Timecop

Timecop (1994)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Peter Hyams

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mia Sara, Ron Silver, Bruce McGill, Gloria Reuben

From: Largo Entertainment

What a day yesterday was... I'll leave it at that. Let me direct you to my review of this movie, which is below: 

So yeah, yesterday's United States Presidential Election...

I won't get into my political views as that can only lead to trouble. I will just say for the people around the world who may possibly read this, it was an ugly election cycle and with this result, a lot of Americans are shocked and also petrified at what may happen with President Trump, a Republican-controlled legislature and a Republican-dominated Supreme Court. If Hillary won things probably would be heated the other way as you can argue about various controversies she's been a part of, but as things are now... like I said, many Americans are feeling scared at what potentially could happen. I hope the United States doesn't tear itself apart.

This is yet another movie I had watched before, but the last viewing was a long while ago (I think around 8 or so years) so when I saw that the El Rey Network was (appropriately) playing this on the night before the Presidential Election, I had to check it out. Now, I realize that plenty of people wish they had a time machine so they could go back and... well, do things to try and get a different result. Either that, or try and figure out where the Butterfly Effect happened that allowed it to happen.

The plot: in 1994, time travel is invented, and a committee (the Time Enforcement Commission, or TEC for short) is established to try and control it and prevent catastrophe from happening. Jean-Claude Van Damme is Max Walker. In '94 he is a cop, but after his wife is killed by mysterious figures. In 2004, Walker (w/ an amazing head of hair) is now part of the TEC. Turns out, there's an evil senator (imagine that) who is trying to change time in order to get enough money to participate in a Presidential Campaign-sad to say, someone actually does need a lot of dough to even try and make a run at the White House-and it's up to Van Damme to stop him.

It's a time travel movie so you don't want to think too hard about it, lest you get a headache. At least the rules here are simple enough to understand and are in general what you expect from the genre. It is important to know that multiple versions of yourself can't touch, or else it creates something quite gruesome. Van Damme is his usual self meaning that his performance was acceptable and his martial arts was entertaining to watch, with the highlight being the splits he did in the kitchen. It helps that there are more established actors who round out the main cast, such as Mia Sara, Bruce McGill, and the true highlight as the evil senator McComb, Ron Silver. He was great at being an awful human being. It also does help that this is directed by a veteran in Peter Hyams.

As I've seen others mention in the past, it is interesting how there are several films where JCVD plays twins and in this movie, you get to see both '94 and '04 Van Damme at the same time. It's an interesting trope. Anyway, if you want to see a random JCVD movie, you might as well check this out as it's one of the better ones.