Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009) Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Andrei Arlovski, Mike Pyle Movie Review

Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

In Need of Another Regeneration

With stolen technology a group of terrorists have not only created a new, advanced generation of universal soldiers which they have used to seize control of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor and hold the government to ransom. Having been decommissioned many years earlier Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is reactivated and retrained to go into where the terrorists are based and bring and end to things. But after getting into the location Luc not only finds himself up against the new generation UniSols but also coming across a face from the past as Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) is there.

I wanted to start this review of "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" with a positive and say that I liked the storyline to the movie. Sadly I can't as whilst I like the idea of having these UniSols dealing with terrorists and a new, more advanced breed of UniSols it never really comes to life. To put this simply I reckon if you edited everything out of "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" which wasn't storyline all you would have left with is about 10 minutes of movie as we watch Deveraux retrained to bring down the terrorists and the new generation.

Of course there was a time when I wouldn't have complained by a lack of storyline because I would have been more bothered about the action scenes. Unfortunately I can't say the action in "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" did much for me as whilst it has an element of brutality it lacked a certain finesse. Maybe it is just an age thing as watching people get mowed down by a barrage of gunfire does little for me neither does watching a new generation UniSol repeatedly punching a guy in the head.

On the subject of the new generation UniSol, Andrei Arlovski does come across like a relentless beast and almost has a Terminator vibe going on in the way he just keeps on coming. But it is a forgettable character as are almost all the characters in the movie and to be honest when the scene doesn't feature either of the movie's main stars it all gets a bit tedious, not that Van Damme or Lundgren deliver their finest performances in this.

What this all boils down to is that "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" comes up short of the mark for me and ends up failing to really bring the whole terrorist idea to life.


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