It’s funny how we tend to assume things.
Take Replicant, for example. If you’d asked me, I’d have guessed that Replicant was one of those Eighties action films Jean Claude van Damme made in the early days of his career.
Like Cyborg (1989), for example.
Instead, it was made more than a decade later.
Which just goes to show you that van Damme’s career didn’t exactly change that much over the years.
Kickboxing cyborgs or kickboxing clones. You chose.
It doesn’t even stand out because he plays a double role in this one — after all, he’d already played double roles in three earlier films.
But it is one of the smarter and better written films he made, with strong characters (at least two of them) a complex plot, a few quirky Science Fictional concepts, and even a twist or two along the way.
Detective Jake Riley (Michael Rooker) surprised everyone when he decided to retire. He was the lead detective on the trail of a nasty and seemingly uncatchable serial killer called “The Torch,” who called Jake regularly to gloat.
However, Jake figures it’s time to get out from under and run the bar he’s dreamed of for years.
Even a secretive government agency promising him the chance to track down The Torch doesn’t interest him.
Not, that is, until The Torch calls him yet again.
You see, the National Security Force (not “Agency.” We have to be clear about that) has cloned The Torch from a DNA sample, and their “Replicant” is now mature and conveniently augmented with mild telepathic abilities so he can connect with the original. He also has inherited some of his original’s memories. The idea is, if Riley can get him to connect to the original and his memories — by taking him to the scenes of the crimes or exposing him to the evidence and facts — then he should be able to lead Riley to the killer.
The NSF’s idea is that these abilities should work for tracking down terrorists. They cloned The Torch, partly because they had his DNA, and partly because they figured that a Serial Killer is a lot like a Terrorist.
Right…
Replicant was one of the Hollywood films made by Hong Kong filmmaker Ringo Lam. I suspect that, after his big success with City on Fire, the studios thought he was the next John Woo and brought him to the U.S. — where, like John Woo, he eventually decided to go home. He’s got a bit of street cred, but his filmography is nowhere near as distinguished as Woo’s.
Although it might have been different if he’d stayed home.
It is Lam’s guiding hand that leads me to suspect that Replicant was inspired by Face/Off. That absurd John Woo classic features the same mix of over-the-top action with an extravagant central gimmick, only with an even more tangled double roles plot. Certainly van Damme’s evil character looks suspiciously like evil John Travolta (although perhaps closer to the way he looked in Pulp Fiction than in Face/Off), and we have a similar set of confrontations between two closely connected people with very different personalities.
As The Torch, van Damme is confident and has a strong sense of style. He acts boldly, with a lot of physical strength and skill, but he is also smart enough to create new plans almost instantly when things go bad.
On the other hand, the Replicant is a lot like a child, although he develops very quickly. He seems a bit dim, but that is because he is still very much a blank slate, with very little knowledge and not enough experience to understand the world or what is happening to him.
However, that makes it even harder for Riley to decide if he has the evil streak of his original and will ultimately turn into yet another serial killer.
I’ll confess I was impressed by this film: it’s a lot smarter than an action film is meant to be, and asks a lot more awkward questions. In particular, I like how the relationship between Riley and the Replicant gradually changes, as Riley realizes that he needs to treat him with respect and dignity.
Well, actually, his mother tells him that.
Although Jake’s fears that the Replicant will turn into a monster are always there.
For that matter, the relationship between the Replicant and the original is also handled quite skillfully, as The Torch manipulates him very easily.
Which should come as no surprise as he knows himself well enough to understand what might work on a more naïve version of himself.
No one watches one of Jean Claude van Damme’s films for an in-depth character study, or deep and insightful comments on the human condition. Instead, we gets lots of flying feet and simple battles against villainy. Or at least, that’s what we expect as a few of them do offer something slightly more complex and interesting.
Nor does Replicant stint on the action side of things. It just has a bit of fun playing games with the audience about whether the Replicant is good or evil.
However, this does mean, regardless of whose name gets first billing, that Michael Rooker is the real star of the film: the story is really his story — his battle with the Torch, his relationship with the Replicant, his decisions and actions — and not that of either the Torch or the Replicant.
Which, come to think of it, does seem like a good idea.
Although van Damme may be a better actor than most of the action fraternity of the Eighties. After all, he does give a surprisingly good performance in both roles.
Replicant was far better than I expected, with a lot of nice little touches, great action, and a nice riff on a somewhat overused Science Fiction concept. Michael Rooker has always brought a dark and intense side to his characters and it serves Riley well.
It’s a solid and slightly more inventive take on the classic Eighties action movie.
Or a low rent rip-off of Face/Off.
I’m not sure which.
Whatever the case, if you’re looking for a mindless action flick, it will do nicely.
And you won’t have to completely shut off your brain…
rivets on the poster 