Replicant - 複製殺人魔

Replicant (複製殺人魔) is an 2001 movie. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme (JCVD) and Michael Rooker. The movie's terminology of replicant is not the same as that used in Blade Runner. The replicant usage for this movie is more in the terms of cloning.

A Seattle police officer, Jake Riley, is on the hunt for a serial killer and almost gets him. The police office rides off into the sunset retiring. The killer likes to stake single mothers and burn them. Over the year plus that he kills, he picks up the nickname Torch based on his last act of burning his victims. Jake has multiple run ins with

The movie was actually pretty entertaining. I was expecting it to suck hard like many recent JCVD movie recently. However, this is within that timeframe that JCVD was still making top quality B movies that didn't need to be a blockbuster, but do well at the box office and make it up on the rental market. 2001 was still during the heyday of Blockbuster Video. Campy as it was, the story was non stop. It just kept going with the pursuit.

I don't recall watching this in the early 2000s, so this is most likely the first time I've watched this. I caught this on my Amazon Prime account. But I don't plan to watch it again. If you're looking to keep something on in the background without a lot of investment in the story, this would be entertaining. Be prepare for all the plot holes and absurd premise of a 1 billion dollar replicant.

Kung Fu Panda 3 - 功夫熊貓3

Kung Fu Panda 3 (功夫熊貓3) is an 2016 animated film. The voices Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, J. K. Simmons, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Bryan Cranston, Kate Hudson, James Hong, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Randall Duk Kim. This is the third film release.

Kai, a prisoner of the spirit realm finds a way to get to the human realm. When he does, he seeks out the Dragon Warrior to prove he's the strongest. Po inherits the master role, but does a poor job. Heading back home for some comfort, he bumps into another Panda looking for his long lost son. Po learns that there's a whole village of Pandas. Saying good bye to his friends, me makes the long perilous journey to this village. When he does, he gets reconnected. Just as he was getting comfortable, Kai's presence is felt and they must devise a plan to defeat him. Can the village learn Kung Fu in time to save themselves?

Much like the last installment, they expand on the mythology of the realm. Where the 2nd installment made improvements to the first one, this 3rd installment didn't. Seems there's always someone around the corner that is bigger and stronger than the last one. But beyond that, this movie didn't involve the previous characters as much, but spent a significant time in the panda village.

My kids both liked the movie and I plan on getting it on sale in Blu-ray during black Friday or the Christmas season. Be prepared for more, it was recently announced that there are 3 more planned films.

The Expendables 2 - 浴血任務2

The Expendables 2 (浴血任務2) is an 2012 film. The movie stars Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham. The rest of the ensemble cast include Jet Li, Yu Nan, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Wow, what a cast. Did will enough at the global box office that a second sequel is in the works.



The movie is much like the first one. Sly plays the leader and has to recover something from a far away land that has no stable government. Lead by JCVD, this rouge terrorist group is looking to do something bad with a black market weapon. Enter Bruce Willis asking Sly for a favor. Off they go to this country to get this thing. Insert all the craziness of all these cast members.



This movie was entertaining. Fun to see all these old skool action heroes try to make it look good. Some did, some didn't. Arnold is passed his prime. I just watched the Running Man the other day. Classic 1980s movie. Not classic in his cameo in Expendables installment.



Jet Li only see action in the first 5-10 minutes of the film. After that, he's not even on the team. They left the Asian representation to Yu Nan, the government liaison. For some reason, they were trying to play Yu and Sly in some "love" relationship. Didn't work and it was just awkward. Please don't do that again.



If you liked the first one and are as old or older than me, you may enjoy this. Lots of fighting, shooting, and explosions.

Dragon Eyes - 龍眼 - Upcoming

Dragon Eyes (龍眼) is being release today in limited release. Originally set for a straight to video (DVD/Blu-ray) release. It's seeing life on the big screen. The movie stars Cung Le with Jean-Claude Van Damme (JCVD). Set in New Orleans, this may be JCVD's first movie since Hard Target with John Woo (I can't confirm that). Seems to be a lot of gangsters, fighting, and kick @$$ in the movie. I am in! When it gets to DVD/Blu-ray.

Kung Fu Panda 2 - 功夫熊貓2

Kung Fu Panda 2 (功夫熊貓2) is an 2011 animated film from Dreamworks. This movie is a sequel to the 2008 film, Kung Fu Panda. Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, and James Hong reprise their voice roles for the sequel. Additions to the second installment are Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. The movie was directed by American-Korean, Jennifer Yuh Nelson.

Po is now the dragon warrior supreme. When a clan from the captial attacks for resources, Po's pulled into the fight to save his country from tyrants. Can Po become strong enough to overcome the cannons and save his friends and heroes?

This second installment didn't go into character development for the five as much, but the backstory of the antagonist was explored in much depth. And I was very much the same about this film as I was for the first. "eh" was it. Entertaining and worth a watch to see where its going. There's a cartoon series now. i wonder if that's it for the movie franchise. However, the wikipedia says there are sequels involved. I prolly have watched my last one by myself. The next ones with be with my daughters as they're coming to age to start watching this. But I started on TVB dramas when I was 8 years old. Seems right.