Writer: Jace Anderson, Adam Gierasch (Screenplay) Boaz Davidson (Story)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tomas Arana, Laura Harring, Susan Gibney, Lucy Jenner, Jessica Bowman
Plot: On an out of control train holding hostages and high-tech bio-weapons agent Kristoff (Van Damme) becomes a one man army to derail the terrorists and save the lives of everyone on board!
Tagline – A deadly Virus… Only one way to stop it!
Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Easy to Watch Action
Story: Derailed starts when special agent Jacques Kristoff (Van Damme) is assigned one more mission, he must escort highly trained thief Galina Konstantin (Harring) who has secrets America want, the two must travel from Austria across the border by train.
His wife Madeline (Gibney) brings the family on the train to surprise him for his birthday, only to bring tension between the two, just are the terrorist Mason Cole (Arana) plays to cause a biological disaster using the train as a weapon.
Thoughts on Derailed
Characters – Jacques Kristoff is a bio-weapons agent that gets sent on one more assignment to escort an asset across the boarder with a weapon, he must lie to his wife about his target, which he gets caught out on, then he must save the passengers on the train from terrorist that want to use the weapon. Mason Cole is the terrorist that has unleashed the bio-weapon knowing there is a vaccine for the right people, he wants the weapon for his own use and is willing to kill either side. Galina is the thief that needs to be escorted, she has her own set of skills which will be used to keep her ahead of any threats that come her way and she will do whatever to survive. Madeline is the wife of Jacques who decides to surprise him for his birthday with his family only to believe he is having an affair.
Performances – Jean-Claude Van Damme is an action star you can watch in nearly anything and he does nothing wrong in the film. Tomas Arana seems to be trying to doing a John Malkovich impression and not the best. Laura Harring does well enough for the seductive woman that needs escorting. While the rest of the cast are fine without doing much.
Story – The story here follows a soldier that must protect a train after a terrorist releases a deadly bio-weapon on the passengers and nearby station. This does play out like any action story starring Van Damme, it shows him needing to overcome the odds to protect people or in this case loved ones from disaster. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, it is easy to watch and plays into Van Damme’s strengths without being on the intensity level of most films from the same genre.
Action – The action lets Van Damme show of his fighting skills like all of his films do, you won’t be watching this one randomly, only if you are a Van Damme fan.
Settings – Most of the film is set on a train showing that the problems being faced are within tight walls that don’t offer an easy out for anybody to get of.
Scene of the Movie – Train top chase.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Split scene action.
Final Thoughts – This is a truly typical Van Damme action film, it does everything it needs to without being anything that is truly ground breaking.
Overall: Van Damme 101.