Lovesusti
The Worst Film Ever
GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
Beanbioca
As Good As It Gets
Maziun
This is definitely not one of John Woo's best movies. This made-for-TV American Canadian co-production was supposed to be a pilot for TV series under the same name with Dolph Lundgren as the star. Since the TV series were never made you can only guess how bad this movie is. It's hard to believe that Woo made this after the great "Face off". I guess Woo wanted to earn few dollars and had some spare time.The script is unoriginal , predictable , full of cliché characters and based on a nonsense that Lundgren is afraid of colour white. It's hardly the most exciting plot device in the world, because it's so stupid. This allows the movie for some laughable moments like a fight in the pool of milk. Other than that the script takes itself very seriously and there's no humor. There is no interesting villain either.The plot is silly and full of holes. The writers weren't even trying . The story is an excuse for action.The acting is lame and there is no chemistry between the characters. Lundgren tries hard , but there are serious moments when he is truly bad.The action feels uninspired. Woo is on autopilot here and If I didn't knew it was his movie , I could swear it was directed by some John Woo wannabe. The motorbike stunts are decent , but that's it. The movie was made by 10 mln of $. Where all this money go ? The whole movie feels made on very small scale.Not one of Woo's or Lundgren's finest moments. I give it 1/10.
Comeuppance Reviews
Jack Devlin (Dolph) is a man handy with a deck of cards - and, being as tough as he is, he's a man you definitely want on your side. When he saves a young girl named Casey (Murphy) from a home invasion by hired killers, the two develop a father-daughter-like relationship. During the course of this fight, Jack's vision is impaired and he develops a phobia of the color white. Casey eventually comes to live with him in his NYC apartment, where Jack also lives with his manservant Thomas (Rubinek). Jack then becomes the personal bodyguard to up-and-coming supermodel Cinder James (Heskin). But there are still killers on the loose and Jack must do his best, despite his new disability, to take down the baddies. Can he do it? Apparently, Blackjack was meant as a pilot for a TV show about Jack Devlin, and you can totally tell. There's really nothing about Blackjack you wouldn't see on shows such as The Point Man, The Lazarus Man, Profiler, or any other action/drama programming on USA or UPN at the time. Sure, we still appreciate the stunt work - the scene in the forest is the standout - but the whole movie has a wacky vibe that will no doubt make you laugh, but is that really the point? Fred Williamson is in it for a criminally small amount of time (what this movie should have been is Fred and Dolph as cops busting heads in a gritty NYC scenario, not this silliness) and Rubinek adds to the silly tone with his eyepatch and accent. Even though this was directed by John Woo, it feels more like a parody of Woo than Woo himself. Blackjack needed to be shorter and snappier, not to mention grittier. As it is, it feels like watered-down Dolph. He does his usual charismatic job, but it's kind of hard to care. It seems like the whole vision plot was just an excuse for him to wear his awesome shades.There does seem to be a reference to Zatoichi and the Baby Cart series if you're looking for it, but on the whole this is pretty junky for John Woo, and the TV-movie vibe doesn't really help matters. Though it came out in the late 90's, it was reassuring to hear some classic 80's-style sax on the soundtrack. Dolph fans will always find something to love about the man, and Blackjack does have its moments (although most of them are silly moments) but it seems a different approach to the material would have helped immensely. It's not a bad idea, there's just something a bit wonky about the execution.
kosmasp
I really like John Woo movies. I don't like this one. Even if you consider the fact, that it was shot for TV, it doesn't make this better. And I can't/won't give him extra points, just for the fact that it is a John Woo flick. Lundgren has made some fun movies (and a great one as a boxer, you know which one I mean if you have seen it).But that is not one of them. I could start with the clichés (be it action clichés in general or some Woo clichés in the mix). I could talk about the ham-acting (not that you would expect otherwise) ... or about the low profile story (if you dig deep enough you might find something of a story here ... somewhere).Or I could just say, that the production values on this movie are really low! Again I know it's for TV, so how could someone expect more ... But why do it in the first place, if there is no way you can satisfy yourself or the audience with this film?! Simple: He needed the money and maybe had a deal, to make a TV movie before he could make another motion picture ... who knows? Last part is just me speculating without any facts to prove that.Go watch the other John Woo movies instead!
Frank Markland
Dolph Lundgren stars as Jack Devlin a bodyguard who is blinded by a flash grenade which gives him a color phobia (It gets even more ridiculous) seems Devlin is afraid of the color white and is trying to stay low while he conquers his fear. However when a supermodel is hassled by her psychotic ex-husband it is only Devlin that can protect her from certain death in this made for television movie which is slightly more watchable than Woo's other TV movie bomb but basically suffers from too much length and lack of grip on the subplots which overwhelm Blackjack's overall story. Blackjack is along the line of "Do you think we can fit one more subplot to the other 7000 ones, Let's see how it works!" There is of course the color phobia, Lundgren being a new parent, the homoeroticism between Lundgren and Rubinek, the supermodel and her psycho ex,The bad guy being a failed actor, the supermodel addicted to prescription drugs, his best friend's injury, the friend's company which is taken over, the parents of the little girl who die under mysterious circumstances, Lundgren's shrink and Lundgren's tragic past. That is like five more subplots than the movie needs and really Woo cannot make it work, especially when there is too much going on. Still Blackjack has it's moments. The action sequences while watered down for Television consumption has it's degree of punch and Lundgren gives a not too shabby performance. Certainly better than you would expect but really this is only for curious John Woo fans who want to see him make a Hong Kong styled TV movie. It is a combo that doesn't work but at least it isn't because of lack of trying. * * out of 4-(Fair)
