For whatever reason, Bloodsport was on TV yesterday and it remains my favorite of all Jean-Claude Van Damme flicks. But what caught my mind, besides how awesome a villain Chong Li was, was how things turned around for the actors involved. That goofy-lookin' Forest Whitaker has won an Oscar and could be about to win another one for The Butler, while Van Damme is merely hanging around in movies only his most die hard fans will ever see. Case in point, he's got two movies coming up in Enemies Closer and Welcome to the Jungle, and they may be worth checking out if only because they play up Van Damme's comedic side. That's what we all remember the Muscles from Brussels for, right? His sense of humor?
First up is the new trailer for Enemies Closer, just a couple of days after the poster was released, and now we know why it only showed his face. Sporting a ridiculous puff of hair and a demeanor straight out of the Nic Cage playbook, the Vandaminator plays an insane drug runner hunting down rival Navy SEALs (Tom Everett Scott and Orlando Jones) over some missing drugs along the Canada-US border. This will make for a weird trifecta with director Peter Hyams, who worked with Van Damme on Timecop and Sudden Death. Not really doing one another any favors with these collaborations, are they? Anyway, Enemies Closer hits VOD and theaters on January 24th 2014.
And then there's Welcome to the Jungle, the first legit comedy starring Van Damme since....ever? Yeah, he's made fun of himself on occasion (JCVD a fine example of this), but never has he gone full on spoof mode. Once again he plays a dude unhinged from reality, only this time it's as a former Marine leading a bunch of corporate flunkies on a mandatory team-building retreat in the jungle. The film stars Adam Brody, Kristen Schaal, Rob Huebel, and Dennis Haysbert, and it looks like it could be memorable only for Van Damme's off-brand performance. Look for it to open next year on February 7th.
