Jake Riley is working on the "Torch" case, a psycho serial killer, who kills women with kids and sets them on fire after they are dead. The killer calls Riley sometimes and now, that Riley retires, the killer has no person to play against anymore. The NSA comes into play here and offers a job to Riley. A replicant, or better a clone of the killer should help him find the real one, as kind of test if it works out. Now Riley is back on track, with a clone of the killer at his hand on the way to discover that nobody is born as murderer. Written by

----------------------------------------
Michael A. Martinez (aylmer666@juno.com) from Los Angeles, CA
----------------------------------------

I used to be Jean-Claude Van Damme's biggest fan back when I was 13 or so, having seen HARD TARGET on video and then watching every subsequent Van Damme movie up to MAXIMUM RISK (which for some reason I just didn't feel like watching). As it would turn out, I didn't end up seeing any more of his work for the next five years or so, half because it just sounded awful (UNIVERSAL SOLDIER 2) and half because it didn't make it to the theater. Now I'm in video stores all the time seeing flicks like LEGIONNAIRE, DERAILED, and DESERT HEAT, wondering "when did that come out?". They just seem to spring up without warning. REPLICANT was one of those, and I laughed when I first saw the poster in a video store, immediately assuming it was just some awful BLADE RUNNER rip-off.

That said, I finally broke down after two years and rented it based on all the positive stuff I've heard, and I'll say I'll have to go with the flow on this one - it's surprisingly good! Van Damme looks a bit older but he's still in great shape and has more energy than your typical 14-year-old. The problem was that his acting has usually been so stiff that it's hard to root for him as the good guy (watching SUDDEN DEATH I actually was hoping the bad guys would win) - not the case with this movie.

No, believe it or not, Van Damme actually displays an amazing, intriguing, and very believable performance (or is it one?) playing the moronic and childish clone. Michael Rooker, the other reason I broke down and rented this movie, has some really great scenes like when he gets so angered by a call from the psycho-killer that he throws the phone on the ground and smashes it into a million pieces. Rooker also looks a great deal younger and in better shape than in THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS or THE BONE COLLECTOR, playing a more youthfully-minded loner as opposed to a tired old sheriff or something. While this film has a really familiar concept, a lot of those "oh god that's dumb!" moments, and some pretty unmotivated fight scenes (why have the scene where he beats up all the government types in the abandoned building - why were they even there in the first place?), it's really good considering they had a great deal less than $10 million to make this movie, about half of what it would cost to even hire Schwarzenegger to do a film. Take this movie and the extremely similar THE 6TH DAY and run them side by side, and it's almost sad how much better Van Damme's acting is, how much better the cloning concept is handled, and how surprisingly "fresh" everything seems.

Van Damme really does a good job and actually made me care about his character (the clone one, anyway). The best scenes in the movie though have to be Van Damme as the evil twin cutting a swarth of destruction around the city - like kicking old ladies, shooting corpses, or (my favorite) when he shoots the driver of a stopped car he's running past in an intersection FOR NO REASON! If actions spoke louder than words, Jean-Claude would have at least one Academy Award.

Well worth a rental for anyone actually interested in this movie enough to find themselves reading this.

----------------------------------------
rmadesp (rmadesp@yahoo.com) from LA, USA
----------------------------------------

Since 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 and one of the better sci-fi action pieces out there.

Van Damme is extremely good in his performance, Michael Rooker provides good cover as the 2nd lead, and Ringo Lam masterfully directs. All of which makes it so odd as to why this film was not released theatrically in North America. Nonetheless, its the true JCVD fans who will take most pleasure from this movie, a definite not to miss.



