A knock off is a cheaply produced imitation of an original product that's designed to fool the consumer into thinking they're buying a brand name. Usually found regarding products such as tennis shoes, watches, and in this film, blue jeans, another product now has to be added to that list -- movies.
An unimaginative picture that's about as bad as they come in each and every category one can imagine, "Knock Off" isn't an imitation of a good film. It's a knock off of a bad, martial arts laden, "B" movie if there ever was one.
Of course Jean-Claude isn't known for appearing in heavy Oscar favorites, but this one's particularly bad even for him. Something of a poorly executed hybrid of any Jackie Chan film, the eye-popping imaginative work of director Sam Raimi ("Darkman"), and any action flick showing on cable sometime in the wee hours of the morning, this fiasco shouldn't even get the chance to air then, let alone receive a major theatrical release.
Without any advance screenings for critics, audiences will think this is just another typical Van Damme picture, but once word gets out, expect this stinker to disappear faster than one of those head-high kicks for which the "Muscles From Brussels" is known.
As helmed by Hong Kong director Tsui Hark (who also did Van Damme's "Double Team" with Dennis Rodman), and written by Steven E. de Souza ("Die Hard," "48 Hours"), the picture is a clear, but uninspired and poorly executed ripoff of those fun Jackie Chan films.
Featuring a simple, but still convoluted plot about international terrorists and their plan that our "hero" stumbles upon, Van Damme ("Hard Target," "Time Cop") tries his hardest to imitate Jackie Chan. Beyond all of the acrobatic martial arts material, he even tries to play the constantly out of breath, self-effacing and charming everyday man who finds himself in a heap of trouble.
The problem is, Jean-Claude's no Jackie Chan. That Hong Kong star is admired because he's a "little" guy who doesn't take himself seriously and would rather flee than fight, but can efficiently do the latter when pressured into it. Van Damme will always be Van Damme, and seeing him "acting" this way is rather disconcerting when not incredibly, but certainly not intentionally, hilarious.
Speaking of funny, that's what Rob Schneider ("Judge Dredd," TV's "Saturday Night Live") is supposed to be in this film, but he's anything but that. His character comes off as nothing more than a constant irritant to both Van Damme and the audience, and all efforts to present the two as the typical "odd couple" set fall completely flat. The few moments where he tries to land some funny lines fell upon a stone-silent audience at our screening -- which is never a good sign.
Who knows what the filmmakers used to persuade Lela Rochon ("Why Do Fools Fall in Love," "Waiting To Exhale") and Paul Sorvino ("The Firm," "Bulworth") to appear in the film, but I imagine they're hiding their faces behind lots of something that's green while hoping no one recognizes them. Meanwhile Asian actors Michael Fitzgerald Wong and Carmen Lee are reduced to running around as local, one-dimensional set pieces to give the picture some Hong Kong based scenery.
Director Hark tries his hardest to make the picture interesting, but his lifting of special camera effects from one of the old "masters" -- Sam Raimi -- is more distracting than invigorating. With the camera zooming in to extreme close-ups, the film speeding up and slowing down without any apparent reason, and a bevy of other similar techniques, the audience is more likely to be nauseous than impressed.
Of course, all of that's used in a desperate attempt to cover up the poorly designed and even more horribly acted fiasco that seems to take forever to completely unfold on screen. Despite the hyper-kinetic camera work and bevy of martial arts action, none of the scenes are thrilling -- including the traditional action-laden opening and martial arts heavy conclusion, and some, including an oddly staged rickshaw race, are utterly ridiculous and way overdrawn.
To make matters worse, you can't even make fun of how horrible the film is since it's already ripping off -- and not surprisingly isn't even as good as -- those bad Asian martial arts flicks often parodied in other films (such as the hilarious, dubbed "fight" scene in "Wayne's World II").
Easily one of the worst films of the year, several apparent die-hard Van Damme fans left the theater angrily stating that this film should have been entitled "Rip Off" instead of "Knock Off." Either way, both titles are appropriate, so don't blame us if you decide to see this film. If you do, you'll be looking for your imitation Rolex long before Van Damme gets in that last punch and kick. We give "Knock Off" a 0 out of 10.
![[Screen It]](https://www.screenit.com/images/screenit_subscriber_logo.jpg){kind=logo}
![[Around the World in 80 Days]](https://www.screenit.com/images/posters/movies/around_the_world_in_80_days_2022_small.jpg)
![[Family Camp]](https://www.screenit.com/images/posters/movies/family_camp_small.jpg)
![[Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness]](https://www.screenit.com/images/posters/movies/doctor_strange_in_the_multiverse_of_madness_small.jpg)