Van Damme's TIMECOP was a serviceable science fiction thriller that I personally found to be far from the star's best work – yet its legacy has proved surprisingly popular over the years, with first a TV series in the late '90s and then this low budgeted sequel. In this outing, Jason Scott Lee (DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY) takes over the role of the heroic timecop out to stop some nefarious bad guys meddling with time. Cheesy special effects, weak scripting and a distinct lack of originality are the order of the day, but in the end I found myself enjoying this film quite a bit. It's one of those tongue-in-cheek B-movies that never takes itself too seriously and delivers plenty of entertainment in the scant running time.
The lack of decent plotting is a real problem, but the film manages at least a couple of impressive set-pieces. One action highlight comes during a full-scale prison riot, featuring our hero kicking the ass of various hulking prisoners. The other is a more cerebral moment, a cleverly staged moment in which Lee discovers that history is repeatedly changing almost as he watches – yes, it's obvious, but done just so. The last half hour is busy setting up a final confrontation between Lee and Thomas Ian Griffith, here taking on bad guy duties after once making a few films of his own as hero (such as EXCESSIVE FORCE). I found the fight scenes in this film to be fun in a light-hearted, Jackie Chan style, while Lee's acting has improved greatly since he was in the likes of TALOS THE MUMMY. It ain't art, but for B-movie cheesiness it provides more than a few thrills.
The lack of decent plotting is a real problem, but the film manages at least a couple of impressive set-pieces. One action highlight comes during a full-scale prison riot, featuring our hero kicking the ass of various hulking prisoners. The other is a more cerebral moment, a cleverly staged moment in which Lee discovers that history is repeatedly changing almost as he watches – yes, it's obvious, but done just so. The last half hour is busy setting up a final confrontation between Lee and Thomas Ian Griffith, here taking on bad guy duties after once making a few films of his own as hero (such as EXCESSIVE FORCE). I found the fight scenes in this film to be fun in a light-hearted, Jackie Chan style, while Lee's acting has improved greatly since he was in the likes of TALOS THE MUMMY. It ain't art, but for B-movie cheesiness it provides more than a few thrills.