SECOND-IN-COMMAND
US, 2006, 91 minutes, Colour.
Jean -Claude Van Damme, Julie Cox, Velibor Topik, William Tapley.
Directed by Simon Fellowes.
A vehicle for Jean -Claude Van Damme in his mid-forties. After almost twenty years as a martial arts and action hero, he still draws on those skills but appears in a number of dramas which highlight military action as this one does.
The setting is Moldava and the film was made in its neighbouring Romania. The film draws on stories like those of the Balkans as well as difficulties with old communist factions trying to seize power as happened in Georgia.
Van Damme is the military attaché sent to the capital, with the death of the ambassador becoming the chief. The issue is also about journalists, hostages, attempts to get out of the besieged American embassy, rebel troops, national troops whose leaders betray the president.
The film is edited with quite some pace, is a straight-to-video action film – and works on that level. Director Simon Fellowes directed several of Van Damme’s films at this period.
1.An action film? For popular audiences?
2.The Moldava setting, the background of the communist era, hardline communists wanting power, democratic governments under siege, the American presence, the American influence?
3.The eastern European settings, the official buildings, the city and the streets? The hotels? Authentic feel? Musical score?
4.Sam Keenan as second-in-command, his arrival, his tough reputation, his going to the hotel to see Michelle, the assassinations, the bombs? His going to the embassy? The siege? The death of the ambassador? His assuming control? The CIA agent, Frank Gaines, and the clashes? Gaines and his orders to the military? The contact with the US, overriding Keenan?
5.The action sequences, Tavarov and his troops, the rebels, the attacks, the assassinations in the hotel? The president and his escape into the American embassy? The taking of hostages, the shooting in the streets?
6.Keenan and his decision to rescue the hostages, the planning of the attack, its execution? Rescuing Michelle?
7.The disputes over strategies? The getting of the personnel out of the embassy, into the bus, the destruction of the bus, the retreat back into the tunnels? Keenan and his rescuing Michelle again? The blasting of the tunnel? The discovery of the listening device on Michelle?
8.The arrival of the troops, the general and his attack, killing Gaines? Keenan in charge? The military agreeing?
9.The final battles? The American dead, the nationals dead? The image of this kind of uprising in eastern Europe?
10.The delineation of characters, the CIA and obstinacy, the military, the journalists, Michelle and her friends? The president and his decisions? Refuge in the embassy? Gunny and his help, the trained marine?
