ABC Film Challenge – Action – B – The Bouncer (2018) Movie Review
Director: Julien Leclercq
Writer: Julien Leclercq (Screenplay)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sami Bouajila, Sveva Alviti, Sam Louwyck, Kevin Janssens, Kaaris
Plot: A nightclub bouncer in his fifties who’s taken punches, literally and figuratively, struggles to raise his 8-year-old daughter.
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Bouncer starts as we follow a bouncer Lukas (Van Damme) a single father in his fifties that looks to take a new role for a dangerous man. Which will find himself being put past the typical bouncer duties he was expecting. As he ends up helping complete criminal activities. With his own daughter being used a leverage to get the job done.
Thoughts on The Bouncer
The Bouncer is an action drama going in a different direction than you would expect, being darker than you would imagine. As the cold underworld doesn’t seem like it has an easy out, there are no one-liners, just fights and walking away.
This works in two ways, making it look a lot more interesting in the darker world. It does seem to make a lot of the film, feel a lot more lifeless with what is going on. The action sequences are simply enough. Van Damme is everything you would expect for his role and his more serious side works very well for the film. The supporting cast are solid enough, without getting enough time to shine. This is a simple and easy to watch action film, leaning heavily towards the drama of life problems.
Final Thoughts – The Bouncer is an interesting twist of the typical action movies you would expect Van Damme to be in.
