The Big Picture
- Jean-Claude Van Damme’s dramatic turn in
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
showcased his acting abilities beyond physicality. - The film flipped the franchise’s premise, making Van Damme a villain and exploring themes of toxic masculinity and violence.
- Van Damme’s performance in
Day of Reckoning
demonstrated his range and willingness to subvert expectations in his roles.
The 1980s saw the emergence of many of the most popular action stars of all-time, including Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, and Harrison Ford. While each of these stars at least flirted with more prestigious projects throughout their career, Jean-Claude Van Damme has seemingly had no illusions about the quality of the films that he appears in. Films like Bloodsport, Double Impact, Timecop, or Lionheart may not be anyone’s idea of “great cinema,” but they certainly benefited from the impressive physicality and unique charisma that Van Damme was always willing to bring to the screen. Van Damme’s history of appearing in B-movies made his dramatic turn in the legacy sequel Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning even more of a revelation.
The term “legacy sequel” is often bandied about by studios as a means of describing long anticipated sequels that feature the return of older cast members in a respective franchise. While technically films like Top Gun: Maverick, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Creed, and the recent Halloween reboot trilogy are moving their continuities forward, they’re really just a “highlight reel” of past successes aimed at introducing the characters to a younger generation. However, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning flipped the initial premise of the franchise on its head, allowing Van Damme to give one of the most unique performances of his entire career.
What Is ‘Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning’ About?
Universal Soldier has one of the strangest timelines out of any science fiction franchise. The original 1992 film from Roland Emmerich was nothing but a generic ripoff of James Cameron’s work on The Terminator franchise, albeit with far less charm or intelligence. Van Damme starred as the former Vietnam War veteran Luc Deveraux, whose mind is taken over by the U.S. military in order to turn him into a relentless killing force. When his former rival, the soldier Sergeant Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), is also resurrected, Deveraux is forced to become a hero. Scott wants to burn the nation down, but Deveraux has not let go of the oaths of loyalty he swore when he was in the service. It’s a fairly straightforward excuse for two muscle-bound action stars to trade blows with one another, and certainly wouldn’t rank on anyone’s list of the best of the decade.
Although Universal Soldier was followed by a series of largely forgettable direct-to-DVD sequels, the franchise changed in 2009 when creative control was assumed by John Hyams, the son of the acclaimed 2010: The Year We Made Contact director Peter Hyams. Hyams’ film Universal Soldier: Regeneration featured an older Deveraux returning to the field, all whilst coping with the severe trauma of his past crimes. While Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is certainly closer in style to modern action films like the Bourne franchise, it’s more of a psychological horror film about the evils of toxic masculinity. Oddly enough, a silly action movie like Universal Soldier turned into an existential thriller that owed a debt of influence to filmmakers like David Lynch, Paul Verhoeven, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Nicolas Winding Refn.
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Jean-Claude Van Damme Is Terrifying in ‘Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning’
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning subverted expectations by turning Van Damme into a villain, a role that he had almost never occupied. The film introduces the new soldier John (Scott Adkins), whose family is murdered by Deveraux in an opening scene that has strong similarities to the Michael Haneke horror film Funny Games. John then sets out on a quest of vengeance to track down Deveraux, who has begun amassing a cult of violent extremists who worship him as a leader. It’s admirable that someone as well-known for his heroic roles as Deveraux was able to “break bad,” and do it no less in one of the roles that made him so iconic in the first place.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning utilizes Van Damme’s imposing qualities to essentially turn him into a slasher villain. While he has received criticism in the past for playing emotionally cold characters, these qualities are perfect for his new take on Deveraux; the character no longer abides by any code of chivalry, and is defined purely through the violence that he can inflict upon others. Van Damme manages to use his enigmatic qualities to become a spiritual leader to a generation of men who follow him obsessively. At the end of the film, he even dons the same sort of war makeup that Marlon Brando did as Colonel Kurtz at the end of Apocalypse Now.
Jean-Claude Van Damme Is a Better Actor Than He’s Given Credit For
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning has an important message about the cyclical nature of violence that is made more powerful thanks to Van Damme’s performance. In the story, Deveraux’s followers are drawn to violence as a form of expressionism as a result of the template that he established for them. It serves as a condensation of audience members who take what they are viewing too seriously, and try to emulate the characters they see on screen. This indicated that Van Damme was aware of the cultural effect that the Universal Soldier franchise had, and was willing to subvert expectations by changing the genre. It speaks to his bravery as an artist that he was willing to take such a dramatic twist on the material. It’s a far more psychologically probing project than many of the other films he has appeared in.
What’s most impressive about Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is that Van Damme is given the chance to deliver a real performance that doesn’t just rely on his physicality. This is one of his underrated virtues that is often overlooked when discussing retrospectives of his career, as Van Damme managed to deliver a surprising dramatic performance in the semi-autobiographical film JCVD. Although many of his films are enjoyed as “so bad, they’re good” classics, Van Damme indicated he had the ability to fully invest in a character in Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is available to stream on Pluto TV in the U.S.
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