 " knock off " is exactly that : a cheap knock off of an action movie . 
it's also the worst movie i have seen thus far this year . 
i figured it would be at least a couple of months before i saw the worst film of 1998 , but alas , it has already been found . 
jean-claude van damme stars as ( i think ) a designer jeans executive who discovers his half-brother has been supplying him with cheaper goods . 
rob schneider plays van damme's partner , and rochon plays . . . 
actually , i have no idea who rochon was supposed to be . 
she just sort of popped up halfway through without an explanation as to why she was there . 
many things are not explained in this film , but i do know that for some bizarre reason , van damme seemed to be doing a jackie chan impression throughout the flick . 
where chan comes off as endearing in his " normal guy " character seen in many of his films , van damme just comes off as a wimp . 
we're never given any clear explanation as to the basis for many of his actions . 
to be more clear : i did not even know who he was supposed to be until about an hour into the movie , and even then , it was not made too clear . 
the film has been directed in the style of some strange film experiment gone horribly wrong . 
tsui hark ( who directed van damme's last movie , the bad , but not nearly as bad as this , " double team " ) never lets the camera rest for a second , and that's no exaggeration . 
we are even treated to a five second shot from the point of view of van damme's foot entering a shoe . 
fabulous ! 
seriously , though , i have no problem with directors who want to play around with film conventions , as long as they don't get carried away . 
for example , look at sam raimi . 
 " army of darkness " , one of his best movies , features some of the most inventive camera work i have ever seen , but raimi never lets the special effects get in the way of story . 
that's a concept that tsui can't seem to grasp . 
the special effects and outrageous camera angles * rule * " knock off " to the point where the audience doesn't have a clue as to what's happening any more . 
another problem with the film is that it looks cheap . 
the film stock used is of such low caliber that i thought i was watching one of those chinese films shown really late at night . 
and for some inexplicable reason , everyone's voice seems to have been dubbed . 
even the stars . 
and even the special effects , seemingly the only aspect of the film the director actually cared about , are inconsistent . 
for example , there is a scene in which van damme drives a car out of a window . 
the car slams into the ground , and the left wheel is completely destroyed . 
seconds later , the car drives off at full speed . 
hey , i have no problem suspending my disbelief in an action movie , but a line must be drawn somewhere . 
finally , the acting . 
nobody gives a good performance in this film . 
van damme , an actor i usually like , is way off the mark playing " everyman " . 
and schneider , here to provide comic relief i assume , is totally unfunny and over acts his way through every scene . 
even the usually solid paul sorvino gives a terribly over-the-top performance as . . . 
once again , i have no idea who he was supposed to be . 
in case i haven't yet made it clear enough , " knock off " is the worst movie of van damme's career and possibly the worst movie of the decade . 
and it's not even one of those movies that's so bad it's funny . 
it's too inept to be funny . 
there are no redeeming factors in " knock off " and i seriously hope that every print of this film is burned to a crisp and that somehow my memory of watching the film can be erased . 
