JEAN-CLAUDE VAN JOHNSON - Pilot - A TV Review

It's Amazon Pilot season once again, and while everyone else is fawning all over The Tick reboot, I'm all atwitter at one of the more promising comedy pilots I've seen in a very long time. So let's dive in and explore the brutally hilarious world of 'Jean-Claude Van Johnson'!

Lack of Spoiler Warning - It's a pilot that may never get another episode, so while I'll be discussing plot elements, there's nothing much to worry about.

The concept itself is almost obvious. Jean-Claude Van Damme play himself as an actor by day, and an assassin by night - an assassin code-named Jean-Claude Van Johnson. It would be easy for Van Damme to ham it up, to play an extreme badass version of himself and rely on nostalgia alone to draw in viewers. That's the sort of thinking that leads to movies like 'The Expendables' which are fun, but after you see them, you're probably not going to spend much time talking about them.

'Jean-Claude Van Johnson' sidesteps almost every single one of the pitfalls by embracing Van Damme with some weird endearing combination of irreverence and deep affection. The show, written by Dave Callaham and directed by Peter Atencio, doesn't mock Van Damme, or his movies. It doesn't consider itself above them. It's not really making fun of them or him. It's both a relentless homage and parody of everything that made Van Damme and his films icons of the late 80's and early 90's.

Though reminiscent of the idea of the 2008 Belgian film 'JCVD', which featured Van Damme playing a more dramatic version of himself caught in a real life action scenario, 'Johnson' features a more absurdist take on the man himself. From his home pumping coconut water through all the pipes, to JC using a segway scooter to check his mail at the end of his driveway, Van Damme has lived the life of a movie star, but something inside him is stirring. Retired and bored, yet very comfortable, Van Damme tries to find a way to bring excitement back to his life. So he decides to un-retire with the help of his agent/handler Jane, played by Phylicia Rashad. She assumes JC wants to get back into the movie business and hands him a stack of scripts all pitched as "action reimaginings". JC breaks it to her though, that he intends to bring "Johnson" back from retirement as well. Who is Johnson? Why, it's Van Damme's cover identity when he's engaging in black-ops. Yes, when he's not making movies, Van Damme is employed by the military to go in to dangerous situations and kick ass. Totally awesome.

Van Damme and Foster

There's a whole plot straight out of an old Van Damme movie (take your pick) wherein he's assigned to break into a factory for some reason or another with the aid of a beautiful woman, who happens to be his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, played with silly seriousness by genuinely lovely Kat Foster. Van Damme and Foster play their relationship as if it's the stuff of heartbreaking tragedy, but really the nature of their break-up is so mundane, it's funny. But that doesn't mean that the ending of the pilot, in which the lovers miss each other once again, doesn't actually hit a note of sadness. Van Damme has actual moments of pathos that do find their mark.

If a comedy can make me smile most of the time, that's pretty good. If it gets a few good laughs out of me, all the better. 'Jean-Claude Van Johnson' managed to get so many big belly laughs out of me that I lost count. From JC's insane new movie, to his weapon of choice, to the song played over the closing credits, I absolutely loved every moment of this pilot. And I'm not just saying that because I watched 'Bloodsport' and 'Kickboxer', 'Timecop' and even 'Street Fighter' a million times as a kid. It's a funny, unique and good-natured, if violent, comedy that loves every one of its characters and its story, whole-heartedly. I sincerely hope Amazon has the good sense to give the series a full order.

FINAL SCORE - 8.5/10

'Jean-Claude Van Johnson' can be streamed for free on Amazon.com. Here's a link!

Stream JCVJ here!