phanthinga Pound of Flesh (2015) directed by Ernie Barbarash is the most fun i have with Jean-Claude Van Damme in years.Apart from the tired plot this movie actually surprise me with the character development.The relationship between Van Damme and John Ralston is heartfelt and make me care so much for them in the end.The action is fine for what it is but overall it still a movie for fan of Van Damme only

kathorder i'm rod, i watched van damme movies religiously until legionnaire and street fighter which were terrible, up until then i liked them all. this was the first movie of his i had watched for a while and it was the best movie i have seen for a long time, the plot was realistic and could happen to anyone which i liked, and the plot twists were very smart and well written. fight sequences were excellent and i put this right up there with lionheart as my favourite and both of which i can watch over and over again and never get sick of them, know what i mean? i hope he does more movies set in asia like this one, with detailed story lines and varied interesting locations

davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Deacon (Jean Claude Van Damme) has travelled to Eastern Europe to donate a kidney to his dying niece. Only the night before, after a night of passion with a mysterious woman, he awakens to find what he was planning to donate already removed with no explanation. His brother, and niece's father George (John Ralston) is unaccepting of this, and along with Kung (Aki Aleong), Deacon's right hand man, they set about trying to track down the guilty party who have taken Deacon's organ without his consent.The dark, moody tone that has been permeating Van Damme's work for about the middle of the last decade continues with Pound of Flesh, his second collaboration with director Ernie Barbarash after 2011's excellent Assassination Games. Maintaining that film's dark, raw veneer, the plot is impressively different and inventive, honing in on a theme not usually explored in action, but sadly, this is where the praise pretty much runs dry.While the delivery is as brutal as AG, this time Barbarash hasn't managed to craft quite as engaging a story, punctuated with long, dull stretches between any exciting action. He's somewhat older now, and VD's physical prowess obviously isn't as impressive as it once was, with his side kicks now looking a little less than thrillingly authentic. He appears to be trying to explore a more dramatic angle now, and as such the film doesn't develop in the normal style of such films, but this is hardly what you're watching it for.It's got some good things going for it, but on the whole, it's a bit of a let down when you think what went before. **

albrechtcm I don't want to discuss the storyline here because from the start it's off-beat, surprising and entertaining. After so many cinematic dogs that made it look as if Mr. Van Damme's films were going the way of Steven Seagal, this turnaround is arguably one of Mr. Van Dammne's best films. The script is right on, direction tight, and the storyline went off in a really different direction. He has to fight, yes, but not just to show off his acrobatics every other scene. And rather than just another action flick, this has heart and a story that may stick with the viewer. Someone once said that a good story should have an ending that is inevitable, yet still a surprise. I liken a good story to a magician on stage. He places his top hat upside down on a table and goes through his array of tricks, and although you just know it's coming, when at the end he pulls that live rabbit out his hat you're surprised and amazed. In this case, I was expecting to take a step further and really surprise with that rabbit, but still, the ending was quite satisfactory, maybe even better that what I had expected, all things considered. I'd say this is a film any Van Damme fan should have on the shelf. One little thing: Although this was shot, entirely I think, in Canada, it was supposed to be Manila. I've never been there, and I imagine there are a great many people there from China, but in much of the movie, judging from the background and all the signs and passersby, I'd have sworn we were in Hong Kong or some such place. That didn't hurt the film however. I'm just saying....