Catherine Dent, Dan Hyatt, Ian Robison
Jean-Claude Van Damme (star of Timecop and Universal Soldier) plays two roles in this surprisingly good action thriller. Replicant also stars Michael Rooker (of Henry, Portrait...( read more
), The Replacement Killers) as Jake Riley, a cop who's been tracking a serial killer called "The Torch" (Van Damme). Frustrated, Riley decides to retire--and the National Security Department makes him an offer: they've cloned "The Torch" as part of a program to track down terrorists; they'll turn this replicant (Van Damme again, of course) over to Riley as a sort of test run for the program. The idea is that the replicant will slowly recall the original person's memories and lead the cops to the original. It's ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the setup for the highly successful Face/Off, and it works just as well as the engine for an effective action flick. What makes Replicant more unusual is that the writers actually put some thought into the relationship between Riley and the replicant, which starts to mirror parent-child relationships in emotionally complex ways. Furthermore, while it's no surprise that Rooker gives a solid performance, it is surprising that Van Damme does just as good a job in both of his roles--he's perfectly creepy as the serial killer and genuinely affecting as the quickly developing replicant, projecting a mixture of innocence and turmoil. Replicant was directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, the man behind Full Contact and City on Fire. He was clearly working on a limited budget, but the movie looks good, moves with lean efficiency, and has some riveting action sequences and good quality effects--the scenes where Van Damme (inevitably!) fights himself are completely convincing. A satisfying movie. --Bret Fetzer
DVD Release Date: October 16, 2001
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Stats: 231 reviews
Flixster Reviews (231)
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December 5, 2006Aren't all of his movies about the same. Blah blah blah kick some Ass. They are vaying in entertainment but all the same movie.
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February 14, 2007What can I say, I'm a sucker for Ringo Lam movies. He does a good job on this one and the story is compelling. With this, Hard Target and In Hell I'm shocked I like as many Van Damme movies as I do.
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November 20, 2009Not bad of a movie. In fact it's very impressive compared some of Jean-Claude's recent work. However, Michael Rooker took this performance, and he was very good at it (as his usual Detective character). Though I wasn't thrill with how the sequencing turned out, nor did I really l...( read more)
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August 19, 2009again not his best hour, but not his worst either by any strech, its very cliche but its at times funny, has some good action and overal is quite an enjoyable affair.
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April 1, 2009Since the release of TimeCop (1994), Jean Claude Van Damme had taken part in some disappointing films, all of which failed to reflect the glory days of his career, though now he has shown he's still got the touch with Replicant, not just a good movie, but one of Van Damme's best ...( read more)
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