Jean-Claude Van Damme’s latest is an average action noir, but it’s great to see him front and center, still doing the action himself.

Last Updated on May 22, 2024

PLOT: Russell Hatch an Interpol operative who takes on the role of father figure to Jayden, the son of an informant killed in a routine raid gone wrong.

REVIEW: It’s nothing new for an action star of the past to show up in these lower-budget films. Geezer Teasers have often been a great way for action stars to cash a quick paycheck. But they tend to amount to nothing more than a bit part, while some younger actor does the majority of the action. So I was pleasantly surprised to see Jean-Claude Van Damme not only take center stage but appear in nearly every frame of Darkness of Man. Unlike some of his contemporaries, he’s not taking the easy way out and I respect him for it.

Darkness of Man is structured like a film noir, complete with intense narration from Van Damme. We’re mostly following his character Russell Hatch, as he struggles after the death of an informant, who was also his lover. Taking guardianship of the informant’s son, Jayden, Hatch deals with the repercussions of her death. With the Korean and Russian gangs vying for the same territory, he takes things into his own hands in order to protect, Jayden. It’s pretty stereotypical with its narrative but there’s still plenty of enjoyment to be had. Hell, I will always root for JCVD kicking ass in the name of vengeance.

Van Damme has had an interesting latter half of his career. Unlike the other action stars he came up with, who have become very reliant on body doubles for the action bits, Van Damme does a shocking amount of his own stunts still. At 64 years of age, he’s no spring chicken, so his stunt work is all the more impressive. And admittedly, at his age, it’s not quite as crisp as his Bloodsport or Kickboxer days but hell, he moves better than my 33-year-old self. And the filmmakers are smart enough to shoot around his limitations (so no, we’re not getting any trademark splits in this one). At this point, you should know what you’re in for when it comes to his line delivery. You’re either down for it or you’re not.

The acting can be a bit rough because most of the starring roles are filled with non-English speakers forced to speak English. Makes for some very awkward exchanges. There are a bunch of recognizable faces that pop up in small roles. I’m an MMA fan so I was shocked to see fighter Nick Diaz, though he probably won’t be winning any acting awards. However, I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see him throw down with JCVD. Seems like a missed opportunity. Shannon Doherty also makes an appearance as a concerned mother. It’s nice to see her still working, given her health struggles.

I enjoyed the strange sense of community present at the motel. Characters that don’t seem overly important show their value when Hatch is put in a rough position. Spencer Breslin is almost unrecognizable as Hatch’s druggie neighbor. And I quite enjoyed Kristanna Loken as Hatch’s occasional hookup. It’s a thankless part that she does well with and elevates. But my favorite performance was probably Zack Ward, who only has two scenes but really makes an impact. He feels unhinged and has a great look to him. Had he been more of a major player, it would have greatly improved the film. Because the bad guys don’t really feel like threats, despite their repeated attempts to try and intimidate.

I constantly found myself conflicted because, while the subject matter is intense, the execution leaves a bit to be desired. There are a ton of logical fallacies that break the immersion from moment to moment. A pistol only carrying a few shots before emptied, or characters having absurd invincibility only break the reality further. And, despite death and kidnapping, the stakes don’t really land with intent. The plot is very convoluted, with holes so easy to poke that it made my head spin. This is a “check your brain” at the door kind of movie, while still trying to appeal to your base desire to see a wrong, righted.

Despite the very low budget, I really enjoyed the look of Darkness of Man. Setups are handled great and there are some slick shots. I appreciated how grounded the action is, with a nice car flip and even some squibs. In this day and age of constant CGI gunshots, I will always appreciate the more practical approach. Even if it’s not utilized 100% of the time. The second half of the film feels very different from the first half. JCVD goes from old and beaten to John Wick in no time. That’s not to say he doesn’t show skills in the first half, it just gets ramped up to such an absurd degree in the final half. He goes from shooting around people to not murder them, to directly popping off heads. The murder of his girlfriend doesn’t put him into this mindset but a kidnapping does? Felt misguided.

Overall, Darkness of Man didn’t entirely land for me. I really liked Van Damme and the more serious side that he brought. This was clearly more than just a paycheck for him, having developed the story with director James Cullen Bressack. But the narrative itself is so flimsy that it sometimes gets lost. There’s a big twist at the end that feels so pointless, mostly due to all signs pointing in that direction the entire film. It feels like a slap in the face of the audience to even treat it as an “aha!” moment. There are some good moments and this is definitely better than some of the straight-to-DVD schlock we’d see in the bargain bin. JCVD fans should keep an eye out because it’s great to see him truly take the lead again.

