Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Jean-Claude Van Damme's latest is an unwelcome return to form(ula) for the actor after trying something a bit different with the likes of LEGIONNAIRE and DESERT HEAT. Yes, this is a bad film, though not perhaps as awful as the critics would have you believe. However, this time around the blame is not to be laid at Van Damme's feet; he's the same wooden actor as always, but here he's surrounded by actors and actresses even worse than himself.Somebody made the unwise decision to cast wrestlers (!) in the roles of the bad guys, a worrying trend that seems to have caught on with THE MUMMY 2 as well. Michael Jai White tries to cut an imposing presence as a pumped-up computer-brained murderer, but he's stilted and wooden beyond belief. In the other extreme, wrestler Bill Goldberg turns up as an evil soldier and lends some unwelcome comic relief (!) to the proceedings. After being habitually beaten up by Van Damme, he gets to mutter some cheesy line or other, and some beyond belief in-jokes where he says some of his wrestling lines ("saved by the bell...").The token female load interest typically lacks both acting abilities and charisma; Van Damme himself plays edgy/jokey Van Damme, making quips and wisecracks whenever he gets a chance to speak. Only the presence of seasoned support Xander Berkeley helps to lift the spirits a notch or too, but he gets killed off early on. The budget here was spent on some (admittedly impressive) huge explosions, leaving the rest of the film to have a glossy but cheap look to it. Actually, apart from the action and shooting, there aren't any other special effects apart from the main baddie's demise at the end; unfortunately, this too is mishandled as a) the CGI looks terrible, and b) his death is stolen from both TERMINATOR 2 and DEMOLITION MAN.On the film's plus side, there is plenty of action to keep things moving along swiftly; indeed at 83 minutes this film literally flies by. The violence level is high, but not excessive as I'd heard. In spite of the lack of seriousness in the picture, the BBFC still saw fit to cut some bits out! Necks are snapped, lots of people run around burning, and there's a ton of shooting. Personally, I would have liked to see a little bit more inspiration in the deaths; my heart rose when I noticed a helicopter in the background in one fight scene, I thought perhaps somebody was going to get cut in half by a rotor. No such luck. Another opportunity, where a laser beam shines in somebody's eye, is also missed.Overall, for me, there was one other stupid thing which lowered knocked the score down. Some imbecile saw fit to impose ridiculous songs over a lot of the action, totally ruining the effect. Okay, so I can handle music, but having someone scream unintelligible lyrics at inappropriate moments? It was bloody awful and difficult to believe. Otherwise, this is a typical brainless high-action film, no worse than something like SOLDIER.

Jean-Claude Van Damme returns as Luc Deveraux, the former Universal Soldier who now trains others of his kind. The military intends to shut down the Universal Soldier program, and all-powerful computer intelligence SETH gets wind of this somehow. It rebels against its creators, uniting all of the UniSols against the Army and waging all-out war. Luc is virtually the only one who can save the day. Meanwhile, SETH finds itself a handy human body (charismatic Michael Jai White, "Spawn") to use in moving around."Universal Soldier: The Return" is a movie that this viewer can respect even if he doesn't enjoy it all that much. It doesn't set out to do anything other than entertain the action movie audience, with a breakneck pace, tons of violence and explosions, and a high body count. It adopts a tongue in cheek attitude a fair amount of the time, which helps. (The scenes with wrestler Bill Goldberg, making his acting debut, are proof of this, with his repeated refrain, "I hate that guy.") Still, it's patently silly and preposterous stuff, the kind of thing that requires the turning off of the brain.Van Damme is a decent hero, and he's joined by a solid cast, including Xander Berkeley, Daniel von Bargen, Justin Lazard, James Black, and Brent Hinkley as a weirdo named "Squid". Heidi Schanz plays practically the same character that Ally Walker did in the first movie, a sexy and feisty reporter who insists on tagging along for much of the ride. Fitness guru Kiana Tom doesn't get a lot to do as one of Lucs' associates. Goldberg may indeed be a less than stellar actor, but makes up for that with ass kicking ability. White is a fine villain.This is energetic, over the top nonsense with a hard pounding heavy metal soundtrack. At least it's not boring.Six out of 10.

