A film of this genre will more often than not have plot flaws. And this one indeed had plot flaws galore, but ultimately it was good fun and very entertaining. The unanswered questions can easily be overseen by the sheer entertainment value the film provides. It has great sets, great action, and interesting enough plot and you get the opportunity to see Van Damme in top form. The visuals are good for its time and there's loads of action! I did find the music loud and overbearing at times.

This film is amazing in it's own special way. To begin with, the fight scenes were good, definitely above average. If only the rest of the film were like that! The characters are one dimensional cliches, and often do ludicrous and stupid things for no real reason apart from being able to thrust a certain prop at the audience, just to make sure even the chairs understand what happened/will happen. Forget the decades of knowledge about how to do that in a subtle, non-insulting way! This would be fine in a comedy film, but the film gives no indication that it's trying to play that angle meaning the audience laughs at the film, not with it. Time travel films have a habit of eventually running into plot holes, but this one has a plot canyon, with occasional bits of continuity sticking out of it. The entire plot unravels at several points if examined too closely, largely due to no one trying to come up with a consistent set of rules for time travel before writing. The special effects are mixed. The practical effects are either okay or good, either way the create the desired effect. However, this was still in the early days of CGI, like Lawnmower Man, so any computer animated effects look anywhere between dated and terrifyingly jarring. That said, there is the excuse that CGI was still in its infancy.Overall, it was fun to watch, mainly for how bizarre and unintentionally funny it became in places. 2/10

The rumourmill has it that Jean Claude Van-Damme was looking for 'that film' - the one like 'Terminator' was for Schwarzenegger and 'Rambo' was for Stallone. JCVD saw 'Timecop' as the 'vehicle' that would propel him out of 'B-movie-action-star' to legitimate A-list action megastar. I think it's not really a 'spoiler' to say that it didn't really work out that way for him.However, just because 'Timecop' never really set the Box Office alight and made the 'Muscles From Brussels' the household name he was hoping for, doesn't mean it was that bad. In fact, it's probably his best work up until that time! Previously, he'd really been utilised as a leading man who could just about speak English, but was damn filmable when it came to kicking bad-guys. Here, he wanted to add a bit of 'depth' to his range and try to 'act' as well as just kick people in the face. And, like I said, it sort of worked.He plays the titular 'Timecop' - part of an elite division who patrols time to prevent criminals from exploiting time travel for financial gain. Of course, there's corruption, double-crossing and murders that can now be averted thanks to a trip to yesteryear (and it still leaves time for him to do the splits!). The special effects are good (for their time), but apart from the action sequences (which are nothing that out of the ordinary) are limited to just the screen stretching whenever someone goes through time. And, despite the premise desperately trying to be A-list, the scrip probably could have been done with a little extra work and most dialogue is a little stilted and predictable. Therefore, it does still feel like just another Van-Damme B-movie, only with a few nice special effects and a sci-fi spin.But, if you're a fan of Van-Damme and his punchy-kicky B-movies of the eighties and nineties (and, seeing as he did become quite famous doing this, there's plenty of us out there who appreciate his 'art') then 'Timecop' should tick all the boxes you're looking for. It's not 'high art;' it's not even an A-list film, but it is a fun enough little romp if you're in the mood for some mindless action and a few cheesy puns whenever a bad-guy is despatched.

And here we have yet another Van Damme film from his height of Hollywood fame. After the global success of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER in 1992 (not a bad little flick, but avoid the sequel like the plague), the Muscles from Brussels decided to make another science fiction film. And, like his previous experiment in futuristic themes, TIMECOP is flawed. After all, it's a film dealing with time travel, and, as the writers of any time travel film or programme soon find out, its a head scratching theme from the start, and paradoxes soon turn up by the dozen. To help take our mind off the flimsy, and sometimes contrived, plot, there are a number of fight sequences (as to be expected from every Van Damme film ever made) which keep the attention as always, and one gob-smacking bit of CGI work.The most impressive computer effect here is where a man's arm is frozen and then kicked off by Van Damme, shattering into a million pieces. Other than that there are the usual assorted bruisings, beatings, whippings, and beltings with Van Damme kicking people in the face as his preferred tactic (whereas Seagal likes to break people's arms, and Schwarzenegger just shoots them). Mia Sara has the thankless role of Van Damme's murdered wife and finds yet more reasons to take her top off as often as possible, while the ever-reliable Ron Silver puts in a thoroughly slimy and totally villainous performance as a corrupt senator, who meets his end when his two selves (present and future) touch, turning him literally into a glob of goo - sadly, it has to be said, this effect isn't what it could have been.What I disliked about TIMECOP is how cheesy it is. While cheesiness is sometimes an easing factor when watching bad '80s horror films, here it just seems embarrassing. In order to travel back to the past, Van Damme and co. must climb inside a BACK TO THE FUTURE-inspired pod car which then races off down a chute. Unfortunately, this "pod" as it appears to be, looks like it's made of cheap plastic and has a tiny little gas flame popping out of the back to simulate the powerful drive of the vehicle - except it looks just like a silly little gas flame. On top of this, the various baddies all have ridiculous '80s costumes on, seemingly left from a previous Van Damme flick entitled CYBORG.To add to the mainstream appeal, there's a heck of a lot of nudity and explicit sexual content too, much more than the brief instances in most Van Damme films. And what's up with Van Damme's permed hairdo, which makes him look like a sissy? Along with this and the fact that he has to do the splits as much as humanly possible, it just makes him look like a poseur. On the lighting side the ending is far too dark and we don't get much of a chance to see Van Damme taking out the bad chaps. There are the expected bad wisecracks, good characters who turn bad, an inventive death or two (two soldiers are suddenly ignited in the flames of a pod car) and plenty more reasons to keep watching. And If you can get over the silly contraptions, contrived set-ups and ridiculous appearances of the villains, then you might just find yourself enjoying this slick piece of nonsense. After all, time travel is invariably interesting in whatever form it takes.