Bullet Points: The Hard Corps
Looking back at my decades of Jean-Claude Van Damme fandom and I realize that his movies fall into one of four categories for me…
- There are the classic JCVD movies I have seen countless times like Bloodsport, Kickboxer and Lionheart.
- There are the JCVD movies that I have seen a handful of times like The Quest, Black Eagle and Desert Heat.
- There are the JCVD movies that at this point have been “one and done” with me like Kill ‘Em All, In Hell and Double Team.
- And there are even a few JCVD movies that I have never seen!
One movie that until recently fell into that last category was 2006’s The Hard Corps…
- Beacon of Light: Former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Wayne Barclay (Razaaq Adoti, Second in Command) has parlayed his success in the ring to success in the business world. Barclay is using the fortune he has amassed from his boxing days and business ventures and giving back to the community. Barclay is seemingly living his best life and making sure others are too when the bad news breaks…
- Rotten to the Core: Rap mogul/gangster Terrell Singletary (Viv Leacock) who was sentenced to 8 years in prison, finds himself getting paroled in just 18 months. It was Wayne Barclay’s that put Singletary away in the first place and given Singletary’s reputation for violence, members of Wayne’s inner circle are concerned most notably Wayne’s sister Tamara (Vivica A. Fox, Independence Day) and Wayne’s head of security, Mullins (Peter Bryant, The Package). Tamara wants to beef up her Wayne’s security despite her brother’s objections.
- Fresh Start: Mullins reaches out to an old Army buddy, Clarence Bowden a call and see if he’d be interested in doing some security work. Clarence agrees and knows a fellow vet that could certainly use a fresh start, Philippe Sauvage (Jean-Claude Van Damme). Phil is suffering from PTSD after his time in Iraq and living in a VA hospital when Clarence pays him a visit and convinces Phil to come with him to a meeting about the security gig. Something about Phil rubs Tamara the wrong way at the meeting and that does not go unnoticed by Phil, but Clarence and Phil are still offered a trial run as Wayne’s security for an event Wayne and his entourage will be attending at a hip hop club downtown.
- Trial Run: First off, if you ever wanted to see JCVD stick out like a sore thumb at a hip hop club, then The Hard Corps is the movie for you… but by the end of the evening Phil has a lot worse problems than fitting in. Singletary orders a drive by to take out Wayne when he leaves the club that night… Phil does his job and is able to get Wayne and Tamara into their vehicle unscathed… but Phil’s friend Clarence is not that lucky. After the funeral for Clarence, Wayne offers Phil a job with him, which would entail Phil moving out of the VA and onto the Barclay estate. That’s about the time that Detective Teague (Ron Bottitta) interrupts and arrests Phil for the automatic weapon he used the night of Clarence’s shooting.
- Movin’ on Up: Good thing for Phil he now has some wealthy friends that can bail him out of jail. At this point the relationship between Phil and Tamara starts to evolve as the two get to know each other more. Wayne is not a fan of this budding romance… but remember there’s bigger fish to fry here… like the fact that Terrell Singletary wants Wayne dead! That means everyone in Camp Barclay is going to have to get on the same page if they hope to stand a chance against Singletary and his crew… especially after Singletary has Tamara kidnapped setting up the final showdown between Barclay and Singletary!
The Hard Corps is a hard movie to hate, but it is also a hard movie to really love, so watching it once if you are a JCVD fan is probably more than enough.
If I had to put my finger on what prevented this movie from being better than it was, I would say it was the movie’s villain, Terrell Singletary. I get that there is a code of the street and “snitches get stitches” and that Singletary was probably blinded by his hate for Wayne Barclay. Maybe Singletary’s lust for vengeance would have made more sense in my eyes if he served all eight years in prison and when he got out he had lost his hip hop empire. Instead he served 18 months and was right back to living in the lap of luxury. Somebody in his crew really needed to pull him aside and say “Get over yourself Terrell”. Although *SPOILER ALERT* Singletary did meet a pretty epic demise.
If you lust for Bonus Bullet Points the way that Terrell Singletary lusted for revenge, you are in luck…
- Reunited: Jean-Claude Van Damme reunited with Director Sheldon Lettich for The Hard Corps. Van Damme and Lettich had previously worked together in Lionheart, Double Impact and The Order.
- Extreme Punishment: One of the shooters who failed to kill Wayne Barclay when he left the club the night of Phil’s trial run was fed to Singletary’s attack dogs.
- Personal Question: “When’s the last time you had your ham glazed?” – Clarence
- Montage Alert: You don’t take a gym full of boxers and turn them into The Hard Corps security force without a montage and The Hard Corps delivers a one two montage punch.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Jean-Claude Van Damme and Vivica A. Fox shoot pool, then The Hard Corps is the movie for you.