----------------------------------------
Dragon_ from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
----------------------------------------

Replicant is a movie where a mask murderer goes on crime sprees killing innocent women. Not only that, this sick murderer (Jean-Claude) actually takes pictures of these sick crimes. That's where Jake comes in (Michael Rooker), Jake is a undercover cop who has been chasing Garrett (the murderer) for 3 years, after one particular night he calls it quits and retires from the force at a early age. After he starts getting on with his life he gets an insulting call from Garrett and is given the opportunity by the CIA to help them bring down the murderer. He accepts and heads down the there headquarters. He finds out that they aren't actually the CIA, their Special Forces Unit and they have a DNA sample of the killer and they will use that to create a Replicant (clone) of the murderer. After many tests they are finally able to put the Replicant out of hibernation and into the real world.

The Replicant is suppose to have the brain capabilities of a 40 year old (the murderers approximate age) and if given enough time, it could remember how exactly the murderer went about the killings, how he escaped, who he is, and where he lives, and that's what they want to get out of him. But the Replicant is like a baby, he needs to learn how to eat sleep, walk, talk, everything. That's where Jake comes in again, Jake is basically suppose to baby sit the Replicant until he can remember the crimes. The Replicant grows to care for and accept Jake, while he doesn't trust anyone else.

During the movie we find out more about the murderer and kind of get an inside scoop of how this murderer lives and why he's doing all these killings. I'm not going to spoil it for you but let me tell you, this guy is a sick puppy, anyone who has watched Van Damme movies in the past will be shocked at the role he's playing now. The Replicant meets up with the murderer a few times and each time the Replicant starts to bond with the murderer, since he can think how the murderer thinks, and given enough time, he could read the murderers mind completely. At first the murderer doesn't know who the Replicant is but then he eventually finds out.

The Replicant is not like many creatures, it copies what people do and say, in one part of the movie where they try to apprehend the Replicant they end up losing, why? Because anything you show him he learns, if you punch him he learns the exact punch you did, if you put him in a head lock he learns that exact head lock, and that's what he used to defeat them. I'm still not going to spoil all the movie but Jake and the Replicant track the murderer down many times, and each time the murderer tricks the Replicant into thinking that their brothers and that Jake is the enemy, The Replicant starts to show his true color by allowing the murderer to escape and apprehending Jake at that. But then the Replicant learns the murderers true colors and turns on the him and that's what allows Jake and The Replicant to defeat this sick murderer.

The movie had a tight budget but it doesn't show it at all. Good special effects, good action, good plot, good story. Good Movie.



----------------------------------------
COMICBOOKSTOREGUY
----------------------------------------

Replicant stars Van Damme as a killer who is cloned by scientists so that the clone helps capture him.

Van Damme scores his best since Sudden Death in this better than average DTV movie. Ringo Lam delivers some great action scenes and explots Van Damme's physical ability to great affect making Replicant a good movie.

Overall Replicant would have been better if it wasn't so long but in anycase Replicant is a nice change of pace for the muscles from brussels. *** (Out of four)

----------------------------------------
Mark Pytel (dvdmrp@aol.com) from Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA
----------------------------------------

I have always been a fan of Van Damme. I was one of the few who enjoyed his theatrical movies, and one of the few who like or have seen his DTV movies. In the past few years I was getting nervous. Sure I liked Van Damme, but some of the recent movies were getting kinda bad. Now I have only seen 1 or 2 truly bad movies, I usually like all movies that I see, because most of them have a great scene here or there. Lately some of the VD flicks were even getting kinda bad to me. I liked Universal Solder 2 but it was pretty bad when compared to his other flicks. I was a little leary about Replicant, but after the first few minuted I knew that everything would be OK.

I really enjoyed this movie! The plot was very cool and it kept you thinking and wondering what would happen next. Also Van Damme really acts in this movie!!! Unlike his other movies where he just kicks and punches to the plot he actually does some good acting. I really felt for the "Replicant." Unlike some movies that I have watched recently, this movie really held my attention. Uusually I am checking my watch but not this time.

To sum it up, I reallly think that you should see this movie. If you are a Van Damme fanatic you MUST see this. And if you are a Van Damme hater you Must see this. It is just that good. 10/10 best Van Damme movie ever!

