Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
A CIA agent is interned for failing to kill an international terrorist. Escaping from his island exile, he teams up with a flamboyant arms dealer and sets out to find the terrorist and rescue the agent's family. Together they're a two-man arsenal... with enough voltage to rock the free world.
Double Team is a mid-90s action spectacle pairing Jean-Claude Van Damme with Dennis Rodman, directed by Tsui Hark. The plot is generic spy-action fare with thin motivation and cartoonish logic. Acting is perfunctory at best — Van Damme is workmanlike and Rodman is more novelty than actor. Tsui Hark brings some kinetic visual flair and stylized Hong Kong-influenced cinematography that elevates the look above the average Hollywood action film of the era. Novelty earns a modest bump for the sheer absurdity of its premise and the bizarre celebrity pairing, which gives it a singular cultural artifact quality. The ending, set in the Colosseum with a tiger and landmines, is memorably over-the-top but narratively incoherent, landing below average as a satisfying conclusion.