Second In Command (2006) Cast:Jean-Claude Van Damme,Julie Cox, William Tapley Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Sam Keenan an American soldier who finds himself second in command when the American ambassador is killed, however things get even worse when terrorists are trying to overthrow the government and it's up to Keenan to keep these terrorists from breaching the stranglehold, his only help are a couple marines and the odds are against him. Second In Command should've been enjoyable but thanks to Simon Fellows' directing, Second In Command never emerges as the type of powerhouse actioner or even powerhouse drama it aims for, in the end the movie just leaves the viewer indifferent to the whole forgettable affair. I like Jean-Claude Van Damme, I really do but let it be said that Jean-Claude has for the most part entered a more mature stage of his career. One of the main problems with Second In Command is that Jean-Claude Van Damme plays the one in well, command, also showing his age, Van Damme emerges as softer spoken and more gentle action star, indeed this is not the Van Damme I remember from Kickboxer and Universal Soldier. That being said Van Damme is adequate in his role and he has proven that he can actually act. Problem is however, his effort is wasted on such trite material. For instance Simon Fellows has no element of creating tension out of the action, despite having the shootouts choreographed reasonably well, Fellows fails to really take advantage of them and more often than not films the fireballs in a pedestrian manner. The story also has not enough meat to it and therefore the lack of anything but the simplistic plot runs the risk of being very repetitive. Still Jean-Claude Van Damme fans will finds something to like here, just don't expect Second In Command to be on par with his (good) earlier work or his impressive streak of good movies (Wake Of Death and Replicant). I for one was expected a lot more and walked away disappointed. D. Simon Fellow**1/2 |