----------------------------------------
PlayerSS from North Carolina
----------------------------------------

This was very different for a Van Damme movie. Even though this is like the 100th time Van Damme has done the double role thing, this is the best out of them. Van Damme really plays his roles well in this one. I don't really like Michael Rooker as an actor, but he does well with what he is given. Some of the characters are underdeveloped, but the movie still is decent.

----------------------------------------
David from Germany
----------------------------------------

I have to admit that "Replicant" succeeded in surprising me quite a few times, which is surprising itself since I wasn't ready for any surprise in a direct-to-video-van Damme-movie. But this movie is not like your average van Damme-stupidity. In some way this is good, in another way it is not.

What I was hoping for was 90 minutes of fun that makes me laugh very loud the way "Double Team" or "Streetfighter" managed to do. I was afraid of seeing 90 minutes of boring stupid action with only few unintentional laughs, like "The Quest" or "Knock Off". "Replicant" walks on a thin line between those extremes.

Well, it is the third movie in which van Damme appears in two roles at the same time and it is a strange record for an action star. At first we see the bad guy, a serial killer with long hair who kills mothers by killing and then burning them. He does this because his mother used to call him "bad boy" and once almost burned him alive. Michael Rooker plays the cop who tries to catch the killer and the movie sometimes suggests that the killer also plays the typical "serial killer-movie game", in which the killer seems to kill just for the cop who chases him. But this is just a sidenote in the film whereas it is a major point that Rooker is very obsessed in finding the killer. Where this obsession comes from is never explained and this contributes to a lot of the weird aspects of the film.

One day after Rooker again managed NOT to catch the killer some government guys approach him and make an interesting offer. They want to clone the killer and try to catch him with the memories of the real killer in the clone's brain (that's what I think is their plan). The way the "clone"-thing is introduced must be seen to be believed. We never get the feeling that the movie plays in the future and neither the science guys nor Rooker as the cop make a big deal of simply cloning another person for an investigation. When Rooker is told about the clone idea his reaction does not exist. He simply accepts not questioning for a mili-second what is going on. Even more strange is the fact that the government guys even think of trusting Rooker to take care of the clone. And for no reason at all Rooker uses this trust by deceiving them time after time, by refusing to cooperate but these "National Security" guys never mind at all. Neither do Rooker's relatives and partners who very very rarely wonder why he has a new pet and why it looks like the serial killer everyone's looking for?

It may seem strange to go into such deep plot discussions but the movie plays so seriously that it's hard not to do. That's the weird thing here: the film only scarcely tries to go for cheap effects and shortcuts. For a van Damme movie the action is very rare and except maybe two scenes not very spectacular.

And then there is van Damme's performance as the clone. The clone, who is never referred to with any name, seems like a mixture between a retard and Jackie Chan. He hardly speaks, looks bewildered and confused but can also swing himself around pipes a dozen times, jump around like a monkey and fight like a karate dog. I'm not quite sure where he has the fighting abilities from and why they developed so much better than his thinking abilities. To say the least, it is an interesting performance but it also produces some laughs especially because of the way Rooker treats him.

Rooker has the strangest character here, being obsessed with a case for no reason, cruel to the only person who can help him and sometimes very stupid. For example when he first hunts the killer and simply lets him drive away while dozens of policemen in police cars arrive and he simply doesn't mind telling them that the killer has just been around the corner one second ago.

There are a lot of strange things in this movie but most of them work somehow and make it actually very entertaining. An action scene with an ambulance is both ridiculous and effective. A scene with the clone spending time with a prostitute is not working at all and feels contrived and unnecessary. Some things are simply unexpected, for example the cruelty of the killer when he is not actually killing. He shoots innocent bystanders for no reason and in a scene in a hospital his violence becomes comic-like when he kicks nurses and hits wheelchair patients with the ambulance. In one scene Rooker has to throw his weapon away because he is threatened to get killed and for no reason he throws it in a bucket of blood. Later the clone has to fetch it out of there. And there is a scene in the killer's apartment that questions his motivation, the logic of computers and plot and the the abilities of the clone.