Regular follow-up in which Luc Deveraux and other "universal soldiers" must fight the whole army when then the military's supercomputer S.E.T.H gets out of control , as soldiers have been secretly reanimated , upgraded and leading a riot , threatening to unleash a world rebellion . Original ¨Universal soldier¨ was followed by this ¨Universal soldier : the return¨ with a good cast as Jean-Claude Van Damme , Michael Jai White , Heidi Schanz , Xander Berkeley and Justin Lazard ; however , subsequently Universal Soldier films ignore the events of The Return and outright contradict it in a number of ways ; while still an official entry, it is no longer considered part of the series canon . With top-secret technology, the SETH -2001's Hall 2000 alike- , has created a next-generation Universal Soldier , an elite fighter genetically altered into a programmable killing machine , forming a tough army of genetically enhanced warriors . SETH is preparing to government overthrow and build a new order ruled by Unisols without state control . Although former "UniSol" Luc Deveraux (Jean Claude Van Damm , also producer) and other staff members as Xander Berkeley playing Dr. Dylan Cotner and Daniel Von Bargen as General Radford , all of them attempt to prevent the revolt . The only one who can stop to UniSol 2500 (Bill Goldberg following his return from a six-month absence from wrestling , though this character was originally intended for WWF wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin) and the same SETH personified into a bouncer UniSol (Michael Jai White who also appeared in the original ,1992, as a soldier) results to be Deveraux . SETH looks to take down Luc Deveraux after a hospital invasion claims his daughter . The fight pits Romeo/2500 and an army of genetically enhanced soldiers ; meanwhile, Deveraux must contend with several UniSols in relentless pursuits . He must make a full-out assault on the heavily armed headquarter . But inside, Deveraux'll discover these virtually indestructible warriors . Now, these elite fighters led by SETH are loaded and programmed to kill ; and the fate of millions hinges on this high-action showdown . This moving picture contains noisy action , chills , shootouts and fierce combats in brutal , life-and-death style . This exciting story being based on the characters created by Christopher Leitch and Dean Devlin . From start to finish the action is unstoppable and frenetic . Thrilling screenplay dispenses absurd excitement as well as violence and lots of fights . Breathtaking action movie full of struggles , crossfire and tension , this is a fast-paced, stylized action-suspense film , though mediocre . Thrilling screenplay by William Malone and John Fasano , they dispense absurd excitement as well as violence and lots of fights , creating some incredibly violent genre fare . Passable nail-biting movie full of struggles , crossfire and tension , this is a stylized action-suspense film , though there are some slow-moving scenes . The tension of this picture keeps snowballing as the clock ticks ever close for a groundbreaking as well as spectacular final . Jean-Claude Van Damme and Michael Jai White have some scenes together at an impressive fighting . Jean-Claude Van Damme and Billy Goldberg also have several action set-pieces together at some bloody confrontations . Acceptable production design , the strip club scene is filmed at The Clubhouse in Dallas, Texas , a legendary strip club , and certain subterranean scenes were filmed in Texas in the tunnels dug for the US' Superconducting Supercollider Project . It was released theatrically despite the previous sequels having been made-for-TV - a rarity for sequels . Atmospheric and fitted to action musical score by Don Davis . The picture was middlingly directed by an ordinary stunt , Mic Rodgers , his only film . This is the second of the series , the films are the followings : The best film of the series was the original ¨Universal soldier¨ by Roland Emmerich with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Dolph Lundgren , Ally Walker , Ed O'Ross . And many film series have gotten out of direct to video or made for TV through remakes, but few series get out of made-for-TV status otherwise . And ¨Universal Soldier: Regeneration¨ (2009) by John Hyams with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Dolph Lundgren , Andrei Arlovski and Mike Pyle . New sequel titled ¨Universal soldier : day of reckoning¨(2012) by John Hyams with Scott Adkins , Andrei 'The Pit Bull' Arlovski , Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme , but here they have not scenes together . And released theatrically in a few countries and Direct-To-Video (DVD & Blu-ray) in the rest of the world . And two TV films : ¨Universal soldier : Brothers in arms¨ (1998) by Jeff Woolnough with Matt Battaglia , Gary Busey , Burt Reynolds , Richard McMillan and Chandra West and ¨Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business¨ (1999) by Jeff Woolnough with Burt Reynolds Juan Chioran , Claudette Roche and Matt Battaglia .

I don't understand why so many people are against this movie,it was just as good as the first one.not only that this one has a lot more action,the acting was pretty good and the pacing was good also.the fight scenes were nicely choreographed and the effects were nicely doneIf you liked the original then you're gonna love this trust me.Jean Claude van damne was great in his resuming role as luc deveraux Michael jai White was great also in his role as the main villainGoldberg was OK in his role as one of the villains,it was a start for himall in all good movie its worth a watch.