DARKNESS OF MAN IS AVAILABLE DIGITALLY ON MAY 21ST, 2024.

BUY/RENT IT HERE!

The breakout star who can be seen in Hit Man and Twisters has added a new project to his resume. A remake of a Warren Beatty classic.

Chalk up another project for Glen Powell. Recently, the Hit Man star was announced to be in talks for the new unknown J.J. Abrams project. He was also announced to star in the thriller Huntington, which puts him alongside Margaret Qualley and Ed Harris, as well as joining Anthony Mackie and Laura Dern for the legal drama titled Monsanto. The Hollywood Reporter has now revealed that Powell is now set to star in a reimagining of Warren Beatty’s Heaven Can Wait for Paramount. Stephen Gaghan, who won an Academy Award for his script for Steven Soderbergh’s 2000 crime film Traffic, has been tapped to pen the screenplay for this update.

The 1978 Warren Beatty film was based on Harry Segall’s play of the same name and garnered nominations for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture; however, the movie would only post a win for Best Art Direction. In the original, it saw Beatty as an NFL quarterback who dies prematurely due to an antsy angel, so he returns to Earth in the body of a recently murdered millionaire. Beatty had directed the film with Buck Henry and co-wrote the script with Elaine May. The play was also adapted into the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan, where the main character was a boxer and then reimagined for a Chris Rock comedy in 2001 called Down to Earth. This new film with Powell will not feature him as a football player, but the film’s premise will remain intact.

Powell can be seen in a couple of new projects this year with Netflix’s Hit Man from Richard Linklater and the Lee Issac Chung movie Twisters. Recently, Powell spoke about the experience of working on Twisters and how he was able to bring his own history with a tornado encounter to the film, “It’s actually something I got to incorporate a little bit into the movie,” Powell said. “I had an experience with this tornado in Jarrell, Texas. It was an F5 – one of the big ones. It decimated Jarrell. I was outrunning it with my aunt Taffy, and a car full of cousins. And I remember us having to take shelter. It didn’t get close enough to do any damage to us, but I remember the fear of being on the road when, you know, the biggest imaginable one was kind of coming through.“

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.

Goosebumps season 1 is getting a novelization that will include additional scenes and resolve the cliffhanger

The live-action TV series based on the Goosebumps books written by R.L. Stine that was released through the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services last October (read our review HERE) drew inspiration from five of Stine’s Goosebumps stories (Say Cheese and Die!, The Haunted Mask, The Cuckoo Clock of Doom, Go Eat Worms!, and Night of the Living Dummy). More Stine stories will be brought to the screen in Goosebumps season 2 – but the show is taking the anthology route, so we can expect a second season that has “an entirely new cast and setting based on Stine’s iconic Scholastic book series,” and won’t pick up on the season 1 cliffhanger that involved a character appearing to be possessed. That’s where author Kate Howard steps in, as she has been hired to write a Goosebumps season 1 novelization that will not only cover the story told in the show’s episodes but also include “additional scenes and information not seen on the show, including resolving the show’s cliffhanger ending!”

The Goosebumps season 1 novelization, which is titled Goosebumps: The Haunting Returns, is available for pre-order on Amazon and has a release date of October 1st. Here’s the full description: Discover what happens to Isaiah, Margot, Nathan, and the rest of the folks in Port Lawrence in this official Goosebumps novel based on the hit Disney Plus series! Includes an exclusive ending only available in this book!

Thirty years ago, Harold Biddle died in a tragic accident — but there’s more to the story. Now, the teenage kids of Harold’s classmates are determined to find out what happened to him all those years ago…as long as Harold’s spirit doesn’t exact his revenge first!

But Harold Biddle isn’t the only monster roaming the streets of Port Lawrence. From doppelgängers to haunted books and one creepy dummy, Isaiah, Margot, James, and the rest of their friends have to fight to stay alive or risk becoming monsters themselves!

This official novel tells the story of season 1 of the hit Goosebumps series — plus additional scenes and information not seen on the show, including resolving the show’s cliffhanger ending!

The ten episode first season of Goosebumps centered on a group of five high schoolers as they embark on a shadowy and twisted journey to investigate the tragic passing three decades earlier of a teen named Harold Biddle — while also unearthing dark secrets from their parents’ past. 

