Did Someone Order More Van Damme?

One of the last times I hung out with my friends, they really wanted to watch one of the Van Damme movies that I have, but I diverted the choice away from it to watch The Wicker Man. Today the pressure was too much, so I caved and we watched The Order (2001). To be honest, I didn't really have to cave, because I figured it would be a funny over-the-top Van Damme movie. The main question we had was "Which member of his family gets kidnapped this time that he has to save?" After a quick blurb about the movie, it turned out that his dear old archaeologist father was the one who was going to be in need of rescue. Ah well, JCVD may be predictable, but at least he is reliable.


Rudy (Van Damme) runs a successful import/export business by day, but his real cash flow comes from stealing and selling rare artifacts and relics. He gets his knowledge of antiquities from his father who is an archaeologist. When his father goes to Israel to investigate a new ancient document, he goes missing, but not before calling his son for help. Rudy is on the first plane to Israel, but his sketchy criminal past proves to be a problem, catching the eyes of the local police. What's worse, is that they say there is no record of Rudy's father coming into the country, and that he must be using the story of his missing father just to steal more artifacts from their country. Can he keep out of the grasp of the police, and can he find his father before it's too late?

Rudy is stopped at the airport the instant he arrives in Israel

While I was looking for an over-the-top, possibly wacky and terrible Van Damme film, I actually didn't find it here. In fact, even though The Order is listed as a comedy officially, I wouldn't actually say it was "funny". Actually, I can think of a reason why they might have listed it like that, but I'll get to that in a moment! What I got instead was an action movie with TONS of chases, and a story that reminded me a bit of Indiana Jones or National Treasure. Of course The Order isn't nearly as good as those films, but it did have the adventurous spirit of going to a far off country, finding secret religious cults, and wandering hidden underground tunnels to find a long forgotten treasure.

Yes, JCVD dresses up as a disguise, and has a full on chase/fight scene like this

Remember I mentioned that The Order was listed as a comedy but didn't seem super funny? I think the main reason why it's listed like that is because there is an extensive scene where Rudy disguises himself to blend in with the crowds. I think they had the film listed as a comedy as an attempt to deflect any potential offense they may cause. Personally, I loved seeing this unexpected turn and the wide shots of JCVD dressed like this and totally kicking ass was pretty fun! Still, it's all played pretty seriously, and there aren't very many jokes, so seeing it listed as a comedy just doesn't make sense to me.

Rudy dispatches some Israeli police who are getting in the way of finding his father

If I were to nit-pick at anything, it would be the sometimes unusual editing and quick cuts the movie employs. For example there is one scene that flashbacks to something it just showed me 5 minutes ago as if I had no idea what was going on. Another scene while underground uses a very awkward slide transition to show us what is above them. It was just so cheaply done, it looked really stupid.

On the plus side, all the action and tons of chase scenes kept the film moving. I guess I'd have to admit that the chases weren't very exciting, but for some reason it didn't really bother me. I guess with a JCVD movie I'm just used to forgiving a lot of things. Things like repetitive fight scenes where Van Damme and his enemy trade roundhouse kicks by taking turns of kicking and ducking kicks about a dozen times before the bad guy randomly decides not to duck one of the incredibly predicable kicks to the face.

It's not what it looks like... well, I guess that depends on what it looks like.

There are so many other things I could still talk about, but I think I've spent more than enough time on this film. The Order definitely surprised me with its overall quality which included action, acting, and story. If I said I didn't enjoy the film, I'd be lying, but it was certainly still a pretty budget title. Brian Thompson makes a great bad guy, even though I don't think he was used to his full potential, and Sofia Milos of CSI: Miami fame was a great sidekick to JCVD. There's also a small role with the great Charlton Heston. It's just too bad he wasn't in the movie longer. If you've got nothing to do and want to give a slightly cheesy Van Damme movie a try, The Order isn't a bad choice.