Review of Knock Off (1998) by Jy S — 21 Dec 2009

KNOCK OFF is a knock-out! The title of this Jean Claude Van Damme actioneer refers to cheaply made goods sold as counterfeit versions of designer brand name products, such as watches, baby dolls and track shoes.

Asian action movie maestro Tsui Hark, who helmed DOUBLE TEAM, has teamed up again with the Muscles from Brussels and they have forged a first-rate, rockâ??em, sockâ??em yarn about global smuggling and terrorism set against the scenic backdrop of exotic Hong Kong.

While previous Van Damme vehicles have rarely strayed from their sober, straight-up storytelling strategies, KNOCK OFF delivers its karate chops with comic kicks that boost it far above the usual kung-fu fare.

No, Van Damme is not trying to imitate Jackie Chan with his Charlie Chaplin-esque martial arts antics. Instead, Hark and Van Damme finally appear to be having fun sending up a genre where plot and character take the backseat to body blows.

Street hustling playboy Marcus Ray (Jean-Claude Van Damme of MAXIMUM RISK) once specialized in knock off merchandise, but he has reformed recently and gone legitimate. Paired with abrasive business partner Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider of JUDGE DREDD), Marcus lives life to the hilt in Hong Kong as a sales representative for V-Six Jeans.

He races around town in his sleek BMW singing his favorite tunes while Tommy struggles to keep their business afloat. The bubble bursts for Marcus abruptly when he learns that his adopted brother and long-time competitor Eddie (Wyman Wong) has gotten caught up in an evil conspiracy to smuggle knock-off wares with miniature explosives.

These micro-bombs resemble harmless wristwatch batteries until they are detonated. Although the KGB developed these easy-to-conceal explosive devices, the Russian mafia somehow got their grubby paws on them.

Joining forces with another sleazy knock-off artist, Skinny (Glen Chin), they plan to inundate the U.S. market with their imitation inventory. Eventually, when enough stuff winds up stateside, Skinny, the Russian mafia, and a mysterious mastermind behind the plan aim to extort huge sums ore trigger the fireworks.

While plot bristles with incredible, hyperbolic action sequences, explosions, and tough-guy gab, the filmmakers deviate from the usual obligatory set-pieces. Instead of a car chase, a nifty rickshaw race through heavily thronged Hong Kong generates excitement and comedy.

A nerdy looking Russian villain sports spectacles whose lens double as razor-sharp blades. The acrobatic gunfight take on added suspense because they are staged on ships whose heaving decks hurl giant cargo containers perilously toward our heroes and villains.

When Eddie uncovers these tiny mines in his staples, he scuttles the shipment to the bottom of Hong Kong Bay. The greedy villains retaliate and set him up. Actually, Eddie dies when he rifles his own safe and finds it booby-trapped with a small rocket that turns him into a Roman candle.

Meanwhile, the bad guys prey on Marcus and Tommy. The Hong Kong Royal Police question our protagonists about poor Eddie, but Marcus and Tommy play dumb. Dumb buys them with the fuzz, but dumb fizzles when the feisty international sales vice president, Karen (Lela Rochon of WAITING TO EXHALE), shows up and demands answers.

Confronting them about shipments of bogus jeans, she accuses Marcus and Tommy of cheating V-Six out of $4 million. Matters grow complicated when Marcus discovers that Tommy works undercover as an agent for tip-lipped CIA honcho Harry Johansson (Paul Sorvino of GOODFELLAS) in Hong Kong.

The CIA operates out of an elaborately disguised headquarters, concealed in James Bond fashion, in a gigantic Buddhist shrine atop a mountain on Lantau island. Somehow, Marcus and Tommy stay one step ahead of the fleet-footed, gun-toting Russian henchmen and manage to lay their hands on a videotape that implicates Karen in the black market.

The rousing Steven E. De Souza screenplay is the stuff of which formula melodramas are forged. Having written hits like 48 HRS and DIE HARD, De Souza knows his craft by heart. Several elements distinguish the De Souza screenplay.

Indeed, the story boasts a beginning, a middle, and an end. The ending is especially cute with its O Henry flavor. Not only is this yarn well-woven, but KNOCK OFF also packs a surprise or two. Marcus and Tommy defy an endless gauntlet of danger.

Happily, Van Damme impersonates a civilian instead of the usual cop hero who headlines such sagas.