Plot: French police officer Alain Moreau (Jean-Claude Van Damme) makes an astonishing discovery: Mikhail, a man who died recently in a breakneck car chase, is the twin brother he never knew.
Alain then uncovers a web of family secrets that lead him to New York City, where his brother was involved with the Russian Mafia.
Teaming up with Mikhail’s lover, Alex Minetti (Natasha Henstridge), Alain must now assume his twin’s identity and go undercover to avenge Mikhail’s death.
“Welcome to the Other Side of Safe!”
When I first saw the trailers to Maximum Risk I thought it looked pretty awesome; the trailer has Firestarter from The Prodigy blasting through it as we are subjected to wicked stunts and action galore; it worked perfectly to create a sense of excitement. Van Damme was back and kicking ass better than ever.
Directed by Ringo Lam Maximum Risk had JCVD playing two brothers again; it felt like it was going to be Double Impact 2 with maximum Van Dammage. That wasn’t the case but it ended up being even better than expected. It lacked the cheese of Double Impact and was a little grittier which was all good in my book.
Instead of having two brothers teaming up to take down a bad guy, the first brother is killed in the opening scene with his twin brother taking over his life as he tries to uncover what happened.
The action as you would expect was first rate with some great stunts and fight scenes; I still say towel scene stretches credibility though…
Zach Grenier is hugely entertaining as the villain Ivan Dzasokhov and Natasha Henstridge plays the love interest who manages to be strong yet vulnerable at the same time.
I watched the film a while back and it still stands up well even after 20 years… yes, it’s 20 years old. I remember watching it in the theatre like it was yesterday and I feel a rewatch coming on soon.
Happy 20th Birthday Maximum Risk!