Replicant (2001)

• Year: 2001
• Released: 11 May 2001
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 2 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238552/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/replicant
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
• Runtime: 100 min
• Writer: Lawrence Riggins, Les Weldon
• Director: Ringo Lam
• Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, Catherine Dent

	5.3/10
	27% – Critics
	36% – Audience

Replicant Storyline

Edward “The Torch” Garrotte is a serial killer who has a penchant for killing women and then setting them on fire. Another pattern to his murders is the fact that the women are all mothers. Jake Riley is a Seattle police detective who has spent three years trying to stop Garrotte. Just days before Jake’s retirement, Garrotte strikes again, but Jake is off the case. A secret government agency hires Jake as a consultant on a project they have been working on. They have cloned Garrotte from evidence found at a crime scene, and they need Jake to help train this replicant (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who has some genetic memories from Garrotte, plus a telepathic link with him, but the replicant is like a newborn in many other respects. The Replicant has the body of a 40-year-old, but the mind of a child. Jake’s job is to help use the Replicant track Garrotte down by using the memories stored in Garrotte’s DNA. As the Replicant and Riley work to track Garrotte down, tension is constant. Jake feels that the Replicant could turn on him at any moment, because Jake thinks Garrotte’s killer instinct may take over and dictate the Replicant’s tendencies. The Replicant tries to understand the world and life, and tries to understand his connection with Garrotte. The replicant also tries to understand why Jake treats him so roughly. As they work together, the Replicant views Jake as either a friend or as family. Though Jake abuses him, the Replicant looks to him for protection and guidance as the two try to find Garrotte and stop him once and for all.

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Replicant Movie Reviews

So original…Van Damme plays dual roles…just like he did in three other films!

“Replicant” is a Jean Claude Van Damme movie that lost a ton of money at the box office. I don’t think it’s because it’s among his worst films (“Street FIghter” was godawful but did better box office)…I think it’s because it’s so unoriginal. After all, the die-hard Van Damme lovers are bound to notice that this is the fourth movie of his where he played dual roles! Four?!! Yep…four times. And I think he just went to the well too many times with this plot device.

The plot to “Replicant” is pretty dumb…bear with me while I explain it. Detective Jake Riley (Michael Rooker) has spend years trying to arrest a serial killer (Van Damme) and he’s about to retire….and is disgusted because he never caught the guy. Soon some government agents approach Riley….telling them he can help him find the killer by using their new secret weapon…a clone. Apparently, they can make clones which look exactly like the original…though HOW the clone is not a baby but a man is confusing. What’s more confusing is that the clone has some of the original’s memories…and regains more as the movie progresses. The scientist explains that ‘memories are contained in the DNA’…no, they really are NOT…this is ludicrous.

What’s also ludicrous is that the Feds give the clone of the killer to Riley to use! Now this guy is supposed to be the very first clone…and they just give it to Riley1 And, Riley treats him worse than a dog….which makes no sense as he looks like a killer but isn’t one. You can only assume the replicant will become evil as well…but as a result of Riley’s abuse. Oddly, however, the replicant seems nice and is bent on stopping his twin…at least at first. Why? I have no idea. What also is odd is that they do very little to teach the replicant to walk, talk and reason….but after a while, he seems to just start doing this on his own. It makes you wonder who writes this stuff AND do they really think the audience would buy it? Well, for the latter, apparently they didn’t!

The best thing I can say about this is that it IS better than “Street Fighter”….faint praise indeed! The plot is really dumb and the film will likely make you laugh…unintentionally so.

Double the acting, double the action (?)

I completely had forgotten about this! Another one of the movies where you get twice the Damme! For those who don’t a Damme, but two … silly jokes aside, this is more on the serious side (this is not Double Team or anything in that silly realm). And another showcase that Jean Claude actually can act – not that many of his movies/characters had him do that or challenged him to do that.

Story is pretty simple (well if you can suspend your disbelief), but with the added weight of Michael Rooker, who brings quite the gravitas to the role he portrays, you get quite a lot for your entertainment. Add to that, that while there have been better or more crazy stunts, you can see and feel that there is impact on many things – literally! Like walls, staircases and so forth! Kudos to the actors but even more so the stunt man on this! I may be a bit biased (always liked van Damme, even though he apparently had some very dark Demons), but I think you can have so much fun with this – if you let yourself go and just enjoy the romp and ride

Good Van Damme, Bad Van Damme

We begin brutally, with the assault of an attractive and barely-dressed young woman. A scraggly-haired killer beats the woman, then sets her on fire. Her baby is spared, but must witness the incident. It is committed by the first of star Jean-Claude Van Damme’s dual roles in this film – he is Edward Garrotte, known as “The Torch” for setting his victims on fire. Let’s call him “Bad Van Damme “. A serial killer, Bad Van Damme delights in tormenting the Seattle, Washington Police Department. He even calls detective Michael Rooker (as Jacob “Jake” Riley) to boast. After over three years of trying to capture Bad Van Damme, Mr. Rooker has reached the end of the line. Unexpectedly, Rooker decides to end his retirement when a top secret government group hires him to hunt Bad Van Damme…

Rooker is given an unusual new partner – “Replicant”. This man may be the clone of Bad Van Damme and appears to share psychic powers with his twin. Let’s call him “Good Van Damme” (relatively speaking). Born looking exactly as his adult counterpart, but with a neater hairstyle, Good Van Damme learns gymnastics by watching TV. He does it better than sitting or standing. Despite his mastery of gymnastics, Good Van Damme appears to have the mind of a small child. Rooker starts out disciplining him violently, because Good Van Damme reminds him of Bad Van Damme. Rooker and Good Van Damme go after Bad Van Damme, but the relationship between the three gets complicated. You’ll have to watch to see if Good Van Damme stays good and helps Rooker capture Bad Van Damme…

The violent interaction between the three muscular men is directed by Ringo Lam. He does a fine job moving the story and keeping the level of excitement high – but the emphasis is on violent action and thinly-reasoned martial arts cloning. There is only a sketchy match-up between the mechanics and story. We don’t really know what martial arts has to do with cloning; possibly, the original Van Damme studied the arts before letting his hair grow and killing bad mothers. The character played by Rooker is also very violent, which is never explained – or even addressed properly in the film. Note how quickly Rooker beats up his partner after he assumes the handcuffed man attacked a boy. Rooker is not only wrong, but also does nothing that would have helped the kid or brought back his Popsicle.

***** Replicant (5/11/01) Ringo Lam ~ Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, Catherine Dent, Ian Robison