Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 02/14/2007 Summary: nothing is as it seems. It seems that as Jean-Claude Van Damme continues to re-invent himself by working with Tsui Hark, the director is busy exploring new frontiers of digital effects and cinematography. Cameras shoot down and through gun sights. One shot takes the POV of a foot entering a shoe! He is stepframing action shots and entire sequences. Many of the visual delights that he showed us in the vastly underrated Double Team last year are carried to some extreme effects in Knock Off. This time Hark is working from a better script that was written by Hollywood action veteran Steven E. deSouza. Van Damme is cast as a "king of knock offs" living and working in Hong Kong. A "knock off" is a counterfeit, or copy, of any kind of legit merchandise, e.g., all types of clothing, toys, handbags, watches, sneakers. Beyond that premise, the plot is very convoluted, involving CIA, Russian Mafia, HK Police, local Triad bosses , and British Navy! If you are thinking to yourself that this sounds like dozens of mainstream HK films you have seen, you would be right. In this movie, nothing is as it seems. With Van Damme, you must realize his limitations and this viewer accepts it at face value. He is no Lawrence Olivier. As for the supporting cast, whoever decided Rob Schnieder should be in this motion picture should be punished with "extreme prejudice". It is my opinion that HE ruins what otherwise would have been a wildly entertaining film. Michael Wong is in the film as a hardnosed HK cop but I got the sense that a lot of his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. Paul Sorvino is cast as a renegade CIA chief and does a great job as one nasty S.O.B. Knock Off has 2 tour-de-force action sequences that stand out in a film that really is a non-stop action thriller. The first is a rickshaw pulling race that involves a whole bunch of crazy twists and turns. VD is running in the race in a pair a knock-off Puma's so badly made they fall apart as he runs. The 2nd sequence takes place on a huge barge, full of shipping containers, as it runs out of control in HK harbor. The containers are full of [you guessed it!] knock-offs which have been fitted with miniature explosive devices. All of this taking place as the British are handing over the former colony to the Chinese. What made this film interesting to me is the way the director treats the background story. Hong Kong is such an interesting piece of real estate that is filled with so many exciting visuals. Hark photographs the people of the streets[and the actor's who he blends in so remarkablely]and the city itself with a dignity that is astounding. His eyes are on fire as he paints with his camera, capturing the city at this important time in its history. Copyright © 1998 J. Crawford Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 01/08/2006 Summary: 8/10 - sly and stylish Tsui Hark's career took a serious down turn when he decided to try his chances in Hollywood. To be fair though, this seems to be true of pretty much everybody that decides to try a career in Hollywood. Tsui got off to a bad start when he was teamed up with Jean Claude Van Damme (an indignity every HK director seems to have to suffer on arrival in the US) to make the movie DOUBLE TEAM. I haven't seen DT, but it seems to be universally despised. However, so is KNOCK OFF for the most part, which I find to be very unfair as it has a lot to offer. To properly appreciate the film, however, one has to take it in the proper context. One has to realise that Tsui Hark realised he was not going to be taken seriously in Hollywood, and would probably be consigned to cheesy action B-movies for ever if he stayed. I have no doubt he already planned to return to Hong Kong when he made KNOCK OFF, and decided to have a little fun first - and channel a lot of Hollywood money into Hong Kong hands at the same time. Keeping this in mind whilst watching the film reveals a whole level to it that I suspect most viewers do not appreciate. It's clear that the script for the movie is rather absurd, but quite cleverly so. The concept of the Russians trying to take over the world by fitting miniature bombs in knock off children's toys is not one that was ever meant to be taken very seriously. Having the Russians as the main villlains is a quaintly out-dated set up, but the real interest is in the backdrop, where Tsui shows a little love for the people of Hong Kong and worries about the hand over to China in 1997. He also decides to have a little fun at the expense of Van Damme, who is given a rather ridiculous role that makes fun of his usual image (perhaps this