Will you be buying the Goosebumps season 1 novelization / Goosebumps: The Haunting Returns? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

A new teaser poster for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has been unveiled, acknowledging the long wait since the first movie

Director Tim Burton’s 1988 classic Beetlejuice (watch it HERE) ended with the title character sitting down in a waiting room, and it looked like he was going to be in there for a very long time. It’s fitting that we left him in that situation, given that fans have had to wait thirty-six years for the follow-up Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – but now the wait is almost over. The sequel is set to reach theatres on September 6th, and a newly unveiled teaser poster takes us back to that waiting room with Beetlejuice while acknowledging the long wait between films. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was in development hell for decades before it finally got made. In 1990, Jonathan Gems was hired to write a sequel that was going to be titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. Burton considered having Daniel Waters rewrite that script, Pamela Norris did rewrite it, and Warner Bros. offered Kevin Smith the chance to do another rewrite. He turned it down. Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write and produce a new version of a sequel in 2011. Mike Vukadinovich was brought on to rewrite his script in 2017.

Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, co-creators and co-showrunners of Wednesday, have written the screenplay for Beetlejuice 2 that was actually filmed. Brad Pitt’s Plan B is producing the sequel, which filmed in London before moving to Vermont and Massachusetts.

Here’s the official synopsis: Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

Michael Keaton is back in the role of the titular “ghost with the most” and is joined in the cast by Winona Ryder, reprising the role of Lydia Deetz; Catherine O’Hara, back as Lydia’s stepmother Delia; Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter Astrid, Justin Theroux as a fellow named Rory,  Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s wife and Willem Dafoe as a law enforcement officer in the afterlife. Arthur Conti is also in there, in an unspecified role. 

Are you looking forward to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice? Let us know by leaving a comment below, and take a look at this teaser poster while you’re scrolling down:

The Oscar winner has been tapped to play the Chancellor at Starfleet as the series follows cadets in training.

There is no shortage of Star Trek content as Paramount has been developing plans for their film franchise with a fourth entry into the J.J. Abrams Kelvin Universe, as well as a prequel to said universe with Toby Haynes directing. It was recently reported that Simon Kinberg is in talks to produce the film series going forward. Seth Grahame-Smith, who also is credited with the upcoming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, will be writing the screenplay and it is said “to involve the creation of the Starfleet and humankind’s first contact with alien life.” 

On the TV end, there will also be a show that focuses on cadets in training at Starfleet before embarking on exploratory missions with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Deadline has now reported that Academy Award winner Holly Hunter has been cast in the upcoming show. The official synopsis says, “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.” Hunter will be portraying the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy in the series, and it is scheduled to begin production later this summer.

Last month, it was announced that the series Strange New Worlds has been renewed for a fourth season, while the animated series Lower Decks is set to conclude with its upcoming fifth season. “On behalf of the cast and crew of ‘Strange New Worlds,’ we are thrilled and grateful to continue our voyages together,” said executive producers and showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers and executive producer Alex Kurtzman. “We can’t wait for you to join us and the crew of the Enterprise on another season of exploration and adventure.” Strange New Worlds has been a big success for Paramount+, quickly becoming a fan-favorite series and making Nielsen’s top 10 most-watching streaming originals multiple weeks in a row. The third season is currently in production and is planned for streaming in 2025.

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.

Madame Web has landed on Netflix’s Top 10 list with audiences keen to see if the movie really is as bad as they think.

It’s safe to say that Madame Web was a bit of a disaster; not only did the Marvel movie get absolutely eviscerated by critics, but it was also a certified box office bomb, grossing just $100.3 million worldwide. That said, sometimes it’s hard to look away from a disaster, and I suspect that’s why audiences have been flocking to Madame Web now that it’s streaming on Netflix.

Madame Web has made it to Netflix’s Top Ten list for the week of May 13-19, taking the top spot on the U.S. chart. As for the global chart, the film is sitting pretty at second place, just behind Mother of the Bride. The film has been viewed 10.8 million times during that period, which equates to 20.8 million viewing hours. Judging by the reaction on social media, most are curious to see if the movie really is as bad as they’ve been led to believe, so I can’t imagine the film is going to spend much time on the list now that most people have already checked it out. But who knows, we might have another Morbius situation on our hands if Sony Pictures drastically misunderstands the situation and tries to bring it back to theaters.

