Alain returns to the
United States in search of ties to Mikhail’s friends and family
– the Russian mafia. Mobster nerves are instantly rattled
when Mikhail is seen alive and well, and his gorgeous girlfriend
Alex (Natasha Henstridge), who can’t wait to get reacquainted
(“Don’t even think about going to sleep – we’ve
got a lot of catching up to do”), whisks him away to safety.
But Alain isn’t afraid to wield appalling aggression to stop
or interrogate those who stand in his way, making him an unusually
violent antihero. Without a moment’s peace, guns blaze, knives
are brandished, car chases ensue, traitors surface, and shady FBI
agents descend upon Alain and Alex, who quickly realize that everyone
is out to kill them.
“Parents always lie to their children to prepare them for
how they’ll be treated by the government,” explains
Sebastien, Alain’s cop friend in France. While the dialogue
remains appropriately cheesy, the chases are clearly above standard,
the fight sequences are intense and expertly choreographed, and
Natasha Henstridge’s nude scene is perfectly placed. Whether
demolishing a strip joint, repeatedly wrestling an impossibly
large blond henchman (who won’t die hard), careening through
New York in stolen vehicles, and fighting in burning buildings
and bathhouses, Van Damme proves that although he isn’t
much for words (he does manage to apologize when stealing vehicles),
he sure knows how to kick ass.
Perhaps the most interesting scene in Maximum Risk is the bathhouse
fight, which almost certainly influenced (if only on a subconscious
level) Cronenberg’s unbelievable bathhouse skirmish in Eastern
Promises. Another moment later on proves to exist just to meet
action film quotas - while Alain and Alex are prisoners, instead
of plotting their escape, they make time for a steamy love scene.
And finally the conclusion spontaneously takes place in a location
that can only be described as a throwback to The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre. Although director Ringo Lam made practically nothing
else in the U.S. (he hails from Hong Kong), he’s proven
that excellent action sequences go a long way to tie together
a no-holds-barred adventure film, even if the plot is more or
less irrelevant.
- Mike Massie
