Bullet Points: Black Water
1992’s Universal Soldier was lightning in a bottle. Combining the talents of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren from a business stand point was a smart strategy. Neither Jean-Claude Van Damme or Dolph Lundgren could match the star power of a Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger on their own… but together they could come damn close. Creatively speaking, the combination of Van Damme and Lundgren gave each man a strong personality to play off of and gave action fans a dream match come true. Universal Soldier was a huge step up for Van Damme, whose star was on the rise ever since his breakthrough role in Bloodsport. For Lundgren it was a chance to play a villainous character once again, but unlike his iconic Ivan Drago, a villain with some depth and one that could display a range of emotions.
Fast forward to 2018 and Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren find themselves working together again in Black Water. When I first heard about the movie I was filled with tempered excitement. As a fan of both actors I was anxious to see them in a movie together again. As a realist I knew it wasn’t 1992 anymore and I was not going to get the Van Damme and Lundgren from Universal Soldier. As an optimist, I couldn’t help but wonder what if these two action icons could capture that lightning in a bottle once again…
- How Did I Get Here?: Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Scott Wheeler, an agent with the CIA who finds himself imprisoned on a nuclear submarine that serves as a black site for the CIA. As the movie begins, we see a disoriented Wheeler waking up in his cell on the submarine and having a conversation with a fellow inmate named Marco through the shared wall of their prison cells. Marco is able to shed some light on where Wheeler is… but how did Wheeler get there? We go back a few hours and see a meeting at a motel between Wheeler and his partner Agent Ballard. The two have recovered a flash drive that included valuable information about the sleeper agents the United States had positioned around the globe… information that if it got into the wrong hands would be disastrous and a threat to national security. But before Wheeler and Ballard could complete their mission they find themselves under attack from some masked black ops types who are shooting up the motel the agents were staying at. When Wheeler and Ballard make a run for it, Ballard is gunned down in the parking lot. Wheeler takes off in a pickup truck and calls his contact, who sets up a meeting at a nearby parking garage… but when he gets there, Wheeler finds his contact dead and Wheeler is subdued and drugged by the black ops guys. And the next thing we see is an unconscious Wheeler being loaded up on to the submarine.
- Enter Sandman: The narrative that is being painted is that Wheeler set up his partner Ballard and had gone rogue and was looking to sell the flash drive to an enemy of the United States. The CIA calls in an expert interrogator, Agent Patrick Ferris (Patrick Kilpatrick) to get Wheeler to tell them where he stashed the flash drive and who his buyer was. Tagging along on this interrogation mission is the man who initially recruited Wheeler, Edward Rhodes (Al Sapienza) and his right hand man Kagan. Ferris does not want Rhodes on the sub and questions how he inserted himself to begin with. The bad feeling Ferris has about Rhodes would soon be validated. But before we get to that, lets talk about the interrogation scene… I am not gonna lie, it was pretty awesome seeing Van Damme and Kilpatrick, who worked together in Death Warrant, on opposite ends of the table, squaring off one more time. But just when you think Ferris is going to be the main villain in the film… BANG! He’s dead… and our true villain reveals himself, Agent Edward Rhodes… Rhodes was the one who has a buyer lined up for the flash drive but first he needs to know where the flash drive is. During the skirmish between Rhodes and Ferris… Wheeler manages to escape the interrogation room on the sub, but how far can he get all on his own in a submerged submarine!?
- Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: Rhodes wastes little time recruiting the men who were assigned to guard the prisoners on the submarine, with the promise of them being cut in on the sale of the flash drive. But these prison guards turned mercenaries need to help Rhodes track down Wheeler first and then get him to talk first or nobody is getting any money. Wheeler finds an unlikely ally in the form of rookie agent Cassie Taylor (Jasmine Waltz) who was assigned as additional security on the sub. Cass is not sure who she can trust in this scenario, but her gut tells her to take a leap of faith with Wheeler. At one point, Cass and Wheeler realize that they are going to need some more help as the odds are stacked against them. And that is when Wheeler gets the idea to recruit his fellow inmate, Marco (Dolph Lundgren) to help take out the rogue Rhodes. Marco is German Special Ops, who found himself detained on the submarine for knowing too much… and he is more than happy to engage in some spy games, especially if it means potential freedom.
When it was all said and done, Black Water featured around 15 minutes of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren together on screen. But I can honestly say that Dolph maximized his minutes in this film. The Marco character was a scene stealer and Lundgren looked like he was having a helluva time doing it. But I can also honestly say it was disappointing that there was such a limited interaction between JCVD and Dolph. Black Water proved to be more of a Jean-Claude Van Damme/Jasmine Waltz team up movie, with a special appearance by Dolph Lundgren.
The lack of JCVD/Lundgren aside, Black Water did deliver some solid action scenes and a nice swerve towards the end of the film. Black Water featured an above average supporting cast with Al Sapienza delivering as the CIA snake in the grass and Patrick Kilpatrick also making the most of his limited screen time. Van Damme is a proven action hearo and was well cast as the grizzled CIA veteran. It is exactly the type of character the more grizzled Jean-Claude Van Damme should be playing at this stage in the game.
How about we dive into some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Familiar Face: Rhodes’ right hand man Kagan was played by Kris Van Damme (6 Bullets). With Kris and his dad being on opposite sides in the movie, we get some Van Damme vs. Van Damme action!
- Makes Me Cringe Quote: “You want a man to tell the truth, you put a needle in his eye.” – Ferris
- Working Title: The working title for the film was Submerged.
- Keep Your Pants On: When Wheeler and Ballard meet at the motel we find out that they are partners with benefits. Van Damme did manage to keep his bare ass off the screen. In fact, there is no nudity at all in Black Water.
- Directorial Debut: Black Water was the first film directed by longtime cinematographer Pasha Patriki.
