Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

This instalment in the Universal Soldier series stars Scott Adkins as a man out for revenge. Jean-Claude Van Damme killed his wife and child, so Adkins sets out to hunt him (and his growing army of renegade Universal Soldiers) down. Wavering between intriguing and unpleasant, this sci-fi action thriller aspires to be more than a B-movie slugfest, bathing everything in a sombre tone almost akin to a psychological horror. However, these aspirations are hampered by a confusing and inconsistent plot, which director John Hyams attempts to cover up with tremendous amounts of bloodshed. Franchise poster men Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren appear sparingly (the former spends a lot of his time silently staring into the camera), with most of the focus on British actor Adkins, who makes a sincere but wooden lead. While an experimental tone gives the movie a different feel than you would expect, Day of Reckoning may nevertheless be for franchise completists only.