Pound Of Flesh

The medical industry is big buisness. New medecines, new medical treatmens, alternative methods to help patients get the help they need. Since i work in health care, you hear every year about different treatments, depending on what the diagnose is. I can tell you this, after working almost 17 years in health care, no patient is the same. They may have diagnoses that remind us of something similar, but there are many different versions of one diagnose, so you learn something new. One of the keys that i always bring to the patients i work with, is to have a good sense of humour. I have learned after all these years, that comedy is very important. Also treat every person with respect, no matter if the patient is in a bad mood. You learn to find your own way in health care, and see what you can bring into this important job. Speaking of health care, there are some major problems in many areas. One of those areas are organ donations. A lot of patients need help, and the lists of new patients just keep growing, so what happens when someone takes advantage of this situation ? They make big money, getting kidneys ( as an example ) or any other part of the body, and sell them to anyone who is willing to pay. The big problem with this, is that since this is illegal, anyhything can go wrong. The doctors paid to do the job may make mistakes, or the patient might suffer from major injuries, because of unprofessional surgeons.  Just look at Mexico, where this happens all the time. Money talks, and the people who are forced to agree on giving away their organs, only do it for the money. But what if you wake up and find out, someone stole your kidney, and you did not even know about it ? This is something we will experience in this film, with legendary actor Jean - Claude Van Damme. You all know this legend, Van Damme, with his classic films Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Universal Soldier, and many more. Nowdays he continue to release action films, and he still works very hard, to deliver different stories. He might be older, but he is in good shape, and knows that action films is what he is best at doing. Van Damme keep making action films, and it seems that he tries to release different stories, with his classic hard kicking concept that we are all familiar with. Pound Of Flesh is one of the films i got a chance to finally take a look at, a film that was supposed to be released a long time ago. After years of speculation, and when the film was finally going to be released, it finally got distribution to get a worldwide release. I grew up watching all of Van Damme´s classic action films, so of course i had to check if he still can deliver in his own unique way. Is Pound Of Flesh a step into a new direction for this legendary action star, or should he have stayed with his old school usual releases ?

In Manilla, Philippines, Deacon ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ) wakes up in an ice cold bathtub, filled with ice. He is weak, and feel very dizzy. He have no idea what happened to him, but he notice that his hotel bed is filled with blood. Once he checks his body in the mirror, he can tell someone made surgery on him. His kidney is stolen, and he finds that someone have left him a note, and some money, for the kidney. Deacon have flashbacks, that he met with a woman in a street alley, and followed her to a bar. He can only remember that they had sex, but everything after that is blurry. Deacon gets a visit from his friend Kung ( Aki Aleong ), who finds out that Deacon´s kidney have been stolen. He promise to help him, to find out who is behind this cruel act. Deacon´s brother George ( John Ralston ) comes to visit Deacon also, and see that his brother is injured badly. George want to help Deacon, while Deacon feel that he can handle this on his own. Things become more complicated, when Deacon and Kung is told that George´s daughter Isabella ( Adele Baughan ) is in need of a new kidney, or she could die from her medical condition. Deacon is determined to find who is guilty, and save his niece as well.

If you were hoping that Van Damme would make the same action film, as he did in the 80´s and 90´s, with mostly just fighting, Pound Of Flesh tries to take on a more serious subject. We do get fighting scenes, and we do get action, but maybe not on the same level as his earlier films. But i personally think that is a good sign, that Jean-Claude want to make more dramatic films nowdays. He does not need to prove to the world that he is a legendary action star, he also want to show us a different side of him. Is he a good actor ? I would not say that he is, but since he knows how to combine martial arts with action, he does not need to be Oscar nominated, because he knows he can deliver in this genre. Not that long ago, i watched Skin Trade with Dolph Lundgren and Tony Jaa, taking on the serious subject of how women are sold as objects. Pound Of Flesh also take on a serious subject, but choose a different path. In this case, where organs are sold for money, it feels that the subject is important to bring up. This happens everyday, worldwide. Money talks, human lives does not matter as much as the dollar bill. Director Ernie Barbarash have directed several action films before, even directing two other Van Damme film called Six Bullets and Assassination Games. I have seen these films as i mentioned here, and i would have to say that Assassination Games was fun. A straight hard hitting action film with both Van Damme and Scott Adkins, both being assassins. Pound Of Flesh is definetely a more serious attempt to lift up a different story. Does the concept work ? For the most part yes. The only problem i have here with Pound Of Flesh is a few scenes, where you can tell they used green screens, and it looks too obvious. Once the action kicks in, we finally get the medecine dose we all deserved. One of the best performances in this film, is actually John Ralston. His character feels natural, and gives this film a deeper meaning. The illegal organ industry is only shown a glimpse of here, and i think that they should have showed a bit more, since the film is supposed to be about a man who lost his kidney. Apart from this, Pound Of Flesh does deliver, as an action film. The dialogue is not very important, so what really matters is the revenge story. Nothing unique, or surprising, but as an action film, Pound of Flesh get the message straight, never mess with a pissed off belgian muscle man. 

Rating: DDD