Cinema: Double Impact

I watched the first twenty minutes of 'Double Impact' last night before thinking better of it and switching off. I have always been a big fan of Jean Claude Van Damme's quixotic career, though perhaps more in theory than in practice as I really couldn't justifiably have sat through the whole of this lummox of a movie, which relates the attempts of twins Alex and Chad Wagner, who were separated at birth, to avenge the murder of their parents in Hong Kong. Apart from a few ill-advised wardrobe decisions - Van Damme dons turquoise leotards and pink shorts in successive scenes- the most notable aspect of the film is it marks the first time the Belgian kick boxer utilised the 'double' device in his work. A quick glance at the Internet Movie Database shows he later again plays twins in Maximum Risk, a serial killer and his replicant in Replicant and modern and ancient versions of the same character in The Order. Whether the prevalence of the double in Van Damme marks a failure of the imagination or some deeper artistic impulse is a question I will leave to future analysts of popular culture.