The people behind the Jean-Claude Van Damme thriller "Kill'em All" must have seen Bryan Singer's classic "The Usual Suspects." Stuntman-turned-director Peter Malota and scribes Jesse Cilio of "The Perfect Weapon," Brian Smolensky of "The Gadarene Swine," and freshman writer Craig Stewart chronicle the action in similar non-linear fashion, juggling past scenes with present, like "The Usual Suspects." First, we have two FBI agents talking to Suzanne (Autumn Reeser of "The Big Bang") about her experiences in a running gun battle throughout a hospital after a foreign head of state had been critically wounded in an assassination attempt. Basically, they are trying to establish his identity because the computers at the hospital where she worked as a nurse have been damaged. Second, we have an apparent bodyguard for the wounded foreign politician, Philip (Jean-Claude Van Damme of "Universal Soldier"), dodging bullets while whittling down the opposition until nobody is left to challenge him. He is like Bruce Willis in "Die Hard," one man pitted against several adversaries who triumphs over them. According to production notes, this melodrama was filmed in Biloxi, Mississippi, while the dramatic action appears to occur in Los Angeles.
You'll appreciate some good things in "Kill'em All" as well as some bad things. Unfortunately, the interview scenes impede the speed of the plot. Suzanne and two Feds, Agent Mark Holman (Peter Stormare of "John Wick 2") and Agent Linda Sanders (Maria Conchita Alonso of "Extreme Prejudice"), sit at a table and utter exposition that could only have been conveyed in such a setting under such circumstances. Some of it seems gratuitous. For example, the obnoxious Holman spins a yarn for Suzanne about the man who shot and killed a foreign head of state. Holman explains to her that the son of the diplomat watched his father die from a long-range gunshot thirty years ago. This is supposed to justify the assassin's behavior. Suzanne has a difficult time convincing them that she accompanied a gunman named Philip because she had no other options available unless she decided to die. Apparently, Philip had saved Suzanne once, and Suzanne felt sure he might have to save her again. Clearly, from everything presented in these dialogue exchanges, the unmistakable impression is that the nurse feels grateful to this mysterious Philip for rescuing her life. Agents Holman and Sanders indulge in 'a bad cop and good cop routine' respectively as they search for a flaw in Suzanne's story.
Meantime, director Malota cross-cuts between the interrogation at FBI Headquarters to action footage of the protagonist Philip as he eliminates one villain after another. Even at age 57, Jean-Claude is still a light-footed juggernaut with his spinning leg kicks. The chief drawback of this approach is that "Kill'em All" occurs largely in flashback so we know there is no way that our hero Philip stands a legitimate chance of biting a bullet. Altogether, Malota and his scribes isolate the action to a hospital emergency room and then the five floors of a hospital that have been decommissioned. The decision to confine the action to essentially one set evokes memories of director John McTiernan's superb thriller "Die Hard." The big difference here is that Philip in "Kill'em All" is not trying to save lives so many as wipe out the villains. The one thing that stands out is the decision to have Philip, suffering from two wounds—one to the back of his head and a knife wound on his right bicep--that not only drain his energy and strength but also exposes him as vulnerable in his close encounters with the villains.
This sturdy Van Damme thriller clocks in at 95 minutes, boasts some predictable surprises, but never wears out its welcome. As one of many unsavory villains, Daniel Bernhardt stands out as unforgettable. Although it isn't the most inspired of his straight-to-video actioneers, Van Damme's fans should enjoy the non-stop action and the mystery surrounding Philip as well as Suzanne.
You'll appreciate some good things in "Kill'em All" as well as some bad things. Unfortunately, the interview scenes impede the speed of the plot. Suzanne and two Feds, Agent Mark Holman (Peter Stormare of "John Wick 2") and Agent Linda Sanders (Maria Conchita Alonso of "Extreme Prejudice"), sit at a table and utter exposition that could only have been conveyed in such a setting under such circumstances. Some of it seems gratuitous. For example, the obnoxious Holman spins a yarn for Suzanne about the man who shot and killed a foreign head of state. Holman explains to her that the son of the diplomat watched his father die from a long-range gunshot thirty years ago. This is supposed to justify the assassin's behavior. Suzanne has a difficult time convincing them that she accompanied a gunman named Philip because she had no other options available unless she decided to die. Apparently, Philip had saved Suzanne once, and Suzanne felt sure he might have to save her again. Clearly, from everything presented in these dialogue exchanges, the unmistakable impression is that the nurse feels grateful to this mysterious Philip for rescuing her life. Agents Holman and Sanders indulge in 'a bad cop and good cop routine' respectively as they search for a flaw in Suzanne's story.
Meantime, director Malota cross-cuts between the interrogation at FBI Headquarters to action footage of the protagonist Philip as he eliminates one villain after another. Even at age 57, Jean-Claude is still a light-footed juggernaut with his spinning leg kicks. The chief drawback of this approach is that "Kill'em All" occurs largely in flashback so we know there is no way that our hero Philip stands a legitimate chance of biting a bullet. Altogether, Malota and his scribes isolate the action to a hospital emergency room and then the five floors of a hospital that have been decommissioned. The decision to confine the action to essentially one set evokes memories of director John McTiernan's superb thriller "Die Hard." The big difference here is that Philip in "Kill'em All" is not trying to save lives so many as wipe out the villains. The one thing that stands out is the decision to have Philip, suffering from two wounds—one to the back of his head and a knife wound on his right bicep--that not only drain his energy and strength but also exposes him as vulnerable in his close encounters with the villains.
This sturdy Van Damme thriller clocks in at 95 minutes, boasts some predictable surprises, but never wears out its welcome. As one of many unsavory villains, Daniel Bernhardt stands out as unforgettable. Although it isn't the most inspired of his straight-to-video actioneers, Van Damme's fans should enjoy the non-stop action and the mystery surrounding Philip as well as Suzanne.