I can't tell whether it is due to the poor budget or the poor script, but I cannot express how disappointed I am of Universal Soldier: Regeneration. Of course, the movie is for fans only, but that does not allow such a waste of our time. How this movie is rated a 6.4 is a miracle. I sense a disturbance in the force.
I really enjoyed the first movie, and The Return was different, but refreshing and rich with story and effects. The third part lacks these things. In the second movie Luc was getting his live together, he had decent conversations with the people and had an educated opinion about things like moral fibre, justice and the like. Unfortunately in Regeneration Luc has the brain power equal to a wet toast. He is forgetful, unnecessarily aggressive and is charmless. He has exactly the characteristics of the mindless drones of his assembly line.
The special thing about the protagonist right from the beginning of the trilogy was his longing for more, his efforts to breach the barrier of being a mindless tool. In Regeneration he shows barely no sign of that fighter spirit to begin with, then as he joins the action again, this spirit is even exterminated as Luc is being resetted to the mindless drone he was made to be. Unfortunately he shows then no more signs of overcoming his programming and his facial expression is frozen to lost-love-puppy-stare.
The movie itself is dark and careful with colour. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes you are reminded of The Return, which quite frankly looks in comparison like a Disney production regarding colours and special effects. Sure, there are about three explosions and one helicopter ride in the film. But honestly, if you're filming in Bulgaria about Tschernobyl, the do the damn homework and buy some Russian shields and put some warning signs on the road.
In the end it was the script that ruined the movie. There are no side-plots, no tension, no excitement in the movie. It was Dolph Lundgren mumbling about three sentences, and Jean-Claude Van Damme mumbling about four sentences. For crying out loud, the first movie had ten times more dialogue between the two.
In the first movie the two protagonists were slowly fighting their way back from being a toaster to being human. In Regeneration they loose the fight entirely and start off as imbeciles and end up as nut-jobs. Mission accomplished.
I really enjoyed the first movie, and The Return was different, but refreshing and rich with story and effects. The third part lacks these things. In the second movie Luc was getting his live together, he had decent conversations with the people and had an educated opinion about things like moral fibre, justice and the like. Unfortunately in Regeneration Luc has the brain power equal to a wet toast. He is forgetful, unnecessarily aggressive and is charmless. He has exactly the characteristics of the mindless drones of his assembly line.
The special thing about the protagonist right from the beginning of the trilogy was his longing for more, his efforts to breach the barrier of being a mindless tool. In Regeneration he shows barely no sign of that fighter spirit to begin with, then as he joins the action again, this spirit is even exterminated as Luc is being resetted to the mindless drone he was made to be. Unfortunately he shows then no more signs of overcoming his programming and his facial expression is frozen to lost-love-puppy-stare.
The movie itself is dark and careful with colour. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes you are reminded of The Return, which quite frankly looks in comparison like a Disney production regarding colours and special effects. Sure, there are about three explosions and one helicopter ride in the film. But honestly, if you're filming in Bulgaria about Tschernobyl, the do the damn homework and buy some Russian shields and put some warning signs on the road.
In the end it was the script that ruined the movie. There are no side-plots, no tension, no excitement in the movie. It was Dolph Lundgren mumbling about three sentences, and Jean-Claude Van Damme mumbling about four sentences. For crying out loud, the first movie had ten times more dialogue between the two.
In the first movie the two protagonists were slowly fighting their way back from being a toaster to being human. In Regeneration they loose the fight entirely and start off as imbeciles and end up as nut-jobs. Mission accomplished.