UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN

US, 1999, 83 minutes, Colour.
Jean- Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, Heidi Schanz, Xander Berkely, Daniel von Bargen, Bill Goldberg.
Directed by Mic Rodgers.

Action star, Dolph Lundgren, initiated a series of Universal Soldier action shows in the early 1990s. The basis of the plot was that American technology and arms companies could resurrect soldiers killed in the Vietnam war and in other fields of combat, easily able to recuperate after being wounded, and becoming Unisols, Universal Soldiers. The main candidate was Luke Devereux, played by action star Jean- Claude Van Damme.

This film is the first of the sequels, featuring Luke Devereux, his wife dead, caring for his young daughter, involved in the company that was experimenting with the Universal Soldiers, a program run by Xander Berkely.

The opening sequence has a long tour of the plant, preparing audiences for the plot and launching into a speed boat and military chase, all observed by a computer, played realistically but, in fact, a simulated exercise. One of the main characters, a Universal Soldier who is continually resuscitated, Romeo, is played by wrestler Bill Goldberg.

One of the central characters is, in fact, the highly intelligent computer, named Seth, who instructs Luke’s daughter but who overhears, lipreading, discussions with the head of the project and the general from the Pentagon, Daniel von Bargen, talking about termination of the project. The computer not only reacts, but is violently aggressive, programming the Universal Soldiers to destruction of military and civilians. Devereux has to work out how to close down the computer, tracking down a dirty nerd mad scientist, a visit to a strip club, eventually getting the information to destroy Seth.

Seth is very smart, chooses a hulking body on the advice of the nerd so that Seth can confront everyone, including Devereux. There is a complication when Devereux’s daughter is in hospital and there is split-second timing for her to be healed and extricated.

A pushy reporter is in the facility filming when all this happens. Her cameraman is killed, she stays with Devereux, saving him at times, sharing the dangers.

Ultimately, there is a confrontation between Devereux and Seth, helped by a fellow worker Kelly who seemed to have been turned by Seth but shoots him. The project is exploded.

In many ways, the screenplay has its cake while eating it – a very full-on macho action adventure and various lines of dialogue criticising this kind of research and its dangers.