I guess 'Maximum Risk' kind of marks Van Damme's 'turning point' from 'A-list action star' to 'straight-to-video' action star. Prior to 'Maximum Risk,' most of his films were primarily released theatrically, however, due to lackluster Box Office returns in the U.S. this one quickly went to the small screen... and so did many of his subsequent ones.
Jean Claude Van Damme plays a cop in France who finds out he had an identical twin brother who he had been separated at birth ('Double Team' anyone?), but now died during an attempt to reunite the family. Now, he must travel to America to track down what happened to his long lost bro.
Yeah, it's an 'action' film, but there's probably not enough action to really stick in your mind. Sure, there are all the usual car chases and fights, but the decision to make Van Damme an ex army sniper means he's primarily skilled with guns rather than his trademark fists. Not only does this mean that he doesn't do as much martial arts as you might expect, but also he tends to use a pistol (and, unless it's just me, but don't army snipers use high-powered rifles?).
Natasha Henstridge plays the 'love interest' and she's in it basically to fall in love with JCVD. Her character gets about as much development as the bad guys, who are pretty much totally forgettable. Some of them are Russians and, just to add extra clichés, they contain a 'Yuri' (are there any Russian men who aren't called 'Yuri' or 'Dimitri?').
I know Van Damme's character hasn't had his mind wiped, but the script plays out like a modern day version of 'Total Recall' (or is it just me?). Either way, it's not half as much fun as Arnie's sci-fi epic. It's a kind of 'filler' film in Van Damme's catalogue. There's actually nothing I can say that's really bad about it, it's just not that memorable and certainly not half as much of a guilty pleasure as many of his earlier outings.
