Enemies Closer

A low budget B-movie action film with lots of fighting to recommend it, ENEMIES CLOSER is a film by former big bucks director Peter Hyams. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme in one of his bad guy roles, playing a crazed drug smuggler who sets his sights on tracking down a couple of fugitives in the woods.

The plot is a load of old nonsense of course, designed solely to pack as much action as is possible into the running time. Given the low budget nature of the production, there are few car chases and shoot-outs here, just a couple of guys battling it out in a darkened wood. It's one of those films where seemingly every character knows martial arts of some kind and the choreography is decent to boot: I was certainly satisfying by the plentiful and hard-hitting combat scenes.

Van Damme plays his villain as a comedian, delivering his lines with energy and wit. He's by far the best actor in the production. Elsewhere, Orlando Jones is a deadly serious man out for revenge, while Tom Everett Scott (AN American WEREWOLF IN Paris) a park ranger who finds himself out of his depth. Both are adequate and acquit themselves well in the action stakes. ENEMIES CLOSER is a silly but violent production that's enough fun for you not to care about its various shortcomings.