Curt
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
Prismark10
AWOL also known as Lionheart shows us Van Damme just on the cusp of hitting stardom. By this time he had a loyal following for what were low budget martial arts films that got a loyal following on VHS and did well in the fledgling satellite movie channels market.Lyon Gaultier (Van Damme) escapes his post in Djibouti with the French Foreign Legion when his brother is set on fire by drug dealers in LA. His brother's wife rebuffs him and and two agents are pursuing him to drag him back to the Foreign Legion.Once in the USA he stumbles into the underground fight scene which he quickly becomes successful at and soon enlists a street hustler as a manager, Joshua (Harrison Page) who gives him the nickname Lionheart.His success attracts the attention of a fight promoter Cynthia (Deborah Rennard) who gets Lyon for several no holds barred street fights. However it seems the real action is on the side bets and although he is her champion she is not averse to betting against him.Lyon in the meantime is trying to get money together for his sister in law and his niece for which Joshua is used to inform them that its proceeds from an insurance policy.The film has several good action sequences allowing Van Damme to display some of his signature moves. You have fight scenes set in an underground car park and more memorably in a half empty swimming pool. The combat scenes are well choreographed with even some humour thrown in in the final segment.The storyline is rather so-so and the script is just about passable. If in doubt the writers put some cursing in. Van Damme's acting would get better in time but here its still weak. You can see how even a few years later Dolph Lundgren would out-act him in Universal Soldier.Still there is enough fight scenes allowing Van Damme to excel at what he does best. Rennard best known for years as JR Ewing's loyal secretary Sly in Dallas provides sassiness as the scheming fight promoter.
utgard14
Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a guy named Lyon who deserts from the French Foreign Legion to come to America and help his brother's widow and daughter. They're broke and about to be evicted so Lyon becomes an underground fighter called Lionheart to make money for them. The action is good, although most of the fights are forgettable. Van Damme kicks the teeth out of anything that moves, including a goon named Attila. His acting is decent, even though his accent still gives rise to some chuckles at times ("Ellen, you and Neekal, we family. You my only family!"). Harrison Page is lots of fun as Van Damme's foul-mouthed homeless buddy. Predictable and all that, but still a good time. Action fans should like it. It's one of Van Damme's best.
Comeuppance Reviews
Lyon Gaultier (Van Damme) is a member of the French Foreign Legion serving in North Africa. When he receives word his brother is in trouble, he asks for some time off, but his superiors say no. So he deserts the desert, stows away on a ship and ends up in New York City without a penny to his name. The problem is, he needs to get to L.A. While walking the streets, he sees an underground Punchfighting match and decides to get involved. That's where he meets Eldridge (Page), a small-time promoter who takes a liking to him. Through Eldridge, Lyon begins making money through higher-class fights created by Cynthia (Rennard) and Russell (Thompson AKA Yahoots Magoondi). All Lyon wants to do is give the money to his destitute sister-in-law (Pelikan) and her five-year-old daughter Nicole (Johnson). Nicole ends up viewing Lyon as a father figure and loving him. But, as always, there's "one last fight" and this one's a killer: Attila (Abdel Qissi) is a brute favored to beat Lyon. On top of all that, two of his superior officers from the Legion have been tasked to bring him back, one of which is Hartog (Goric of Code Name: Zebra, 1987 fame). Will Lyon be Lionhearted enough to figure all this out? Devised by Van Damme and frequent collaborator Sheldon Lettich, Lionheart has many of the hallmarks of classic-era Van Damme: it went to the movie theater, it's 100 minutes or more, there's at least one scene of JCVD nudity, he punches and kicks a lot of people, and he wears some silly outfits. It may contain all the elements, but it seems something is missing with Lionheart. Maybe it's that Lyon isn't that likable, and the lack of overall character development. To be fair, Harrison Page puts in a lot of much-needed energy, and his role is basically the one played by Adolph Caesar in The Hitter (1979) - a movie which clearly laid the groundwork for this.It's funny, Lyon isn't in NYC for more than a few minutes before he sees the bumfighting/Punchfighting going on with all the action and people waving their money around. Then again, you have to remember that this was before Giuliani got rid of all the Punchfighting. Once Lyon gets to L.A. and takes on all comers, we see not just poolfighting, but also racquetball court-fighting. I guess something had to fill the space after the 80's trend ended. It was nice of the Y to allow that. In the poolfighting scene, both fighters are wearing skintight black wrestling singlets, so it's hard to tell them apart. We can only assume this is the same one Van Damme wore when he was in Breakin' (1984). The way the whole thing is shot is very reminiscent of the "Schmitt's Gay" sketch on Saturday Night Live.Besides the fact that it's very dumb, another problem with Lionheart is that there is no one, clear villain. It's just a series of fighters. Sure, Yahoots Magoondi is here at his Yahootiest, but it's just not enough. The cast is impressive and they do their best - even Billy Blanks and Jeff Speakman appear in tiny "blink and you'll miss them" roles. Attila seems to be the closest thing to a main bad guy, but he only shows up in the final minutes of the film. And he's a dead ringer for Gene Simmons, so it's hard to take him overly seriously as a guy who will break every bone in your body.As for the music, there's some classic 80's-style sax, of course, and there are musical cues that sound a lot like "There's No Easy Way Out" and "Eye of the Tiger" - but just barely escape copyright infringement. As JCVD is jogging in a gray sweatsuit no less. No Rocky Parallels there. The end song, "No Mercy" by Bill Wray stands out as a winner in the classic action movie AOR style. It should have been used during a training montage in the movie though, not just during the credits. But there is a shopping montage, and those are always fun.In all, Lionheart is standard, middle-of-the-road Van Damme. Fans will surely appreciate it, but newcomers to action movies shouldn't start with it.
movieman_kev
In this one the Muscles from Brussels stars as Leon, a foreign legion deserter who gets mixed up with no holds barred underground fighting at first to make a phone call then to give his sister-in-law some much needed money after her husband, his brother is murdered.If one thinks too hard about the pol of the film, it seems utterly ridiculous. But for an action flick it fits the bill quite nicely. Van Damme kicks a lot of butt and doesn't care. The film lulls a bit after he gets to LA, but picks back up before long. All in all a decent watch, but rather dumb, an enjoyable kind of dumb though.My grade: C+
