A "knock-off" is generally defined as a cheaply produced imitation of a genuine article, like those watches they sell on the streets of New York that carry the brand name "Rolax." True to its title, "Knock Off" is a low-budget substitute for a real action thriller, but its sense of style manages to make it look several degrees hotter than it actually is.
Although one of the cardinal rules of moviegoing in the 1990s says that anything starring Eurotrashy Jean-Claude Van Damme is sure to be more toxic than a bushel of Mexican strawberries, "the Muscles from Brussels" is surprisingly easy to take this time around, perhaps because director Tsui Hark keeps him on the run for most of "Knock Off's" running time and keeps Van Damme's dialogue to the bare minimum. Oftentimes, the star simply grunts and sighs to express himself, and in times of emotional distress, Hark has Van Damme dramatically tear off his shirt or pull down his pants in lieu of baring his soul.
"Knock Off" is set in 1997 Hong Kong on the eve of the British colony's return to Chinese rule, although the political backdrop turns out to have almost nothing to do with what little plot there is. Van Damme plays Ray, "the king of the knock-offs," who's tired of living it up as a result of peddling downmarket junk to unwary consumers; he wants to go legit. "I want to go out with my reputation intact," Ray tells an associate. "I always made a quality piece of crap." That's a lot more than Van Damme can claim, given such blotches on his resume as "Sudden Death" and "Streetfighter," but we digress.
Ray has teamed up with American entrepreneur Tommy (Rob Schneider), but after they witness a brutal murder while participating in a rickshaw race, the would-be businessmen are drawn into a top-secret plot involving Russian agents who want to plant micro-bombs inside counterfeit designer jeans. The explosives can be activated by remote control, making for a truly killer outfit.
Oh yeah, someone named Karen (Lela Rochon) enters the picture and makes things tougher for all concerned, since her entrance requires Ray to ask her, "Oo duh ell ah yu?" a question that takes longer to translate than it does to answer. Much of Steven E. De Souza's script, in fact, sounds like it was run through one of those erratic language translation programs a few times before the cast got ahold of it. "If he knew it was a nanobomb, he wouldn't be carrying it around like a cough drop" is one of the more memorable lines of dialogue.
Though "Knock Off" features plenty of explosions - which come in every color of the rainbow - it's Arthur Wong's endlessly creative cinematography, incorporating what must be every kind of special lens known to man, that gives this utter absurdity some class. You want double-exposures, rack-focus, high-speed zooms, wide-angle shots? They're all here, and they give this Chinese junk a touch of class. James Sanford
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