In 2008, Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in the refreshingly original “JCVD.” Film School Rejects points us to his next film, recently renamed to “The Eagle Path,” which seems on the surface to be a return to the norm: an action flick probably appreciated by his dwindling legion of fans and completely ignored by everyone else. In the movie, Van Damme is an ex-GI (of course) who is now a taxi driver in southeast Asia. There’s a mysterious girl (Claudia Bassols) who draws him into her mysterious world, and soon he realizes must protect her from myriad henchman no doubt marginally-versed in martial arts. There’s also his best friend (Josef Cannon), described as an “alcoholic, paraplegic, former military specialist.”
There are two twists here. First, the movie is being pitched as being more of a love story than previous Van Damme films (perhaps the reason the movie was originally called “Full Love”) with actual character development. Second, the Belgian star appears to be making this filmmaking process as much of a one man show as possible. He wrote the screenplay himself, is directing the film, is one of the producers, and is listed as the editor of the film as well. Who knew this ass-kicker was a renaissance man too?