Universal Soldier: Regeneration

 

 

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Universal Soldier is straight out of the hallmark of 90s action films. It is well remembered for pitting Jean Claude Van Damme against lethal giant Dolph Lundgren in a battle for survival beyond the grave. "Regeneration" is an attempt at putting the defibrillator on the franchise in an attempt to score points with fans of the original while accessing a host of new viewers. It may succeed in the latter, but it will be hard pressed on the former.

"Regeneration" ignores the events of the 2nd Universal Soldier film "The Return," and picks up years after the events of the first film. Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) has been trying to ingratiate himself back into society with the help of a Swiss doctor working for the military. Though not explicitly stated, Deveraux's memory has begun to fragment over the years as a possible result of his UniSol treatments. When he attacks a restaurant patron without provocation, it becomes clear that Deveraux may not be able to rejoin society despite his best efforts. Meanwhile, a rogue Russian commander kidnaps the children of the Russian prime minister and takes control of the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant with a threat to detonate the unstable reactor with explosives if hundreds of political prisoners are not freed. Aiding him in the takeover is a doctor with a background in UniSol technology who has also gone rogue and sold his services to the highest bidder. His weapon of choice is the NGU, a Next-Generation UniSol (Andrei Arlovski) who single-handedly wipes out an entire battalion of U.S. soldiers accompanied by four original Universal Soldiers from Deveraux's era. With time running out, the military seizes Deveraux and begins pumping him full of drugs to reverse the effects of his rehabilitation treatments and make him battle-ready within the space of hours. Tensions soon begin to fray at the enemy camp when the doctor reveals his trump card: a cloned version of Sgt. Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) who dispatches the rogue Russian commander. However, the doctor did not take into account Scott's unstable mind, and soon his creation turns against him, killing him in the process. Deveraux is sent into the Chernobyl plant to rescue the prime minister's children and disarm the bomb before detonation, but to do so he will have to face off against both Scott and the NGU.

In many ways, "Regeneration" tries too hard to be a contemporary battle epic and suffers for it. There is no sense of excitement, action-cheese or snappy one-liners (...you're discharged, Sarge!). This is a bland, hollow, wooden affair through and through. Director John Hyams blatantly steals elements from "Children of Men," "Black Hawk Down" and "Saving Private Ryan" but never puts them to much good use except as a means of footing the film in 2010-era cinema. Instead, he gives the audience empty bloodshed and a drab, dreary atmosphere. That's not to say it's a complete bore, however. The action sequences are well filmed and at times quite intense. But, this is a Universal Soldier film. Without the sprawling sense of Devlin/Emmerich schlock, it's not all that fun to watch except to see how it all plays out.

*SPOILERS AHEAD-WARNING!*

The inclusion of Andrew Scott in the film is perhaps one of the biggest missed opportunities in action cinema history. It smacks of the director trying to lure in the curious UniSol fan-base by slapping Lundgren's name on the cover. In truth, his screen time is severely limited, and when he does show up, it's a severe letdown. Deveraux and Scott never recognize each other (which can be explained with Deveraux's fragmented memory and Scott's unstable cloning process), and Scott himself is nothing like his original character. There are no rings made out of ears, and no ranting and raving about the Vietnam war. Scott is simply confused as to the nature of questions that UniSols are asked before they are activated to make sure their brains are operating correctly. That's it. When the fight between the two is over, I threw my hands up in frustration at the thought of what could have been. Certainly a flashback from the original film? Nothing. Deveraux's presence in the film makes no sense given the events of the second film, and no explanation is given as to the absence of Ally Walker, or just how the UniSol program was allowed to continue given its clandestine (and illegal) nature.

*END OF SPOILERS *

The movie only truly succeeds at maintaining a level of quality for B-grade action flicks. That's not exactly an esteemed award to flaunt, however. It's good for a rental, but it's not going to shake the tree of classic Universal Soldier fans, nor is it going to breathe any particular life into the series. A "third" film in the franchise (Universal Soldier: A New Dimension) has been announced with Van Damme and Lundgren reprising their roles once again, but after seeing this film, all I can say is "God help us all."

