Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
A fashion designer and his CIA agent business partner must join forces to stop a group of terrorists from smuggling explosives in counterfeit jeans during the handover of Hong Kong.
Knock Off is a mid-tier Jean-Claude Van Damme action vehicle directed by Tsui Hark, whose kinetic, hyperactive camera work gives the film a visually distinctive if chaotic energy. The plot — counterfeit jeans hiding micro-explosives during the Hong Kong handover — is inherently silly and poorly executed, with convoluted twists that confuse more than intrigue. Van Damme and Rob Schneider have limited chemistry and the performances are broadly comedic without being genuinely funny. Tsui Hark's direction brings genuine stylistic flair — extreme close-ups, bizarre angles, frenzied editing — making it cinematographically interesting if not coherent. The Hong Kong setting and the absurd premise give it some novelty as a curio of late-90s action filmmaking. The ending is a muddled, unsatisfying action climax that resolves little satisfyingly.