Madame Web star Dakota Johnson later slammed the movie, saying she would never do anything like it again. “It was definitely an experience for me to make that movie,” Johnson said. “I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again, because I don’t make sense in that world. And I know that now. But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it’s one thing and then as you’re making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you’re like, ‘Wait, what?’ But it was a real learning experience, and of course it’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand.“

Madame Web stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, “a paramedic in Manhattan who develops the power to see the future… and realizes she can use that insight to change it. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women bound for powerful destinies…if they can all survive a deadly present.“

Our own Chris Bumbray reviewed Madame Web, which he called a “big mess.” It doesn’t seem as though this will be the franchise starter that Sony doubtlessly hoped it would be, as the “terrible, cornball dialogue and lacklustre pace” doom what would have been a “decent little B-side of a superhero film.” You can read the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.

Have you checked out Madame Web on Netflix?

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes writer Michael Lesslie tapped to pen Marvel’s upcoming X-Men movie.

Since the moment it was revealed that Disney was considering acquiring 20th Century Fox, Marvel fans have been imagining the X-Men joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’re still a number of years away from Marvel’s first X-Men movie, but the project has taken a big step forward. Deadline reports that Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) is now in negotiations to serve as the writer of the X-Men movie.

When the WGA strike concluded last year, X-Men was the first project Marvel Studios began tackling, taking pitches for the movie from a variety of writers. In addition to The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Michael Lesslie is also known for Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed, The Little Drummer Girl, and the upcoming Now You See Me 3.

Although we’ve seen several X-Men characters appear in the MCU since the acquisition of 20th Century Fox — notably Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Beast in The Marvels, and Deadpool and Wolverine in the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine — I’m grateful Marvel is taking its time with the X-Men movie. The thought of classic X-Men characters (as well as new additions) sharing the screen with previous MCU characters is hugely exciting, and if it’s done right, these characters could be the cornerstone of the entire MCU moving forward.

With the massive success of X-Men ’97 on Disney+, audiences are clearly hungry for more mutants. The much-acclaimed first season of the animated series concluded last week, and a second season is already in production, with a third in development. “When you combine X-Men ’97‘s synthesized ’90s-inspired score with an ambitious team able to reproduce the look and feel of the original show, you have something special,” wrote our own Steve Seigh in his review. “It’s rare for a project this risky to arrive as polished and on-point as I view it to be. The series is off to a solid start, with much room to grow and give everyone a taste of what they want.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.

What would you like to see from Marvel’s X-Men movie and which mutants should be featured in the new team?

After Netflix promised “additional episodes” of 3 Body Problem, the creators have clarified what that means for the series.

During Netflix’s upfront presentation last week, the streaming service promised “additional episodes” of 3 Body Problem, the hugely expensive sci-fi drama from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, but what does that mean exactly?

“Additional episodes” could mean just about anything, but 3 Body Problem showrunners David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo reached out to THR to clarify that the new deal was for “seasons” of 3 Body Problem. Yep, that’s plural. “We knew going into this how many hours we need to tell the rest of the story because we’ve got a roadmap through to the end,” Weiss said. “And we have what we need to get to the end as intended from when we started.“

The exact number of “additional episodes” wasn’t specified, but Benioff added, “By the time we finish with the show, it will be seven years we’ve devoted to it. We’re now at a place where we get to tell the rest of the story, and, yes, we have enough time to tell the rest of the story the way we want to and that’s immensely gratifying.“

The first season of 3 Body Problem did pull in a sizeable audience, but the show wasn’t exactly the massive hit Netflix was hoping it would be, especially when you factor in the price tag of over $20 million per episode. Thankfully, it sounds like the saga will be given a proper ending.

David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo have previously said that they envisioned a multi-season arc for the series, which could span between three or four seasons. “Well, there’s three novels in the trilogy,” Woo told GamesRader earlier this year. “The novels get longer and longer so I wouldn’t say it maps out exactly to three. We have some really strong ideas about what to do in a season two, and then it’s a little hazier down the line. But we want to get to the end, we want to get to the end of the trilogy, and whether that’s three or four, you know, or some other number. The goal is to get to the end of the trilogy and it seems like it would map out over probably, certainly more than two seasons but beyond that, it’s hard to know exactly.“

The series has received generally positive reviews, but our own Alex Maidy didn’t exactly love it. “I found it very hard to engage with this story, these characters, and this series,” Maidy wrote. “A misfire in every way, 3 Body Problem has some talented actors delivering some memorable moments, but none of it adds up to an experience that is satisfying, fulfilling, or even all that enjoyable.” You can check out the rest of Maidy’s review right here.