows and partitions without any apparent harm.
Quinn uses an exacto knife to slice off a thin layer of his fingerprint in a moderately graphic scene that's also bloody, but localized to a small area.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There is a minor amount of suspenseful music throughout the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 1 slang term for male genitals (the "d" word), 1 incomplete "s" phrase ("Oh, sh*t"), 6 damns, 4 "ass" words, 4 hells, and 1 use of "My God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Yaz tells Quinn, "The last guy who talked about my hair is still trying to pull his head out of his ass." Quinn responds, "I don't want to know about your sex life."
Several women provocatively dressed in dominatrix outfits are seen on a computer screen, but there isn't any nudity.
Several "sex" and "adult" signs are seen on the street near Yaz's gun shop, but no activity or nudity is seen.

SMOKING: Stavros smokes in a few scenes.
People in the backgrounds of shots smoke.
Quinn uses cigarettes to time himself holding his breath underwater (he does so by seeing how far they've burned down), and in one scene has a cigarette in his mouth.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Katherine thinks (and was told) that Quinn is dead.
Quinn must contend with the fact that Stavros has his wife.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Dennis Rodman's appearance.
Why Van Damme is still making these same movies (for the money) and hasn't tried anything new (fear of not making money).

VIOLENCE: Quinn drives a big construction truck through a wall and out onto the street. He crashes into many cars and clips a fuel truck that then explodes. A motorcyclist crashes, slides through the burning fuel and catches on fire himself. The military then pursues Quinn and shoots their machine guns at him. The scene ends when Quinn crashes the truck through a moving railroad car.
Stavros holds a gun to the head of the Deputy Director of the CIA. He then gets out of the car and a bomb in the backseat blows up, killing the man inside.
Yaz demonstrates the firing power of a machine gun that disintegrates a dummy it's fired on. In addition, a small explosive pin that Quinn activates is thrown behind them and explodes in Yaz's room.
In an amusement park, a big gun battle ensues between Quinn and his men and Stavros and his men. In addition to a great deal of gunfire and some martial arts fighting, several grenades are tossed at people and explode. By the end of the scene, at least nine people (both "good" and "bad") are dead, including Stavros' six-year-old son, and others are injured.
The fight then proceeds between Stavros and Quinn in a hospital. Stavros punches a bystander and then smashes him through a glass partition. Stavros fires his machine gun at Quinn and later the two then get into a big martial arts fight. The scene ends when Stavros places a grenade into a newborn baby's crib and Quinn tosses the grenade aside just in time as it explodes, but he's still injured from the blast.
A fellow former agent later hits and kicks Quinn who's still recovering from the above.
There's talk of a plane being shot down and over 170 people being killed.
Quinn uses an exacto knife to slice off a thin layer of his fingerprint to later fool a print analyzer machine into thinking he's pressing his finger against it.
Quinn is attacked underwater and a plastic bag is placed over his head to try to kill him. The assailant then tries to stab Quinn with a knife, but Quinn fights him off. The assailant is later disintegrated (not graphically) by underwater lasers.
Quinn fights several men on a plane, and after learning that they're wearing parachutes, tosses them from it.
Quinn uses a gun to force the two pilots of a plane to take him where he wants.
Quinn uses a gun to shoot off the lock on Yaz's gun shop.
Quinn returns to his home only to encounter a group of terrorists. His house explodes and he gets into a gun battle with the assailants. A grenade nearly blows him up in the pool, and by the end of the scene, Quinn has shot and killed all four assailants.
A man on horseback opens fire with his machine gun in a crowded plaza and kills two people. A sniper shoots another person, several bystanders are also shot and the man on horseback is finally shot and killed.
Yaz and an assailant fight in a taxi and the assailant's gun is fired several times through the roof. Many punches later, Yaz finally throws the man through a bus' window.
Quinn confronts a man carrying a machine gun rigged bag. The man fires at Quinn, who manages to get out of the way. The two then fight and many punches and kicks are thrown along with their bodies that crash through doors and walls. Quinn then fights with a martial arts expert who wields a knife attached to his bare foot. Quinn eventually disposes of the assailants.
One of Stavros' men tries to kill Katherine and her nurse, but Katherine stabs the man in the back with a scalpel. The man then turns and knocks her to the floor. He prepares to shoot her, but the nurse shoots him instead.
Yaz knocks out several people he fights with.
The last scene has Quinn and Yaz fighting Stavros, his men, and a tiger in the Roman Coliseum. It also involves buried land mines that everyone must avoid as well as the tiger that catches and kills one man (not graphic). The scene ends with Stavros standing on a mine that explodes when he removes his foot. A huge explosion and fireball then rips through the building, destroying much of it.

Reviewed April 1, 1997

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