Jean-Claude Van Damme again as one army man , here he is an US commander assigned as second-in-command to the American Embassy in an Eastern European country called Moldavia . Then , communist rebels try a state coup . The official gets free the President and they take shelter into US Embassy nearly deserted that encounters itself under siege by violent insurgents . Meanwhile , Van Damme saves the damsel in disgrace, an enticing journalist (Julie Cox) and he along with a detachment of soldiers fight against nasty attackers which have surrounded the siege .
The picture packs noisy action , shoot-outs , explosions, politic intrigues and minimum characterization . It's exciting and tense , at time lackluster action film , but the blown ups , struggles , gun-play are well done in this routine actioner . The story is plenty of firepower , action packed , fights though is added an interesting politic suspense . Scott Adkins , who subsequently starred some film with Van Damme , was offered an important role but could not sign for it due to other commitments . Jean Claude Van Damme is fine as action hero in this middling budget film . Long time ago he played big budget movies (Time cop, Universal soldier, Double team , Hard target) , he nowadays makes low budget and directly to video (Derailed, Wake of death, In hell) like in his first films (Black eagle, Cyborg , Bloodsport). The film was well photographed by Douglas Milsone (Dungeons and dragons, Sunchaser, Body of evidence) in natural scenarios of Rumania though the coup détat was happened in Moldavia (ex-Republic of Russia) . The motion picture was professionally directed by Simon Fellows who directed a Wesley Snipes vehicle (7 seconds) and he recently directed ¨Until death¨ again with Jean Claude Van Damme . The film will appeal to action genre enthusiasts . Pointlessly energetic and occasionally fun for only the true devotee of main actor . It's a must see for Van Damme fans .
