Harockerce What a beautiful movie!

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Lewis Paterson Ah, Pound of Flesh. Such a criminally cheesy and over-the-top premise - Van Damme gets his kidney stolen and needs to get it back from the scumbag criminals that got in order to save his dying niece. It's a move that seems like it has the perfect foundations to create a JCVD B-movie classic. Unfortunately, the issue with Pound of Flesh is that it falls over itself trying to be more complicated than it needs to be and forgets the basics matter most.The story is as the premise I previously stated - but there's massive deviation along the way, in the form of numerous silly unnecessary plot twists. Honestly, the premise is ridiculous enough on its own that you could just go with it and enjoy the crazy ride. But instead, the creators of this feel the need to convey some sort of depth that isn't done well and isn't even necessary in the first place - it's a DTV Van Damme flick! Keep it simple with Van Damme beating guys to bits in pursuit of his quest and you keep everyone happy. Instead, the film has half-cooked attempts at trying to touch on themes like religion, sacrifice and family loyalty. The "attempts" mainly consist of random plot twists involving these things, with the characters acting in completely unrealistic ways. There's suspension of disbelief and then there's just stupid, and this well crosses the line into stupid.It feels like another one of these DTV action movies where there is no real plan and one scene is created after another - Seagal's poorer DTV material often had this issue, leaving glaring plot holes and characters behaving in irrational or idiotic ways just to further the story somehow. There wasn't many plot holes in this from what I could see, mainly because any attempt at a consistent plot was superseded by crazy twists.It's sad, because for the first half hour or so, everything seems to be going well. An entertaining premise has been established and you're ready for JCVD to go out on the hunt. After that, it seemed the creators didn't know how to properly sustain interest in an action movie during the quieter midsection so plot twists and poor attempts at character development came flooding in.As for the action itself, the best scene is probably the first one, as we see Van Damme performing his martial arts repertoire and beating guys to a pulp. Everything thereafter is never really interesting, with Van Damme doing a bit of gunplay and also MMA but it never really works compared to his classic martial arts routine.Also, this seems to have strong use of green screen in completely unnecessary situations. The main culprit is when Van Damme and other characters are driving in the car - there's a pretty obviously visible green screen outline on the actors. It begs the question, why? You're already filming in the location on the green screen. Why not film them actually driving? It's just another bit of stupidity in a long list.I believe I've said all that needs to be said about this. It's a shame, because the premise is so ridiculous in itself that it could potentially be really entertaining - then they messed up the plot, writing, and direction...this is one to miss.

albrechtcm I don't want to discuss the storyline here because from the start it's off-beat, surprising and entertaining. After so many cinematic dogs that made it look as if Mr. Van Damme's films were going the way of Steven Seagal, this turnaround is arguably one of Mr. Van Dammne's best films. The script is right on, direction tight, and the storyline went off in a really different direction. He has to fight, yes, but not just to show off his acrobatics every other scene. And rather than just another action flick, this has heart and a story that may stick with the viewer. Someone once said that a good story should have an ending that is inevitable, yet still a surprise. I liken a good story to a magician on stage. He places his top hat upside down on a table and goes through his array of tricks, and although you just know it's coming, when at the end he pulls that live rabbit out his hat you're surprised and amazed. In this case, I was expecting to take a step further and really surprise with that rabbit, but still, the ending was quite satisfactory, maybe even better that what I had expected, all things considered. I'd say this is a film any Van Damme fan should have on the shelf. One little thing: Although this was shot, entirely I think, in Canada, it was supposed to be Manila. I've never been there, and I imagine there are a great many people there from China, but in much of the movie, judging from the background and all the signs and passersby, I'd have sworn we were in Hong Kong or some such place. That didn't hurt the film however. I'm just saying....

estebangonzalez10 "What I'm really good at is killing."We all know what Jean-Claude Van Damme is really good at, it's his amazing stunt work and despite his age he continues to be in great physical form. Honestly the only film I'd seen him in after the 90's was The Expendables 2 and he was one of the only redeemable characters in that film. He made over a dozen films since the last time I had seen him in the first Universal Soldier sequel which was about the moment I lost interest in his work. I grew up enjoying his performances in movies like Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Lionheart, and Universal Soldier, but after that his body of work got very repetitive. I don't know why I decided to check out Pound of Flesh considering it has been an eternity since I've seen him in a starring role and the film hasn't received any love from critics or audiences, but I guess I just wanted to see if he was doing anything different. I'm sure the nostalgic factor also kicked in a bit. The film opens with Van Damme waking up in a hotel room naked in a bathtub full of ice. I was immediately reminded of the scene in Universal Soldier and I kind of guessed from the second the story began that this was going to be just another Van Damme vehicle. We get some strange flashbacks (done with cheap effects) where he recalls spending the night with a woman he had saved and everything begins to come back to him slowly. He was drugged by this woman (Charlotte Peters) and now he discovers that his kidney has been removed. The first thing Deacon does is call an old friend, Kung (Aki Aleong), who immediately shows up to offer his assistance. This is where we are told Deacon is in the Philippines visiting his brother, George (John Ralston), and Kung insists that he let things go considering the black market is very dangerous in the region. Deacon will not let it go because the reason for his visit was to donate his kidney to his dying niece. So the quest for his missing kidney begins as he decides to return to the bar where he met the woman and try to connect things from there on. Darren Shahlavi plays the villain who will do what it takes to keep Deacon off his tracks. With a few exceptional moments where Van Damme gets to use his martial art abilities and prove he can still split his legs, Pound of Flesh is incredibly dull and cringeworthy. The dialogue in this film is incredibly stupid and Aleong's character is only introduced to explain the situation and to give us some background on who Deacon is. The film is basically a conventional revenge film with a low production value and some absurd revelations. The pacing of the film dragged whenever they tried to force the relationship between the two brothers which wasn't interesting despite the fact that the story depended on it to build the tension. I think I've already written too much about a film that never put any effort into trying to deliver a quality revenge film. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

Dr_Sagan The premise of "Pound of Flesh" is interesting to say the least. It's difficult to describe the plot without any spoilers. It unfolds in every scene. It's not a "mystery" per se, but if you think you have the usual revenge type b-seagal-movie you are mistaken.Overall it is good for what it is. I liked the pace (not too hasty or abrupt), I liked the direction and editing, and the plot/script is good enough.Van Damme got old, as it was expected. We see his trademark feet open 180 degrees as in many of his movies, but the stuntman was obvious in a few scenes. The green screen used in many scenes, including many scenes inside a van are distracting but I wouldn't insist on that as a serious flaw.The newcomer (her 1st movie) Charlotte Peters has an interesting look that maybe give her some good roles in the near future but she need lots of training in her acting (despite the fact that she went to Drama Studio London, a prestigious drama school based in England).The conclusion, that I won't spoil you, is satisfying, something that lack many movies nowadays.My recommendation: Check it out. Is better than the 5 average you see here. I gave it a 8 to boost it a little. Might not worth such a high score but I think is better than other recent movies of Jean-Claude.