Kickboxing hunk Jean-Claude Van Damme makes his directorial debut with this generally uninspired fists-and-feet actioner, a wannabe epic that delivers far more unintentional laughter than genuine chopsocky thrills. The globe-trotting narrative sends the so-called “Muscles From Brussels” from the poverty-stricken streets of America all the way to the Far East, where he gets mixed up with pirates and gun smugglers, and gets to take part in a mythical martial arts tournament. Along the way, we’re treated to a couple of supposedly poignant, but mostly incomprehensible, childhood flashbacks, an unforgivably tired performance from Roger Moore as a scumbag buccaneer, and a totally gratuitous, wildly out-of-place romantic subplot, not to mention the uproarious, ill-advised framing device, in which Van Damme, decked out in a gray wig and old-age makeup, beats a couple of troublemaking young whippersnappers into submission with his cane while visiting his local bar. “How did you learn to fight like that?” asks the understandably bewildered bartender. “It was a long time ago…,” our hero stoically explains; we flash back in time, and the story proper begins. The fact that the aforementioned sequence is played straight, rather than for laughs, gives one a good indication of just how wrong-headed and naïve The Quest really is. Van Damme the director aims for old-fashioned high adventure, but, for the most part, winds up with schlock. Still, The Quest never quite reaches the unbearable depths of the action star’s most recent vehicles — namely Street Fighter and Sudden Death — and it does offer a few moments of exciting action during the tournament scenes, especially when showcasing the acrobatic fighting skills of a Chinese animal stylist and a Brazilian Capoeira master, both of whom display far more agility and athletic prowess than Van Damme himself. What a surprise.
This article appears in May 3 • 1996 (Cover).