Bullet Points: Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business
In July of 2020, I reviewed Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms and while the made for TV sequel to the 1992 original was not without its faults and is likely a movie that I will never watch again, I also realized that I had chosen a path that there was no turning back from. In fact I even stated in that review…”If Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business rears its ugly head on a streaming service, you can be certain I will watch it and review it.”
Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business has in fact reared its ugly head both on Tubi and Plex and I did watch it and now I am about to review it…
- Deja Vu: The first two minutes of the movie is devoted to a quick recap of the events of Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms including the big revelation that Luc Devreaux (Matt Battaglia) not only had an older brother, Eric (Jeff Wincott, Martial Law II: Undercover), but that Eric was the first attempt at creating a Universal Soldier. Unfortunately, Eric does not survive the events of Brothers in Arms and it is at Eric’s gravesite where Luc promises to find the men responsible for the Universal Soldier program and make them pay for what they have done to the Devreaux Family…
- Party Crasher: Luc (aka GR44) is not going to be able to expose the Universal Soldier program on his own, but fortunately he once again has former reporter/current fugitive Veronica Roberts (Chandra West) at his side. The duo find themselves in Toronto, where Veronica is looking to connect with a former co-worker/boyfriend, Charles, who is in Toronto covering the Cyber Wealth Summit. Veronica gets in posing as a cocktail waitress and tells Charles what could be the story of a lifetime if they can get the proof they need… but Veronica is not the only one who crashed the party, it turns out three terrorists have infiltrated the event with plans to hold all the wealthy party goers hostage. Those plans change quickly when Luc comes in after Veronica and the terrorist situation is quickly diffused… which attracts some media attention and the Mentor of the UniSol program’s attention too.
- Out of the Shadows: The Mentor as he is credited was played by Burt Reynolds reprising his role from Brothers in Arms, where he remained mostly in the shadows. This time around The Mentor (who is also the Director of the CIA) is front and center and re-stockpiling the Universal Soldier inventory for his own nefarious means. But first, The Mentor needs the UniSols to eliminate Veronica Roberts and GR44! The UniSol on UniSol violence ramps up the action, but even with the numbers against them, Luc and Veronica manage to escape certain doom… but The Mentor has one more trick up his sleeve!
- Attack of the Clone: The Mentor has ordered that Eric Devreaux be cloned. We get to watch the rapid progression of Clone Eric from infant to child to full grown Jeff Wincott throughout the movie. But more importantly as we near the end of the move we get to watch brother vs. brother… or at least GR87 kick GR44’s ass until Luc is able to jog Eric’s memory. Then the doctor who “raised” Clone Eric, hits the self-destruct button so in a matter of minutes we are robbed of not only a brotherly showdown, but a reunion where the brothers go and destroy the UniSol program once and for all. Instead we get a rooftop confession from The Mentor that unbeknownst to him is airing live… I am no TV expert but I think you need a satellite truck to make that happen and there was no satellite truck to be found.
Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business ends on a bit of a cliffhanger as sleeper UniSols are activated… this was done because the intent of the two Universal Soldier made for TV movies was to lay the groundwork for a weekly series, where presumably Luc and Veronica would have to combat these sleeper UniSols… which sounds like it would have gotten old quick.
But the series never materialized and it is really no surprise. Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms was no masterpiece so the bar was already set pretty low. But things still managed to go downhill in Unfinished Business… I could only imagine the series would be completely unwatchable by episode 3 or 4 and I am probably being generous.
My generosity knows no bounds, because I am about to give you all the gift of some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Extradition: When Veronica and Luc are in Toronto, wanted fugitive Veronica is galivanting around in plain view of anyone and everyone. Luc points out that she should be laying low… but she thinks because they are in Canada she is safe. Ever hear of the extradition treaty Veronica?
- Flashbacks: We find out in a series of flashbacks that Luc Devreaux and The Mentor go way back, all the way back to Vietnam.
- Golden Harvest: The Mentor’s diabolical plan is named Operation Golden Harvest. Every time that Operation Golden Harvest was mentioned in Universal Soldier III, I couldn’t help but wish I was watching a classic movie produced by Golden Harvest instead. Possibly The Big Boss or Wheels on Meal or maybe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- If The Song Fits, Play It: One of the songs on the Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business soundtrack was “Trash” by Merlin… a fitting song indeed.
