Double Impact

Directed by Sheldon Lettich, Double Impact follows twin brothers Alex and Chad (Jean-Claude Van Damme) as they team up to avenge the murders of their parents. It’s agreeably familiar (and over-the-top) subject matter that’s employed to palpably lackluster effect by Lettich, as the filmmaker, armed with his and Van Damme’s screenplay, delivers a distressingly sluggish endeavor that fares especially poorly within its slow-moving and generally uninvolving first half – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by a recurring emphasis on segments and set-pieces of a less-than-enthralling effect. (The narrative just isn’t interesting, ultimately.) And while the picture benefits from Van Damme’s typically charming efforts, as well as a small handful of appreciatively broad action-oriented digressions, Double Impact, which builds towards a violent yet somewhat tedious climax, generally (and for the most part) comes off as an aggressively lifeless thriller that’s rarely (if ever) as electrifying as one might’ve hoped.

** out of ****