Superb film, I'd give it 8/10 any day of the week. Despite the negative reviews given to the film, it's a solid action thriller that keeps the viewer hooked till the very end. Despite the fact that Van Damme isn't as young as he used to be, his acting certainly is very sincere. He has made a few mistakes in his life, but now he is a man who is seeking redemption.

The film is about a man, Deacon(Van Damme), who has a one night stand with an unknown woman, then later wakes up to find himself in a tube full of icy-cold water. He finds out that he had been drugged, and while he was incapacitated, one of his kidneys was removed.

Now it is a race against time to recover his missing kidney. As any typical Van Damme lover will know, this movie has great martial art sequences. We also have the late Darren Shahlavi, who has an awesome physique and who also acts well. Aki Aleong(The Quest 1996 as Khao) makes a welcome appearance along with John Ralston(Life With Derek 2005). Charlotte Peters makes a change from modelling to acting. This is her debut, I believe, in a film with a cult action star.

Van Damme Selection: Bloodsport, Cyborg, Kickboxer, Lionheart, Universal Soldier, Hard Target, Timecop, Street Fighter, Sudden Death, The Quest, Legionnaire. All these films I have seen and I highly recommend them to see/buy.

Thank you for having the time to read my review. May you live long and prosper.

POUND OF FLESH is Van Damme's newest thriller, set in the Philippines and with a great premise: the story starts as a confused Van Damme wakes up, groggy from being drugged, in a hotel room and makes a horrifying discovery: his kidney's been trafficked while he was unconscious. The stakes are raised with an additional sub-plot which sees Van Damme's niece on the brink of death, requiring the very kidney that's been snatched. So we have our ageing action star on a quest as he hunts for the organ traffickers responsible and kicks plenty of ass along the way.

The set-up is great but sadly POUND OF FLESH lacks when it comes to the execution. Director Ernie Barbarash does a very poor job when it comes to the filming style, choosing an over-edited mess which makes the film look choppy and somehow dull. The fight choreography is poor too, hiding some decent martial arts fighters in too-dark backdrops and over editing the fights so that they're generic and predictable. I still like Van Damme, and the supporting cast are okay here, but the film as a whole is just about passable rather than being the exciting thrill-ride it should be.

The surprise is the writing and storyline. I love a good story and this delivers. Violence was expected and not too gratuitous. The story has enough twists and heart to carry all the way through. I totally enjoyed this.