If you’re a fan of early Jean-Claude Van Damme action movies then you will love this new ad from Volvo Trucks. It’s probably the best idea anyone has had to thrust back into the spotlight an actor/martial artist who once was on the heels of becoming the next Stallone or Schwarzenegger. Expendables 2 wasn’t enough to do it, but showing off on TVs across America the physical skill and the result of a lifetime of martial arts prowess that Van Damme used in early work like Bloodsport could be enough to get him back into big movie roles. Van Damme just needs to find his version of Mickey Rourke’s big comeback film The Wrestler.
If you haven’t watched Van Damme movies, you’re missing out. First, add Bloodsport and Timecop into your Netflix queue. Some may say it is blasphemous to compare Van Damme to Bruce Lee, but if you liked Enter the Dragon you will at a minimum appreciate Van Damme’s style, passion and effort in Bloodsport. Like Schwarzenegger, Van Damme had the European immigrant with an accent action star shtick going for him. He had proven fighting skill outside of movies, too. And he had a real appeal–usually playing the underdog or defending the underdog, he usually had the good guy role in his best work.
More splits. Could you save yourself if your kitchen floor was suddenly charged with electricity? Van Damme could, and did, in Timecop.
