capsule : trippy , hyperspeed action machine from hong kong's accomplished tsui hark . van damme and rodman have nice chemistry , the stunts are eyepopping , and stuff gets blowed up real good ; what more do you want ? i admit i was all set to loathe double team ; it reeked of cheapjack timing-oriented marketing ( stick dennis rodman in a movie , quick , while he's hot , and do something about jean-claude van damme's flagging career while we're at it ! ) . surprise -- double team transcends its dumb roots and turns out to be a mess of fun . bring some friends , get some pretzels , and have a blast . van damme is jack quinn , an ex-agent who is brought back in for " one last mission " -- you'd think any spy worth his shoe phone would run like hell when he hears those words . but van damme's character has a pregnant wife who's also a sculptor , and some unpleasant pressure gets used to get him to come through on this mission . he's been assigned to take down an old enemy , a terrorist named stavros ( mickey rourke , looking oddly subdued ) , who may be back up to his old tricks . in the first showdown between quinn and stavros , the movie wears its ambitions proudly on its sleeve : nonstop action . an amusement park , a hospital , a private " retired spy " 's retreat , most of rome , various houses , planes , cars and other modes of transport , and the coliseum ( ! ) all become arenas for some of the most bone-rattling shoot-outs and punch-outs filmed . they are better seen than described and are reason enough to see the film : one jaw-dropping scene has van damme taking on a man who uses a switchblade with his * feet * . ( van damme is a good , dextrous athlete and fighter , but he is often upstaged . ) there are other nice touches . stavros and quinn both want the same thing : to retire in peace with their families . that ambition ties them together in various ways , and also humanizes them a bit . one of the things about hk action movies is that there's always some form of human element , and that's carried over into this movie as well . it gives weight to scenes that would otherwise be forgettable . also good is dennis rodman , playing a weapons dealer named yaz -- a character who sticks out like a fistful of broken fingers and who is funny just standing there . rodman is natural on screen ; he's fun to watch , especially when slinging bad guys like basketballs , and deserves to get a movie of his own , based on what's seen here : a lightweight , fast-moving entertainment that showcases all of its pieces excellently .