"Replicant" is a B-movie, that is for sure, but in an unexpected way it is a good one, entertaining, not too much over the top and somehow still convincing. Nevertheless the final scene gets a big laugh for its unbelievable silliness both in plot logic and music choice. And why we see that picture during the end credits is beyond me. Don't expect another "Double Team" but don't expect anything else.

----------------------------------------
Comeuppance Reviews from United States Minor Outlying Islands
----------------------------------------

Unlike Seagal's crop of DTV crud, Van Damme has been making a very strong effort to make his releases better. "Replicant" is one of them. This is the fourth movie that Van Damme has been in where he plays two people. (See also: "Double Impact", "Maximum Risk", and "Timecop") I wonder if that's in his contract. The plot is: A serial killer named "The Torch" (Van Damme) is on the loose. Rogue cop Jake Riley (Rooker) has to stop him. When "Torch" leaves one of his strands of hair at the crime scene, the idea is to clone him and stop him.

Van Damme plays the clone like a baby. He has to learn to speak, walk and fight. It's a very good performance. Michael Rooker puts in his usual gruff performance. Ringo Lam directs the action scenes with a lot of style and energy. The climatic fight between both clones is fun but we've seen it before.

"Replicant" is definitely worth seeing. The fans will enjoy it and non-fans I think will be surprised by Van Damme's performance.

For more insanity, please visit comeuppancereviews.com

----------------------------------------
tedg (tedg@filmsfolded.com) from Virginia Beach
----------------------------------------

I think there is a Zen of encountering movies, not unlike encountering people. You need to get beyond the fact that they are incompetent at carrying who they are and dig into the essence of the person.

Art is all in the carrying, I think so you might find yourself admiring something that is incompetent, unartful, even repellently stupid if it has an engaging heart.

This disaster of a movie has an interesting kernel I think. It is only a disaster because the director and support crew thought that its center was in the thud of flesh between two brutes, a simple serial killer and a simpler cop. But you the viewer have the power to relocate that center to the encounter with self.

(For those who don't know the story, evil killer exists. Shadowy federal agency makes a clone and lends it to the discalced cop who is on the case. The cone has "memories" that are used to track the killer. The clone "grows")

Set aside the bizarre notion of the US government fighting terrorists by making more of them from scratch. (Insert your own political commentary here.) And set aside the notion that memories convey by genetics. The cool idea here, something like in "Faceoff" or "Purple Rose" or "Last Action Hero," or even "Thirteenth Floor." is that a personal stumbling through life has his stumbles fabricated from blows from the world, but has the ability to see them from the outside.

Encountering self is an old idea... in film and literature, and much deeper and more clever notions have been spun than this. But this ain't bad, at least in theory. And for my taste Van Damme is no worse than Li or Arnie and unless you get a real actor everyone else is roughly as good.

If they could just have more Schrader and less Harlin.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

----------------------------------------
Grann-Bach (Grann-Bach@jubii.dk) from Denmark
----------------------------------------