is why Van Damme fans don't like the movie? Though VD himself seems quite a willing participant in the fun-poking). Rob Schneider is quite amusing but dangerously annoying as the comedy side kick, whilst Lela Rochon is particularly attractive as the primary glamour interest (who also kicks no small amount of ass). Few woman sharing a movie with Carmen Lee could come away looking good, but she manages it. The rest of the cast are an assortment of anonymous alleged russians and CIA agents, and some familiar Hong Kong faces round out most of the rest of the cast. Tsui Hark handles the script tightly, sticking close to its B-movie heart but using it to set up some fun and playful scenes. It should all be taken a little tongue in cheek - those that have seen Tsui Hark's better works should appreciate that straight away. As well as fun with the script and with JCVD, Tsui Hark also decides to have a *lot* of fun with his camera. Hyperkinetic camera work has always been his trademark, and here he decides to hold nothing back. There are some amazingly sophisticated and inventive shots and movements, giving the film a unique visual style (that Tsui revisited and expanded on when he returned to Hong Kong and made TIME AND TIME). It is for the visionary camerawork that the movie should really be seen. There's also some pretty good action though, well above the average for Jean Claude Van Damme - thanks to Sammo Hung and Yuen Bun's involvement as the 2nd unit crew, no doubt. JCVD is usually something of a one-trick pony, and has barely a 10th of the physical agility and skill of his Asian contemporaries. The action directors manage to use him well here though, and the camerawork makes him look far better than he's ever done before. It's a sad fact that most of the people that watch KNOCK OFF will probably be Jean Claude Van Damme fans, because to be honest anybody that thinks JCVD is a good martial artist probably doesn't have the experience to appreciate a Tsui Hark film. On the other hand, many Tsui Hark fans will avoid KNOCK OFF because of the presence of Jean Claude Van Damme. This is a shame, as it's really more a Tsui Hark film than a Van Damme film. Whilst it may be Van Damme's best movie, few would dream of arguing that it's Tsui Hark's best, despite his inventiveness being in pretty good shape. It's still broadly bound by the limits of a Hollywood action movie, though, and no match for works like ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA or THE BLADE. It would be nice to imagine that his time in Hollywood would lead to more Americans appreciating his groundbreaking Hong Kong movies, but I doubt that it has. Still, the movie is recommended for Tsui Hark fans. Not his best, but delivers plenty of entertainment none-the-less. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Libretio Date: 10/15/2005 Summary: Huge fun, and crazy as hell! KNOCK OFF (1998) Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Super 35) Sound formats: Dolby Digital / SDDS A Hong Kong fashion designer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) becomes embroiled in terrorism and extortion when his latest collection is replaced by counterfeit goods containing miniature bombs... Tsui Hark's US swan song is an outrageous one-fingered salute to the action subgenre, as loud and excessive as anything he's ever done before. Working with Steven E. DeSouza's tongue-in-cheek script, Tsui pushes the cinematic envelope in every conceivable direction, employing crazy camerawork (by Arthur Wong) and rapid-fire editing (by Marco Mak) to batter the audience into total submission. Set amidst the pomp and ceremony of the 1997 handover, the movie combines left-field story development with top-notch stuntwork, choreographed by action director Yuen Bun and 2nd unit director Sammo Hung (watch out for the hair-raising scene in which Van Damme is cornered by dozens of blade-wielding gangsters in a cramped factory). Performances are entirely serviceable, with Van Damme the stoic hunk who solves problems by punching first and asking questions later (fabulous work by stunt doubles Todd Senofonte and Alex Kuzelicki), leaving co-stars Rob Schneider and Lela Forchon trailing in his wake! Paul Sorvino is the villain (*there's* a big surprise!), while Michael Wong and Moses Chan take up much of the slack in vital supporting roles. Leslie Cheung (yes, *that* Leslie Cheung!!) is listed in the closing credits as 'Young Worker (Skinny Freight)', but this reviewer was unable to spot him. Great fun from start to finish, and arguably the best of Van Damme's collaborations with top HK personnel. Cool song over the closing credits, too! (English dialogue) Reviewer Score: 6