Replicant (2001)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Wow! Such a good movie.

Purely Joyful Movie!

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The second teaming of Jean-Claude Van Damme and director Ringo Lam after the underrated MAXIMUM RISK is an extremely violent tale with a neat twist which makes it akin to both THE BONE COLLECTOR and Schwarzenegger's recent THE SIXTH DAY, as it mixes both science fiction and horror elements into an otherwise action-orientated plot. Hong Kong legend Ringo Lam shoots his movie with style and his typically hard-edged action scenes don't disappoint here, from the acrobatic martial arts battles (Van Damme inevitably ends up battling himself, as almost always in these kinds of films - the actor has a fetish about playing dual roles, you see) which make good use of props and take full advantage of Lam's brutal, fast-paced style. Then there's a hair-raising ambulance chase in an underground car park which really gets the blood going - an excellent sequence, near flawless in its execution.The plot is slower-paced than normal and rather more complex than you might at first expect. The 'bad' Van Damme is a long-haired sunglasses-wearing punk, who was tortured and beaten by his mother as a child and now has a vendetta against single mothers, whom he burns like in the chilling opening shots. As the baddie, Van Damme is pretty nasty and totally acceptable in what is a total turnaround from the normal, masculine hero-type parts he plays. The 'good' Van Damme on the other hand is a clone with the mind of a child, who must quickly learn to mentally grow and adapt to the world. Van Damme's acting in this part is superb and far surpasses any of his previous performances: he conveys the naivety and wonder of a child trapped in a man's very well indeed, far better than the likes of Robin Williams have done so previously. Congratulations indeed for such a complex part for the actor and that he managed to pull it off successfully.The only major flaw that this film has is its handling of violence - some of it is pretty graphic, not bloody but still repellent. I refer to scenes in which beaten men are repeatedly kicked - hard - in the stomach whilst on the ground, sadistically so. The worst offending moment is when Michael Rooker beats the heck out of a handcuffed Van Damme whom he believes has mistreated a child (it turns out he hasn't after all) - judging by the mental state of Van Damme's character at the time this is akin to the beating of a child and as such leaves an unpleasant aftertaste - is this really necessary? Fortunately this and other scenes don't spoil the film too much but the gratuitousness of the violence is something we haven't seen much of before in Van Damme's other movies and take the edge of what could have been a classic.The only other actor of note in the cast is the veteran Michael Rooker, playing yet another cop (okay, an ex-cop in this case) with a grudge. Rooker puts in a solid and believable turn but it's nothing he hasn't played before, having become typecast in such roles in recent years. Ironically a minor character - Marnie Alton playing a hooker with a heart - is the strongest female part the film has, but then this is really a three-hander between Rooker and the two Van Dammes. A solid entry for the ageing action hero and different enough to be accessible for even those who aren't his fans - this is deeper and far more complex than anything he has made in the last five or six years and also a better film for it. Well-made, well-acted and only spoiled by some unnecessary sadism which it would have been better off without, my advice is to give REPLICANT a chance.

We begin brutally, with the assault of an attractive and barely-dressed young woman. A scraggly-haired killer beats the woman, then sets her on fire. Her baby is spared, but must witness the incident. It is committed by the first of star Jean-Claude Van Damme's dual roles in this film – he is Edward Garrotte, known as "The Torch" for setting his victims on fire. Let's call him "Bad Van Damme ". A serial killer, Bad Van Damme delights in tormenting the Seattle, Washington Police Department. He even calls detective Michael Rooker (as Jacob "Jake" Riley) to boast. After over three years of trying to capture Bad Van Damme, Mr. Rooker has reached the end of the line. Unexpectedly, Rooker decides to end his retirement when a top secret government group hires him to hunt Bad Van Damme...Rooker is given an unusual new partner – "Replicant". This man may be the clone of Bad Van Damme and appears to share psychic powers with his twin. Let's call him "Good Van Damme" (relatively speaking). Born looking exactly as his adult counterpart, but with a neater hairstyle, Good Van Damme learns gymnastics by watching TV. He does it better than sitting or standing. Despite his mastery of gymnastics, Good Van Damme appears to have the mind of a small child. Rooker starts out disciplining him violently, because Good Van Damme reminds him of Bad Van Damme. Rooker and Good Van Damme go after Bad Van Damme, but the relationship between the three gets complicated. You'll have to watch to see if Good Van Damme stays good and helps Rooker capture Bad Van Damme...The violent interaction between the three muscular men is directed by Ringo Lam. He does a fine job moving the story and keeping the level of excitement high – but the emphasis is on violent action and thinly-reasoned martial arts cloning. There is only a sketchy match-up between the mechanics and story. We don't really know what martial arts has to do with cloning; possibly, the original Van Damme studied the arts before letting his hair grow and killing bad mothers. The character played by Rooker is also very violent, which is never explained – or even addressed properly in the film. Note how quickly Rooker beats up his partner after he assumes the handcuffed man attacked a boy. Rooker is not only wrong, but also does nothing that would have helped the kid or brought back his Popsicle.***** Replicant (5/11/01) Ringo Lam ~ Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, Catherine Dent, Ian Robison

Modern Science has achieved many wonders in the real world. Indeed, such wonders have also been the wellspring of the movies and vice-versa. This movie is one such example. The story is of police officer Jake Riley (Michael Rooker), a Seattle detective out to snare an elusive criminal arsonist called 'The Torch.' (Jean-Claude Van Damme) Years have been amassed chasing him and Jake retires. Not wanting to end the game, The Torch, baits him to return. Also wanting to capture the deadly criminal, the Government run NSA offers Riley a Clone of the actual killer to assist him. With the body of an adult and the mind of a growing child, Riley and his assistant chase after the notorious killer and soon unforeseen events combine to put the police, Riley and the public in mortal danger. Mayham ensues as do physical confrontations, car chases, fiery explosions and death raining everywhere. Van dame is superb as the unstoppable heavy as well as his infant twin. While Michael Rooker is fast becoming a cinema Icon. The movie develops as fast as the audience can keep up and its a roller coaster ride after that. Excellent movie. ****

OK, I can see a few slight redeeming glimmers in this mess but only a few. Co-star Michael Rooker puts in his usual grim-faced hard-nosed performance and Van Damme makes a convincingly creepy bad guy. OK. So? Well, Van Damme's other role as the semi-psychic "replicant" might as well be played by a Orangutan. In fact you would have hardly noticed any difference in the acting. I am not kidding because that is essentially who the replicant is personality-wise. It only goes to show how obviously flawed the concept was. I am not saying it is bad acting -- it isn't bad acting when you are playing the part of a "blank slate." The whole idea here is that clones could have "psychic connections" with their "twin" and this might allow Homeland Security to use them to "sniff out" an evil-doer. Duh, wait a minute. A clone is just a twin. It makes me ill to see effort wasted on a really stupid movie idea like this one and to see it labeled "Science Fiction." These Hollywood producers should stop doing so many hard drugs. There is a ton of written Science Fiction that has never made it to the large or small screen, and certainly some large quantity of that is better material than the rubbish of this movie. This is pretty lame garbage for 2001. Maybe it was a kneejerk 911 idea?