Sadly Over-hyped

recommended

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Disturbing yet enthralling

This sequel to "Universal Soldier" starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren is a made for TV movie starring Matt Battaglia, Gary Busey, Jeff Wincott and Burt Reynolds (using an Irish accent) that was made side by side with "Universal Soldier 3: Unfinished Business" with the aim of leading to a TV (that never happened) Matt Battaglia replaces Van Damme, Andrew Jackson replaces Dolph Lundgren and Chandra West replaces Ally Walker There are some impressive is set pieces and well directed action scenes however a ridiculous plot, poor acting and an over use of slow motion ruin the majority of it,Burt spends the majority of his screen time talking on the phone in the shadows looking all mysterious. It's not until the very end do we see his face and it is revealed who he is, and what powerful position he holds.I think had he been able to anticipate the success of "Boogie Nights" and his subsequent Oscar nomination for his performance, he may have been a bit more picky about what roles he was taking, and bided his time waiting for a quality script to keep the momentum of his comeback going. However his ongoing financial worries at this time, probably dictated he grabbed what ever work was offered to him as he made seven movies in both 1997 and 1999.

I really didn't like the first Universal Soldier movie, so I didn't have high expectations for this one. Still, I got disappointed. The movie is twice as bad as the first movie. The plot is almost the same, but of course, they switched the cast. Van Damme and Lundgren is out, and instead we get to meet a guy I never had heard of before (Battaglia). In fact, he wasn't that bad, especially since the main thing about his part was to act as little as possible. They also added a couple of other known actors, such as Gary Busey and Jeff Wincott. Busey is OK as the bad guy, but it didn't help since his character was just stupid. Also be alarmed about this being an action movie, since it's not. There's hardly any action at all, and the small amount of action they give us is ultra low-budget and supercrappy.

Apparently whoever made this horrible sequel didn't pay attention to the end of the first one, Andrew scott or GR-13 is ground up by a combine or wood mulcher of some sort at the end of the first one, unless they cloned him or something else before hand, i don't see them out there picking up little pieces of him to get him back together, and if they did no wonder in every plot line of these movies there is a budget cut. Think about how much it would cost the government to go out and search for little small pieces of a unisol, just to piece him back together, The labor alone would be worthless. Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb movie.

Matt Battaglia picks up the character of Luc Devereaux where JC Van Damme left off. This again sees him going AWOL but brings in other characters (including his reanimated brother Eric) and has yet more secret Government conspiracy in the shape of Gary Busey and Burt Reynolds.This "made-for-TV" film is a poor distant relative of the first Universal Soldier. I'm not saying the first one is a great film (it's an OK action movie) but if the first one was the President of the USA then this film would be the equivalent of his white trash, wife-beating drunken brother living in a trailer in Louisiana - it's that embarrassing to compare them.This fails in every aspect of what should be good in a film. The plot is lazy and relies on coincidence or unlikely events to move it on. A lot of things are either unbelievable or glossed over without explanation. However this is an action movie - so if the action is good then it matters less yeah? Unfortunately the action is poor, there's one explosion and all the fight scenes make WWF look fast and exciting, none of these guys have any moves or speed. The action only has one good touch - where an explosion is set to classical music - however even this is a rip off of John Woo (remember "over the rainbow" in Face/Off?).The acting is lamentable. Battaglia's wooden performance will make even the hardest critic think that maybe Van Damme isn't that bad an actor after all. Jeff Wincott as brother Eric is not as wooden but still acts like he's being forced to do something he's not comfortable with. Chandra West as reporter Veronica should provide the human element to proceedings but all she is left with is rubbish one-liners and an unrealistic sense of calm. As for Burt Reynolds and Gary Busey.....I could fill a page with my comments on them.Reynolds spends most of the film in the shadows (I understand why) and delivers a rubbish accent throughout - why does someone who just got a career boost with Boogie Nights (and to a lesser extent Bean) commit to appear in this type of rubbish. Not even once but again in Universal Soldier 3!! It also is sad to see Gary Busey do another low-rent villain in a rubbish film - it's hard to believe that he is very well known and once did some high-profile films. This is yet another flush on the toilet that is his recent career.The direction is so-so, relying on editing that Homicide: Life on the Street did years ago. Slow-motion, "jumping" edits etc all make the film a little more interesting but really they're stolen from better directors and cannot achieve the impossible feat of saving this.This is a boring, poorly acted, poorly plotted "action" movie. Please avoid this vacuous piece of twaddle. Oh and if you enjoy this or think that it's good then you deserve a slap.