Jake(Rooker, enjoyable to watch as usual) is a cop, obsessed with a serial killer(Van Damme, who, like we see in The Expendables 2, is a much better villain than hero), Torch(so named because of his MO... he uses a knife. ...OK, yeah, it's fire, obviously), who in turn stalks him, because films like Se7en made money. Government agents have the latter cloned(no, no, wait! It... it gets even better!), since they were going to hunt down terrorists like that(!), and, as we all know, "genetics carry memories"(I *told* you! Didn't I?). The best part about the latter is that it's just... slung out there(accompanied by the words "science has proved", which I think is one of those sayings that people use when they know that it just ain't so, like "no offense"). It's like they have it said out loud just to see if it gets any stupider like that, if it gets worse than it looks on the page of the screenplay. How is this going to help? ...who said it would, they just wanted two of him, like in Double Impact(it took a decade to forget why it was so wrong the first time). No, I'm kidding. There's a psychic link between the two. Duh! At this point in reading this, I can only imagine you're bleeding from the ear from the concentrated idiocy of the core concept, so let's not dwell on that any longer. The titular Replicant(yes, yes, that's... very cute, you watched Blade Runner, we get it) is like a child(or possibly even less mentally adept... perhaps that's just JCVD's vacant expression... to be fair, he does well in this role, as well, and the shift between the two is seamless), and our other lead has to take care of him, and this is where it gets interesting, as there is a mirroring, and the nature vs. nurture debate is handled, without being preachy(not that it's entirely subtle, either). Acting is decent. The action is OK, though it barely really needed to be the Belgian Karate champ in the dual role - he gets to do some of those kicks we like to see, sure, but that seems like the afterthought, as he mostly doesn't go up against anyone skillful(he's mostly taking on regular people... and for some reason, he at one point uses a vacuum cleaner as a weapon... no, really). Who looks at him and thinks "mass murderer"? At best, it is quite tense and fast-paced, such as the climax and at least one of the chases. It goes for usual genre clich�s(even the relatively recent one of "unmotivated personal endangerment by supposedly professional protagonist"), and we get a one-liner or two that are as dumb as they are uninspired. Ringo Lam, who also helmed Maximum Risk, directs this(and gets us into it, at times, using excitement to distract from... well, scroll back up and see it again, if you've regained your senses and blocked it out), presumably because he was disappointed that his last "two of Jean-Claude" flick didn't have them both featured, and alive, at the same time(on that, while the majority of the tricks to make it look like there's two of him are as unconvincing as his usual performance, there are several effective bits). There is some moderate to strong language, bloody violence and disturbing content as well as a little sexuality(no nudity, and mostly audio) in this. I recommend this to fans of its stars. 5/10

At one point, James Woods and Jennifer Lopez were supposed to star in this.
------------------------

Jake Riley is chocking the Torch with a seat belt, the ambulance slides and hits the wall with the driver's side first. Front view shows the mirror on that side getting flattened. When torch drives forward again the mirror is back in its place.
------------------------

When Jake locks the replicant in the bathroom for the second time he puts the handcuffs on his left hand. But when he comes to unlock him in the morning they are on the right hand.
------------------------

The clock drawn by the Replicant on Jake's car window changes between shots.
------------------------

The angle of The Torch's gun changes repeatedly between cuts when The Torch is pointing his gun at Jake in the operating room.
------------------------

In the opening scene, we see the mother's bloodied face. The blood changes position between shots. Further, after the killer murders her, her eyes are open; as he takes photos, in some shots her eyes are closed and in others they're open again.
------------------------

As the Replicant escapes the car to warn the officers and Jake of the dangers in the Torch's apartment, he is carrying the bar attached to his handcuffs. However, when he is shown walking out of the building after the explosion, the bar and the cuffs are both gone. Then the cuffs re-appear moments later as the Replicant chases the Torch down the street.
------------------------

The Torch knocks out a nurse in the morgue. She falls on the ground, but her position changes throughout the fight scene.
------------------------

When The Troch asks The Replicant what he is he replies with "a genetic double", after which The Torch responds with "a clone". When The Torch calls Jake he asks him to put "The Replicant" on the line, a title only used by the government agency and he did not know.
------------------------

(at around 57 mins) When the Torch is lighting the $20 bill on fire, which of course is fake, but usually the camera is not close enough to see. This time however you can see "Motion Pictures" where it would normally say United States.
------------------------

(at around 57 mins) It shows a $20 bill being lit, but when it pans to watch the bill fall (3:00) it is a $1 bill.
------------------------

