Ten Action Sequels the World Needs! by Tom Jolliffe
https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2023/07/ ... rld-needs/Universal Soldier 5
Let’s stay with Van Damme for a second. When John (son of three-time Van Damme director, Peter) Hyams took the helm of Universal Soldier: Regeneration there probably wasn’t a huge deal expected. John Hyams had come from a documentary background and the clamour for more Unisol films pretty much died with the disastrous first sequel (not including the two rogue made-for-TV specials). He took the franchise into dark and gritty territory featuring once fresh-faced hero Luc Devreaux as a broken-down, PTSD-suffering machine. He’s left somewhere between man and Frankenstein monster, slowly trying to return to humanity but always a hair trigger away from exploding.
So when a band of terrorists with some freshly stolen clone research and machinery kidnap hostages and rig a nuclear reactor to explode, the military kidnap Devreaux and force him to lead a mission to take out the enemy and their super Unisol guard. The ace up the bad guys sleeve is a clone of Andrew Scott (the returning Dolph Lundgren). Regeneration was great, but due to limited resources and the availability of Van Damme, had an awkward sense of lacking a clear protagonist. However, the action is superb, particularly a thrilling opening car chase, the MMA-infused super soldier brawls and a great Van Damme vs Lundgren showdown.
Then Hyams produced magic again with Day of Reckoning which skewed wildly into a weird blend of Detective noir and horror. It was as if Kubrick, Lynch, Cronenberg and Nic Winding Refn all joined forces to make a Universal Soldier movie. Unfortunately, the film was highly divisive and seemed to particularly annoy Van Damme fans who didn’t like where Luc had been taken to (as a kind of nightmarish Colonol Kurtz figure). Some fans though, considered it a brilliant and completely unexpected film given the origins of the franchise.
It even adorned a number of high profile top 10 of 2012 lists who really tapped into the dark existential auteur vision. Hyams made the film he wanted, a proper director’s film and that’s why those in the love camp of Day of Reckoning would love to see him get another crack at the franchise. Where could they take it now? Scott Adkins should return, perhaps shifting to becoming a villain or anti-hero. One rumour that did the rounds had the idea of a series of Andrew Scott clones. An army of Lundgren’s? That said, should both Van Damme and Lundgren return there needs to be a way to pass the torch on and keep them to a minimum. Both have more recently excelled as character actors and don’t need to keep brawling. Andrei Arlovski has always been an intriguingly stony presence in the films too, should his clone soldier return.