We’ve talked about it for months… but does the new Amazon pilot ‘Jean Claude Van Johnson’ series live up to its potential? Mike Leeder says it tickles and kickboxes the funny-bone in style…
“My name is Jean-Claude Van Damme. I used to be super-famous, perhaps you remember my first starring role in Bloodsport, it is on television all the time. Or perhaps you’ve seen Time Cop, which is like Looper starring Bruce Willis but like a million times better. But this is not a movie, and that man is not an actor. He is trying to kill me. But I am not worried, because I have a gift! I am the Master of the Splits, or at least I used to be..F##k! How did this happen? How did I get here?”
So begins the pilot for Jean-Claude Van Johnson, Amazon’s pilot for a potential action comedy series that stars Jean-Claude Van Damme playing a version of himself (ala Matt LaBlanc in Episodes, but taken even further!) unlike any version we’ve ever seen before. In this universe, Jean-Claude Van Damme is still an action icon, but a man who has hung up his kicking jeans for the last time, he’s retired from the life of action on-screen.
“I’m retired, but not like Nicholas Cage retired!”
But what does an action hero do when there’s no more bad guys left to fight… sure there’s the endless succession of fashion models, the pop tarts, the Segway and the music of Jacki Briel to enjoy, but is it enough for a man like Van Damme? A chance encounter with Vanessa (Kat Foster), a woman from his past, reignites a fire he thought he’d lost, and he goes to see his long-suffering manager Jane (Phylicia Rashad) who handles all his business dealings. He tells her he wants to return to action both on and off screen, its time for the return of ‘Johnson’! Yes, while we’ve enjoyed the exploits of Jean-Claude Van Damme on and off screen, his entire film career has been the perfect cover for his double life, as one of the world’s most deadly private ‘contractors’. If you need a government overthrown, a revolution started, or a political assassination to take place, he is (or at least was) the best man for the job. Jane reminds him of the risks in re-entering the world of Black Ops, that it’s REAL life and death as the stakes.
“Don’t worry, nobody is going to die. Except for all the people I am going to kill!”
He’s assigned to Bulgaria for a new mission that would reunite him with Vanessa (and you wondered why all these action movies shoot in Eastern Europe?) Its the perfect cover for their espionage activities. But Jane warns him that someone else is on the job, Brown, another celebrity secret operative that has a long standing rivalry with both Van Damme and Johnson! One training montage later, Van Damme is on set ready for action, while Johnson is there for his assignment to bring down an international drug ring. Vanessa’s cover his personal assistant and hair stylist, while Louis (Moises Arias) is his make-up artist for the movies and his missions.
But can Van Damme make it through the movie, a martial-arts gender-bending reversal of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with Van Damme as Huck and a hot blonde as Tom Sawyer! And can Johnson make it through his mission, beat the bad guys, save the world and get the girl?
Jean-Claude Van Johnson has been some time in the making, and finally it arrives with Jean-Claude Van Damme playing the role he was born to play: Jean-Claude Van Damme! As with JCVD, we begin with Van Damme at a crossroads in his life, but whereas JCVD was a dramedy, Jean-Claude Van Johnson has its tongue very firmly placed in its cheek from the opening shot, thanks to writer Dave Callaham (whose action driven resume includes The Expendables and the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot) and director Peter Atencio (straight fromthe success of Key & Peele, and Keanau). It combines the comedic, the dramatic, and the action elements, affectionately ribbing Jean-Claude’s film career and the era that made him a star, cliches of the action genre, and also Jean-Claude’s often misunderstood philosophical musings! And it works… oh, so well!
The pilot lovingly pokes fun at JC’s image and the action movie genre.. Even the soundtrack hits right marks from a certain French song, to a classic 80’s styled action movie soundtrack to the use of Welcome Back, Kotter for the end credits.
Jean-Claude looks the healthiest and best he’s looked in year: he’s focused and he gives a strong performance that doesn’t rely on him winking at the audience. He shows that there’s still sides to him as an actor that people have yet to fully explore. It’s not as revealing as his sometimes-painful turn in JCVD, (which at times seemed more like therapy than a performance), but he’s obviously enjoying the chance to make fun of the various images people have of him. He also pulls off some very nice physicality in the role, proving once again that he can still kick ass with the best of them when he wants to! The big end fight is a really good pay off and includes both a Bloodsport homage and a trademark split!
Phylicia Rashad is in fine form as Van Damme’s manager, while Kat Foster makes for a believable love interest. Moises Arias makes the most of his brief screen time with a character that deserves to be expanded if and when this goes to full series.
It’s a great pilot although I wish it was longer, and it deserves to go to series – ratings permitting. The premise could be explored so well, with the potential for all manner of guests stars and self-reverential humour and here’s hoping it gets the ratings it deserves and Amazon greenlights a full season for both Jean-Claude Van Damme and Jean-Claude Van Johnson!
9/10
See the Jean Claude Van Johnson pilot for yourself and decide…
