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The
Replicant
Directed by Ringo Lam, 2001
In what is one of
the best bad guy performances I have seen in a long time,
Van Damme is “The Torch.” He is a man who has a
penchant for killing women and then setting them on fire.
Another pattern to his murders is the fact that the women
are all mothers. The always-intense Michael Rooker is Jake
Riley, a detective that has spent a long time trying to
catch the Torch. His character is the good guy that comes
across as unlikable and harsh. Rooker teams up with Van
Damme’s second character, the Replicant. The Replicant
is a clone produced from the Torch’s DNA. He has the
body of a forty year old, but the mind of a child. Riley’s
job is to help use the Replicant track down the Torch by
using memories stored in the killer’s DNA.
As the Replicant and Riley work to track down the Torch,
tension is constant. Riley feels the Replicant could turn
on him at any moment as his killer instinct may take over
and dictate the Replicant’s tendencies. The Replicant
tries to understand the world and life. He tries to
understand his connection with the Torch and why Riley
treats him so roughly. As they work together, the
Replicant views Riley as either a friend or as family.
Though Riley abuses him, the Replicant looks to him for
protection and guidance. The chemistry between Rooker and
Van Damme is great and one of the strengths of the film.
There were two minor problems with “Replicant.” The
first problem is the dialogue. Some of the interaction
between the characters is so typical of these sorts of
films and sounds too contrived. It just doesn’t sound
natural. The actors all give great performances, but what
they are given to say is sometimes not worthy of their
efforts. The second problem is the relationship between
Rooker’s character and that of Catherine Dent’s
character, Angie. Angie is Riley’s partner, and you get
a real sense from watching the film that they have
romantic feelings towards each other, or they are involved
in a romance. Nothing solid is chosen and in the long run,
Angie feels as if she was just thrown in the picture.
“Replicant” surprises you. The action was not as
prevalent as you expected and for the most part, the film
is a character film. The Torch comes across as U2 frontman
Bono with a serious kick-ass attitude problem. It is
nothing for the character to deeply hurt, torture or kill
anybody. Van Damme is sinister and the nasty tone he
brings to the character makes the killer a great character.
On the other side of the coin, Van Damme brings a good
sense of physical comedy to the Replicant. He is able to
be vulnerable one moment, but does not have much of a
problem leaping to action to protect himself. Rooker is
Rooker. He never fails in delivering a great performance
and casting him as a tough guy police officer is
perfection. |
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