Hard Target

Hard Target (1993)

Director: John Woo

Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Yancy Butler, Arnold Vosloo, Willie C. Carpenter, Kasi Lemmons, Eliott Keener, Wilfred Brimley

Writer: Chuck Pfarrer

Synopsis:

Natasha Binder (Butler) travels to New Orleans to find her estranged father, Douglas, whom she soon discovers was homeless and living on the streets. After saving her from an attempted mugging, she enlists the help of local sailor Chance Boureaux (Van Damme) to help her find her father. As they investigate, they discover that Douglas was murdered by a shadowy criminal organization run by Emil Fouchon (Henriksen), which allows the super-rich to hunt homeless people for a substantial fee. Nat and Chance are soon on the run from Fouchon and his sidekick Pik van Cleef (Vosloo) who chase them into the bayou as they try to keep their presence a secret.

First Impressions:

I saw this movie on video back in 1994 and it was my first experience with the movies of acclaimed Hong Kong action director, John Woo. Like many of the movies I watched during the early 90s, I was made aware of the movie by my brother, who was already a fan of Woo's after seeing some of his Hong Kong stuff. I was 18 when I saw this movie and I thought it was pretty cool and it also made me a fan of Woo's unique style. I've owned this movie on a couple of different formats over the years but it's been a while since my last viewing. Let's see how well, John Woo's first American film stands up to scrutiny.

Story/Direction: 

"Take your big stick and your boyfriend, and go find a bus to catch."

Even though it was released in the 90s, I like to consider this film one of the last of the 80s-style blockbuster action movies. Following the success of Die Hard a few years earlier, Hollywood was shifting away from the muscle-bound European gent kicking major ass to a more every-man type of hero. Hard Target, and I guess most JCVD movies of the time, kind of bucked that trend and stayed firmly planted in 80s over the top violence. At the same time, it also introduced a lot of action tropes (which I'll get into later) that remain staples of the genre.

As for the story itself, we're not dealing with any deep themes or symbolism and the premise of the movie is pretty basic. The reason for this is, like most 80s-style action movies, the story really only served a vessel to ferry the audience from one action sequence to another. Of course this doesn't make it a bad movie but if you're looking for a deep well-told story, I'd go elsewhere. The basic plot revolves around Fouchon and his guided tours of hunting the homeless of the streets of New Orleans. The premise itself is pretty ridiculous but I'm forced to wonder what the movie would look like, were it made in a different genre such as a thriller or a horror. At any rate, the story, while weak, does what it needs to do as it gives the Muscles from Brussels a reason to kick, punch, shoot and flip his way through the bad guys.

Normally in this section, I'd take some time to mention a film's direction but because John Woo's directorial style is more ingrained with his movies' action sequences, rather than it's story, I'll save that for a lower section.

Acting:

Much like my feelings on comedic acting, I think action movies also have a distinct style to them, particularly those that were made in the 80s, or like this one, that mimic such a style. The plots in these types of movies are generally so outlandish and ridiculous, that the actors in them must play their roles with absolute sincerity or they just won't work. That, in and of itself, is it's own type of acting style and it's one that has faded away over the years, giving way to the tongue-in-cheek, wink at the camera-style of action acting that's more common nowadays.

With all that being said, the acting in this movie is about what you'd expect from a bombastic action movie. As the protagonist, Chance, Van Damme does an okay job. Like so many other action heroes, Chance is a man of few words, and many quips, and Van Damme manages to endear him to us using his considerable charm. One other interesting note, I find it interesting that unlike Schwarzenegger movies, many of Van Damme's early films tried to find a reason why he had an accent. In this case, it worked pretty well with the character being Louisiana Cajun.

Again, like so many action movies, it's the villan that steals the show. Lance Henriksen does such a good job as the perpetually angry Emil Fouchon. Up until this movie, I'd only seen Henriksen in a few films and he always played a "good guy" in them. In fact, up until Hard Target, Henriksen's most well know role was probably as the meek and helpful android, Bishop in Aliens. In this movie, though, you can tell Henriksen is having a blast being as evil as he possibly can. His over-the-top performance also leads to many of the film's genuinely funny lines as well.

Finally, I should mention Yancy Butler's turn as the female lead, Nat Binder. As I've discussed on a number of occasions, female roles in action movies tended to be relegated to love interest or damsel in distress or both. This wasn't necessarily the case of Hard Target, as Natasha really drives the plot forward in the first part of the film. However, like most action movies, she's soon relegated to basically looking scared and/or shocked at the events going on around her. I'm not saying Butler was bad, or anything, it's just that, as I've said before, she wasn't given much to do. Based on what she did do, I think she would've done fine had she been given more of a role in the story.

Visuals:

So...many...explosions! There are more things blowing up in this film than in one of those newsreel movies showing a vacant building being demolished. Seriously, the pyrotechnics guys certainly earned their paychecks as just about everything in this movie blows up. However, when it comes to visuals, this movie shines not so much in the pyrotechnics (because, you know, explosions) but really in it's distinctive visual style, which can be attributed to its director.

John Woo's style is one that has been copied by a number of directors and is responsible for many action movie tropes. First and foremost, Woo is renowned for his heavy use of slow-motion. So much so, that many of the scenes in this film use just as much slo-mo as they do regular speed shots. It wasn't just action scenes either, Woo used slow-motion even for establishing shots and other B-roll stuff. It was a style that was frequently copied throughout the 90s by less competent directors, which tended to get annoying. Woo, however, manages to find a good balance and his liberal use of slow-motion is almost the antithesis of modern action directing that relies on quick cuts and wobbly cameras. Woo also infused his action sequences with a certain amount of style, whether that was from a character firing two guns at the same time (another trope re-popularized by Woo) or leaping in the air whilst firing to give the bullets that extra zing. Finally, John Was a master at making the mundane seem cool. While most action films of the time tended to avoid shots of the hero, or other characters, reloading their firearms, Woo took this relatively boring action and turned it into a thing of grace and beauty. With heavy use of slow mo and copious "whooshing" sounds dubbed in post, Woo makes reloading a gun somehow cooler than shooting it.

Score/Music:

The music in this film was done by Graeme Revell and Tim Simonec and was actually pretty good, which surprised me a bit. Taking place in the south, the film makes great use of a style of music that suits the locale. It leans heavily into blues territory and generally works well for the setting. In addition, CCR's Born on the Bayou plays during the end credits which is just awesome.

Action:

Much of what I had to say about the action of the film I already discussed in the Visuals section, so I won't rehash that too much. Overall the action is frantic, it's over the top and it's well-shot. Definitely a credit to the genre. Lots of kicks, punches and shooting to be found here, and just in case you forgot...EXPLOSIONS!!!

Final Verdict:

Hard Target remains a fantastic action movie and a fun experience. It remains a solid entry in the genre and, in my opinion, is one of JCVD's best. It doesn't require a great amount of concentration, so it's a terrific option for a movie night with friends.