Knock Off Review
by "David E. Smith" (dave AT bureau42 DOT ml DOT org)November 8th, 1998
Knock-Off (1998) - Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Lela Rochon, Paul Sorvino
What do you get when you bring together sometimes-memorable action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, former "Saturday Night Live" comic genius Rob Schneider and the lovely Lela Rochon?
I'm not sure either, but that particular chaotic mishmash is in theaters everywhere under the oddly appropriate title "Knock-Off."
There is something vaguely resembling a plot, but it's so convoluted that any attempt to summarize it would only lead to even more confusion. Schneider and Rochon are CIA agents investigating a flood of such fine products as "Pumma" sneakers and other cheap copies, or knock-offs.
Van Damme's character figures in there somehow, and so do the Russians in a cliched attempted to take over the world. As this film is nominally set in 1997, during the return of Hong Kong to China, this is just one of many things that utterly defy logic.
Why would the CIA have people in Hong Kong, investigating a small ring of petty thieves?
Isn't the KGB dead?
And why should we care?
The actors certainly don't do much to make the audience care. Van Damme seems only to be there to crack heads in, showing remarkably little personality. Rochon is treated a bit better in her
action-intense role, but is also stifled in the acting department. Schneider manages to show off a bit of his comic talent, whipping out the occasional witty one-liner, but that's just not enough to save this movie.
So we're left with gratuitous violence, and at least a noble effort is made. Famous Hong Kong director Tsui Hark does the best with what he has to work with, using all the tricks that made him famous - slow-motion, stop-motion, dizzying camera angles and the occasional blur. "Knock-Off" ends up looking like a good Hong Kong film, just waiting for Jackie Chan or Chow Yun-Fat to show up.
They don't show up, of course. All three of the leads do their best, and should at least be credited for the effort, no matter how far short it may fall of the goal.
In the end, "Knock-Off" is itself just a knock-off of all the good films you could be watching instead. Save the 5 bucks and go rent "Hard Boiled" or most any Jackie Chan flick. That way you'll be sure of getting the real thing.
...dave
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