When Garotte overhears a mother in the street calling her son a bad boy and turns to follow her to kill her, the scene then cuts to Jake and the replicant, where an entire day goes by showing the replicant being "trained", but when it cuts back to Garotte as he is moving in to kill the woman, it is clearly the same day as he when first "met" her as she is wearing the same clothes.
------------------------

replicant|serial killer|clone|fire|nsa|detective|retirement|police|murderer|murder|taser|raised middle finger|hazing|beaten to death|roundhouse kick|badge|knife|nosebleed|gas explosion|self sacrifice|car accident|strangulation|thrown from a car|paramedic|escape|improvised weapon|deception|morgue|newspaper headline|condom|undressing|bruise|pool table|cat and mouse|suspense|burning money|character's point of view camera shot|subjective camera|camera|disarming someone|stabbed in the chest|shot in the arm|baseball bat|shot in the chest|matricide|heart attack|corpse|bathtub|gore|bar|race against time|realtor|falling down stairs|semen|brothel|ex marine|abandoned building|mind reading|face slap|taxi|f word|handcuffed to a pipe|government agent|fish out of water|training|deoxyribonucleic acid|surveillance|security guard|wheelchair|laboratory|tracking device|stealing a car|motorcycle|head butt|beating|husband wife relationship|tooth ripped out|father son relationship|helicopter|one word title|kitchen|sadist|finger gun|hit with a shovel|car crash|hit by a car|pistol|hostage|held at gunpoint|bus|pay phone|fire truck|jumping through a window|bomb|rescue|hotel|revolving door|parking garage|subway|news report|kicked in the stomach|kicked in the face|mother son relationship|punched in the chest|kicked in the crotch|video game|dog|mixed martial arts|brawl|fight|heavy rain|flashlight|fistfight|elevator|slow motion scene|bare chested male|female cop|tattoo|warrior|tough cop|police brutality|police detective|child in peril|gasoline|person on fire|neo noir|psychopath|photograph|chase|violence|death|ex cop|hospital fight|opening action scene|parkour|blood|blood splatter|main character dies|main character shot|kicked in the head|punched in the face|kiss|glock|shot to death|woman in bra|showdown|hand to hand combat|karate|fbi|white bra|character repeating someone else's dialogue|tough guy|ice cream|teamwork|buddy cop|good versus evil|semiautomatic pistol|shootout|gunfight|brunette|bar brawl|bar fight|pool cue|near future|handcuffs|cold blooded killer|foot chase|sensuality|webcam|rain|pimp|pornographic video|red light district|nurse|ambulance|abusive mother|brutality|man attacks woman|dead person|burned body|son murders mother|pistol whip|villain played by lead actor|hospital|explosion|washington state|police officer|kickboxing|evil twin|cloning|genetic engineering|secret experiment|flashback|arsonist|dual role|secret government organisation|telepathy|arson|prostitute|martial arts|seattle washington|independent film|title spoken by character|surprise ending|

AKAs Titles:
Bulgaria (Bulgarian title) - �”войник
Brazil - Replicante
Canada (French title) - Le clone
Spain - Replicant
Finland - Replicant - tappajan kopio
France - Replicant
Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title) - O klonos tou thanatou
Hungary - Replik�ns
Italy - The Replicant
Mexico - Asesino Perfecto
Poland - Replikant
Portugal - A R� plica
Serbia - Replikant
Russia - � епликан�‚
Sweden - Replicant
Turkey (Turkish title) - Katil

Release Dates:


Certifications:
Australia:MA / Canada:R (Canadian Home Video rating) / Finland:K-18 / France:-12 / Germany:18 / Hong Kong:IIB / Iceland:16 / Malaysia:18PL / Malaysia:U (cut) / Netherlands:16 / Norway:15 / Philippines:R-18 / Portugal:M/12 / Singapore:M18 / Singapore:PG (cut) / South Korea:18 / Spain:13 / UK:18 (video premiere) / USA:R (No. 37481)