Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012)

Film Title: Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
Released: September 22, 2012 (Austin Fantastic Fest)
Directed by: John Hyams
Written by: Jon Greenhalgh, John Hyams & Doug Magnuson based on a story by Moshe Diamant & John Hyams based on characters created by Dean Devlin, Christopher Leitch & Richard Rothstein
Starring: Scott Adkins, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren & Andrei Arlovski

Plot: After a man recovers from a severe beating in which his family is murdered in front of him, he goes on a quest to find the one responsible but soon discovers that nothing is what it seems.

IMDb: 5.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 51/100
My Score: 3/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is the sixth film in the Universal Soldier franchise but only the third to be recognized as canonical. John Hyams, director of the previous film Regeneration, returns to helm this entry, which he also co-wrote. Also returning are stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Andrei Arlovski. In past installments, the main character has been Luc Devereaux, usually portrayed by Van Damme, but his time, however, the focus is on series newcomer Scott Adkins. In the opening sequence, filmed in first-person perspective, Adkins is awoken by his young daughter telling him that there are monsters in the house. At the urging of his wife, he searches the house and discovers a group of masked individuals in his kitchen that proceed to viciously beat him with a crowbar. His wife and child are then dragged into his view and one of the assailants (Van Damme) removes his ski-mask before shooting the woman and little girl in the head. Fast forward nine months and Adkins awakens in a hospital from a coma. He is visited by an FBI agent (Rus Blackwell) that asks him if he remembers the attack and the man who killed his family, showing him a picture of a Van Damme for clarification. Adkins is released from the hospital and proceeds to piece together the gaps in his memory, said to be caused by his head injury, and to track down Van Damme for revenge. What follows is bit of fresh air for the franchise but the results fall somewhat short of the intentions, not quite reaching the heights it aims for. A few decent plot twists, which really shouldn't be that surprising to anyone familiar with the series, a couple of excellent fight scenes (the Adkins/Arlovski fight in the sporting goods store is definitely a highlight) and more blood and guts than the entire rest of the series combined try to compensate for the weaker points of the film. Repeated several times is an almost nauseating strobe effect that should be a concern to anyone who suffers from epilepsy and Adkins and female lead Mariah Bonner, who plays a stripper, have zero chemistry. I mentioned in my review for Regeneration that one doesn't watch a Universal Soldier film for depth. As if in response to that criticism, Day of Reckoning attempts not just to be a action film but also a violently gritty psychological thriller full of conspiracies, dilapidated locations and seedy characters, including prostitutes, governments agents and a memorable disfigured guy who has an office inside of a meat locker. Having now watched every film in the series, I realize that the script recycles many tropes from the previous entries, like cloned soldiers, messianic leaders and sleeper UniSol agents infiltrating the government. Not a terrible entry but also not as entirely new as it would appear at first glance.