Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

universalsoldier regeneration Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

Directed by: John Hyams
Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren
Direct to DVD 2009

From the short halcyon days of Jean Claude Van Damme’s (JCVD) career, perhaps the most obvious movies that could be continued in a sequel are Universal Soldier and Timecop. The latter would have been my personal choice because it was probably the best post Bloodsport JCVD movie and it had a deep mythology that could be fleshed out in multiple movies. Universal Soldier, however, was recently put through the sequel ringer with Universal Soldier: Regeneration, and what came out the other side is a mixed blend. There are several very low budget sequels to the original movie, but not one that carried on the story or stars from the first effort to any likeable degree. Regeneration reunites first movie alums JCVD and Dolph Lundgren.

Universal Soldier: Regeneration is two distinct movies fighting for greater weight on a seesaw. The expected B-movie element shows itself throughout the movie mainly because the script of Regeneration is a hack-and-slash affair that involves a political leader from separatist movement in Russia who kidnaps the Russian President’s children in order to hold them ransom for the release of political prisoners. The leader somehow stole a new wave Universal Solider (USOL) from the United States military to help with his plans and, therefore, the U.S. military feels really bad about it. Consequently it is the U.S., working for the Russian President, that tries to liberate the kidnapped children and disable a bomb from the villain’s staging ground in Chernobyl. I didn’t mention the bomb? In Chernobyl, the baddies are threatening to blow up a dormant nuclear reactor that would cause a radiation cloud 100 football fields larger that the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Along with this plan they also, for some reason, had to universal soldier beef Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009) kidnap the President’s children. Or something. Really none of this makes any sense. Some MMA or WWE beef plays the new-fangled next generation USOL and is a complete non-entity as an actor. Although Beef is what amounts to the main character, he is easily the least interesting due to his one dimensional Michael Myers with a big gun (that for some reason has super-duper powers and no one else can use it) fight scenes.

damme 2 Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009) The unexpected element of Regeneration is the acting of JCVD. I think the guy should get a second life in hybrid action/drama flicks on the big screen. His performance in JCVD (2008) was noteworthy as is his performance as the USOL attempting rehabilitation in Regeneration. Of all the original USOL, JCVD was picked for some unexplained reason the be the test subject for some chick psychologist who wants to reverse the genetic conditioning from the USOL program and introduce JCVD into society. In early scenes JCVD tries very hard, despite script shortcomings, to sell his role and there is real feeling and conflict involved. Once JCVD is called back to action to save the day, the writing for his role suffers, but the performance stands.

Dolph Lundgren’s presence is more of a gimmick as his role is quite small, predictable, and he mails in the role with third class postage.

Regeneration possesses higher than expected production standards and a relatively solid supporting cast. The movie ends in a clunky fashion as the makers once again force a contrived ending in the obvious hopes of yet another sequel. The violence of the movie is medium-high with ample blood splatter and brutal beatings. The action is nearly non-stop and at times even reaches coherency.

By the end the seesaw becomes level as the B-movie element and the quality JCVD performance even out.

2.5/5