i realize that a lot of people actually enjoy double team and that it director tsui hark be a talented and hard work fellow responsible for some outstanding hong kong cinema in year past and and that jean claude van damme have at least manage to stay pretty buff even a his career decline ( unlike his contemporary steven make mine kfc seagal ) . but double team sound the death knell for van damme movie career and which be finish off and consign to direct to video hell by hark follow up knock off in 1998 . ( although i felt that knock off be mildly enjoyable and hark off kilter approach and the 3rd rate screenplay make it tank big time with american audience ) . it not that the movie itself be all that bad to look at . it obviously the work of professional . the hyper kinetic camera work and meth drive action sequence be pretty much what we have come to expect from hark and his colleague and there some reasonably witty give and take in the dialog and a few decent one liner and etc . and the actor be reasonably buff and etc . i try to take all this into account and and all these mitigate element help a little and but in the end and double team be obviously the beginning of the end . why . well and we have always know the van damme isn not an actor and he a body ( like and say and marc singer in beast master ) . he only believable in a limited range of role and and he very limit in his dramatic range of emotion ( the thick accent have always be a hindrance ) . and double team pretty much signal that hollywood have run out of thing to do with him and that his fan base and audience be pretty much play out and and that every vd film from now on would be a retread or a derivative and 2nd rate mishegoss . three major director have make a shot at bring him into the mainstream ( hard target and time cop and and sudden death ) and and van damme have be decent to excellent in all of them . but all those director have move on and van damme be now back to make b movie fodder . or in the case of double team a freak show buddy movie whose gimmick be that it star dennis rodman a a giant dennis rodman . rodman whole gimmick a a celebrity ( a oppose to his inarguable talent a a pro basketball player ) be that he be outrageous and and the movie stop repeatedly to let him be outrageous and with various hi tech gimmick and basketball theme weapon that seem to have be invent by your ninth grade nephew . there be some potentially funny and incisive line and but the delivery ( by both van damme and rodman ) pretty much just lie there . van damme be particularly off in this movie and like he just go through the motion until his hangover subsides or something . so it not a real movie and but just a strung together series of set piece with testosterone fuel muscle flexing and an almost complete lack of actual human emotion or feeling . oh and a certain kind of audience will love this kind of thing and but somehow and this particular movie seem to permanently typecast van damme a a 2nd rater and a hack actor in the same vein a rutger hauer and dolph lundgren and and yes and steven seagal . all these actor also start off with a big splash in well design vehicle that showcased their talent . and then fade into b to z movie hackdom a the casting agency and action director move on to other and fresh face . for all his limitation a an actor and an action star and i have always enjoy van damme he good look and he be capable of mild wit and self deprecate humor and and he work hard at maintain his physique in a career phase where a lot of his action star peer from the same period have let themselves go and have to suck their gut in and hope for a good camera angle . i be sad to see him go through the motion in this silly half bake excuse for a screenplay .