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          ARRoGANT                CoURiERS      WiTH     ESSaYS

Grade Level:       Type of Work           Subject/Topic is on:
 [ ]6-8                 [ ]Class Notes    [Essay on Van Damme      ]
 [x]9-10                [ ]Cliff Notes    [Movie Double Impact     ]
 [ ]11-12               [x]Essay/Report   [                        ]
 [ ]College             [ ]Misc           [                        ]

 Dizzed: 10/94  # of Words:732   School: ?              State: ?
ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ>Chop Here>ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ>ФФФФФФФФФ
                   Jean-Claude Van Damme - DOUBLE IMPACT                   
     The movie opens twenty-five years ago in Hong Kong.  The parents of
two twin babies, Alex and Chad, had borrowed money from Raymond Zhang and
Nigel Griffith, two lead smugglers.  They needed the money in order to
build a tunnel between Hong Kong and the mainland.  After the tunnel was
built and the money collected, Nigel Griffith and Raymond Zhang had a gang
of hit men massacre Alex and Chad's family.  Frank Avery, a friend of the
family, races into the scene and finds the parents already dead.  The two
babies are in the back seat with a maid.  She takes Alex and flees the
scene.  Frank sees Chad left behind and takes him and runs.

     Twenty-five years after these events we find Frank Avery, who is
played by Geoffrey Lewis, has raised Chad as his own kid.  They own a gym
in Los Angelos.  Frank has been trying to locate the other brother for the
past twenty-five years and has finally found his whereabouts in Hong Kong,
working for Raymond Zhang, played by Philip Chan Yan Kin, and Nigel
Griffith, played by Alan Scarfe. Frank and Chad go to Hong Kong and meet
his brother.  Interesting events take place when they arrive since Alex's
girlfriend Danielle Wilde, played by Alonna Shaw, thinks that Chad is Alex.
Alex arrives and head butts Chad.  When Chad revives from being knock
unconscious, Frank convinces the two brothers to help avenge the deaths of
their parents.

     The setting for this movie is very appropriate.  They are in Hong Kong
where the laws are not up to par with the American Style. This allows the
corrupt trades of Zhang, Griffith, and Alex to go on hardly disturbed by
the Hong Kong police.

     The dominant theme in Double Impact is vengeance and it is seen quite
readily once the action gets rolling.  Alex and Chad are out to kill Zhang
and Griffith for the massacre of their parents. As the movie rolls on, Alex
becomes suspicious of Chad because he thinks that he is playing around with
his girlfriend Danielle.  We see Alex's thoughts of Chad with Danielle as
he becomes drunker and his mind imagines that they are having sex together.
These thoughts enrage Alex and he fights his own brother.

     The whole movie was directed and acted very well considering Chad and
Alex are both played by the same person, Jean-Claude Van Damme, which
justifies the movie's name,  Double Impact.  The main character Jean-Claude
Van Damme plays more roles than just casting. He is also the fight
choreographer and one of the producers.  His talent of kickboxing has come
through in his first great achievement where he played as Frank Dux in
Bloodsport.  Another great kickboxer in Double Impact is Bolo Yeung, who
also played in Bloodsport, both times as the villain against Jean-Claude
Van Damme.

     Although Jean-Claude Van Damme is mainly known for his kickboxing,
Double Impact is a different story.  The kickboxing and fighting has been
toned down somewhat in this movie.  Most of the fights are with high
powered guns as they, Chad and Alex, seek to find Zhang and Griffith and
kill them.  The special effects in this movie are amazing.  Not one place
in the movie is it slightly obvious that Chad and Alex are both the same
guy, except that you know they are in reality.  To top off the amazement on
the viewers part, the movie producers include a fight with Jean-Claude Van
Damme against himself!  How they pieced the fighting scenes like this one
and the special effects of the two brothers working together is a great
achievement.  There has been so much time and precision taken into account
when the movie was produced and it shows through its many scenes of action
with the two brothers fighting.

     In previous movies with Jean-Claude Van Damme, the dialogue has been
quite limited, but in this movie it is incredible.  Jean- Claude Van Damme
plays two roles, each with a completely opposite character.  Alex is a
tough guy in the smuggling business in Hong Kong and Chad is a California
dude as an aerobic instructor in the gym Frank and himself own.

     Overall, the movie is written, produced, acted, and directed very
well.  It deserves high accolades and should be seen by any action movie
enthusiast.  Watch it for yourself and you decide.