Universal Soldier-Regeneration(released Jan/10) is the newest incarnation of the long running franchise which started way back in 1992.It's hard to believe it's been that long and harder still to believe Van Damme,Lundgren et al can still make with the action sequences as good as they do here 18 years later.Van Damme seems to look the older of the two but both are still in great physical shape.Screenwriter,director,cinematographer Peter Hyams comes on board as camera head while his son John directs.Peter of course has worked with Van Damme in Timecop and Sudden Death, so along with Lundgren it was old home week on the set in Bulgaria.
The story involves a group of rogue terrorists looking to free some political prisoners in the Soviet Union.To facilitate this the terrorists seize control of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant and threaten to blow one of the reactors within 72 hours while also kidnapping the Russian Presidents teenage children for good measure.In order to accomplish his agenda the head of the terrorists General Boris(Akni Avni)has hired a now rogue scientist from the States who worked on the original Uni-Sol project to provide an NGU(new generation Uni-Sol).The NGU has been improved on a genetic level and is faster and stronger than the original Uni-Sols.And this has proven quite effective as he single handedly repels attack after attack of the joint US/Russian force assigned the job of retaking the plant and rescuing the children.
In the meantime ex-Uni-Sol Luc Devreaux(Van Damme),who has been in rehabilitation to get him off the project drugs in order to reintegrate him back into society,has again been recruited to rescue the children.As the clock ticks down the Russian president finally capitulates to the terrorists demands ending the tense stand off.However the rogue scientist with an agenda of his own and tired of being pushed around and used by the terrorists,finally unleashes his ace in the hole.All along he has kept hidden a Uni-Sol from the original project,Sgt Scott(Lundgren),who he re-animates in an effort to start a new Uni-Sol/NGU army.But Sgt Scott does not respond well to his reawakening and is even more psychotic than before.He kills the scientist and is just about to kill the children when Luc arrives on the scene.A brutal battle ensues between them with Luc barely managing to come through with a victory.Next Luc has to not only safeguard and remove the children from danger he has to confront and stop the terrorists' NGU.Through a series of pitched battles Luc finally manages to take down the NGU with the bomb originally destined to blow the reactor up with.
An explosion occurs and we see the aftermath with haz-mat suited personnel picking up the pieces and brandishing Geiger counters.The film ends with a scientist who helped the government side during the mission looking over newly cloned super soldiers.
When the movie starts one expects to see Van Damme momentarily but one has to wait about 17 minutes before this happens as the film makers get their narrative going.It is almost 50 minutes into the film before we see Lundgren/Scott and unfortunately Lundgren is all too soon dispatched by Van Damme/Devreaux. However during that brief encounter Lundgren(to his credit)manages to project that deadly menace we remember oh so well from the first one.The sole NGU played by Andrei Arlovski(ex MMA fighter and UFC champion)also does a surprisingly well turn as the single-minded and deadly killing machine he is.Director of photography Peter Hyams does a great piece of work on his instrument of choice.The camera motion is fluid throughout and he gives us many close angles of the on screen action,even to the extent of blood splattering on the lens,that gives an immediacy to the proceedings that otherwise would not have been there otherwise.
The film was shot in Bulgaria at a location that looks like some abandoned factory that subbed for Chernobyl.There are a couple of stumbling points in the script if one wants to get picky.One is Devreaux's re-integration into society.One almost has to overlook the second Van Damme installment Universal Soldier-The Return,because in that film Devreaux seemed to be a fairly well adjusted consultant/individual to the entire project,even having a brief romantic involvement with a reporter.Here a scientist has been working with him to take him off the Uni-Sol drugs and he acts more like a zombie than the more normal character he portrayed in The Return.Secondly is the whole Chernobyl area idea.The entire area around the reactor in reality is a dead zone and highly radioactive.Anyone going as close to the grounds as the terrorists and the rescuing joint US/Soviet forces did would die a terrible radioactive induced death in short order.The Uni-Sols and NGU are another matter that could be over looked due to their enhancements but not the others.
The stories' plot is a usual good guys versus bad one with alot of been there-done that scenarios but it does include more suspense than the usual shoot em' up action flicks,which elevates it slightly above the average flicks of the genre.
Technically the film is a direct to video transfer and has been done very well.The sound is top form and it is presented in a nice 2:35:1 widescreen ratio.The extras are a little thin as there is just a commentary by the director and Lundgren and a behind the scenes 20m featurette.The DVD comes in a regular size keep case and is itself enclosed in a cardboard case which mimics the DVD cases'cover;which has a nice embossed feel to it.
All in all I give the film 3 1/2 stars.Although nothing too special it is a better than average action flick and is an attempt at restarting the franchise.Van Damme and Lundgren are both looking their ages(especially JC) but both can still kick on screen cinematic butt quite well.Lundgren's late and relatively brief on screen appearance is a disappointment but we hope to see more of this pair in the NEXT installment in Universal Soldier#4.Oops,did I say that? You didn't hear it from me.

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