Lionheart (1990)
7/10
Jean-Claude Van Damme showed audiences his softer, more compassionate side in Lionheart, which has made it a favourite among many female fans. After a setup that prepares us for a standard revenge plot, the film—directed by Sheldon Lettich from a script co-written with Van Damme and S.N. Warren—instead focuses on the hero’s efforts to provide for his late brother’s family. While retaining the enjoyably cheesy qualities of many Van Damme films, the result is surprisingly heartwarming.
Lyon Gaultier (Van Damme) is a French legionnaire serving in Djibouti, East Africa when he learns his brother François has been burned alive in a drug deal gone wrong. He goes AWOL and makes his way from New York City to Los Angeles, earning money by participating in underground street fights. In the process he gains a manager, vagrant Joshua Eldridge (Harrison Page), and wealthy patron Cynthia Caldera (Deborah Rennard) who nicknames him “Lionheart”.
By the time Lyon arrives in L.A., François has died and his widow Hélène (Lisa Pelikan) is struggling to pay the rent and care for her daughter Nicole (Ashley Johnson). Hélène blames Lyon for his brother’s involvement in the drug trade, though her explanation is vague and it’s not totally clear why she believes this except to injects some artificial drama into the film. Lyon continues fighting and ensures that the money he earns makes its way back to Hélène.
Lionheart focuses more on plot than previous Van Damme vehicles and gives its star a chance to do some proper emoting. He’s fairly solid in the lead role and has a nice rapport with Pelikan and Johnson. Pelikan is beautiful and compelling as the grieving widow who initially wants nothing to do with Lyon, but comes to recognize his good nature. Johnson is cute as the little girl who looks up to Lyon, allowing Van Damme to play more of a father figure.
When it comes to heavily accented action stars of foreign birth like Van Damme and Arnold Schwarzenegger, I always appreciate it when their movies acknowledge and explain their accents instead of ignoring them. Lyon’s status as a French legionnaire checks that box, though the film undercuts it by having the French soldiers speak accented English to each other. There are some epic shots in the scenes when Lyon fights his way out of his unit and ventures across the desert to the ocean.
Like Bloodsport, the plot of Lionheart is in many ways an excuse to see Van Damme display his martial arts skills in a series of fight scenes. The fights are exciting and fun to watch—though one ends too quickly when Van Damme grabs his opponent by the crotch, a below-the-belt move that always feels out of place coming from male protagonists since it feels like cheating. Said opponent also supplies arguably the most homoerotic line in the entire ’80s action genre: “You’re kind of pretty,” he tells Lyon. “I don’t know if I want to fight you or fuck you.”
Among the villainous supporting characters, I enjoyed Caldera’s turn as the posh femme fatale, who makes blatant sexual advances towards Lyon and vamps it up like an ’80s Cruella de Vil. There’s a hilarious scene where she’s riding in the back of a limo and laughs cartoonishly with cigarette holder in hand. It’s also nice to see Brian Thompson, best known as the Night Slasher in Cobra and characterized by his hulking features. Here he gets the chance to play a more urbane villain as Russell, Cynthia’s assistant, decked out in dapper suits.
There’s not much more to the movie to discuss. The “final boss”, Atilla (Abdel Qissi), is really just there to provide someone for Van Damme to fight in the climax. Being a fan of ’80s music, I liked the inclusion of Bill Wray’s “No Mercy” as the requisite cheesy rock anthem.
There are silly moments, like a match in a shallow swimming pool with the fighters wearing tight fitting spandex outfits, but that’s part of the appeal of ’80s action. A change of heart involving two French legionnaires who have been chasing down Lyon to bring him in for a court martial strains credibility, though it sets up the ending that left me satisfied despite its formulaic nature. While Page has some nice chemistry with Van Damme, Joshua undercuts audience sympathy by betting against Lyon at a crucial moment, which the movie seems too quick to overlook.
Still, Van Damme fans will enjoy this one. Come for the fights, stay for the uplifting family relationships and a hero more sensitive and caring than usual for the era.