Jean-Claude Van Damme has had a career resurgence of sorts, ever since 2008’s JCVD. Appearing as the villain in The Expendables 2 and impressing us all with his flexibility in a series of Volvo commercials, the Muscles from Brussels has risen once more to the heights of a B-action star. Now he’s working on his comedic chops in Welcome To The Jungle, starring as a former Marine who takes a bunch of office workers on a ‘team-building’ exercise to a jungle island.
Van Damme plays Storm Rothchild, a rugged outdoorsy type hired to whip some of those weak office workers into shape. Landing on the island, the team gets up to hijinks that include such comedic gems as having to go to the bathroom in the woods, fighting tigers, and Asian stereotypes. Unsurprisingly, things take a turn for the much worse when their pilot is discovered dead, effectively stranding them. The group descends into a Lord of the Flies-like scenario…only with more vagina and orgy jokes than that literary classic.
While I can see the plot itself providing some laughs, the latest red-band trailer for Welcome To The Jungle leaves a lot to be desired. The featured jokes are just not funny, despite a number of good comedians (Kristen Schaal, Rob Huebel) in the cast. In fact, Van Damme actually seems like he’s lined up to be the most entertaining of the bunch, flexing his muscles and roaring in that most Van Damme-like way. But how many times do we need to see a once-popular action star making fun of himself? We have The Expendables for that.
You can watch the red-band trailer for Welcome To The Jungle below and decide for yourself if it’s worth giving a moment of your time. Then, let us know what you think in the comments section.
Welcome To The Jungle comes to theatres and VOD on February 7.
