The Tracker (2001)

The Tracker (2001)-* *

Directed by: Jeff Schechter

Starring: Casper  Van Dien, Russell Wong, Francoise Robertson, and Jason Blicker



“Mr. Spears has his own way of doing things.”









Connor “Connie” Spears (Van Dien) is a former NYC cop who moved to L.A. to become a private detective. When an old friend who he trained in Martial Arts with, Rick (Wong) contacts him because his sister was kidnapped, Spears agrees to go back to his old New York stomping grounds to try to find her. The plot thickens when it seems she’s caught in between two rival gangs: the Chinese mob and the Malakov family of the Russian mob. Teaming up with the streetwise taxi driver Carmen (Robertson) and old cop buddy Jack “Chick” Cicollini (Blicker), our team of four unlikely heroes hit the streets to try to find the missing girl. Will they find her before it’s too late?

2001, when this movie was released, wasn’t that far from the 90’s in time. Thus, The Tracker fully retains a 90’s feel. It’s standard DTV fare, but it’s professionally made and doesn’t look like junk. While it doesn’t reach the heights of Drive (1997), a movie it seems to be influenced by, it makes a decent one-time watch, mainly because of the Martial Arts scenes with Russell Wong. There’s plenty of other reasonably enjoyable stupidity on display, mainly in the action scenes.  Add a little humor, and there you have it.

Casper Van Dien’s blonde hair and snarky attitude gives him the vibe of Billy Idol. Was that intentional? But because he’s supposed to be the ultimate coolguy, with an answer for everything, that puts him more in the category of being the Zack Morris of action (or Zacktion to those in the know). 

Throughout most of the 90’s, and into the 2000’s, having the main character in a movie or TV show spouting sarcastic, ironic retorts all the time became the norm. Somewhere along the line, writers got off the track, and being the likable hero got confused with being the snotty jerk. Van Dien in The Tracker is a perfect example of this. Is he supposed to be likable? We assume yes, but he doesn’t make it easy on us, the viewing public. This “Coolguy-is-a-jerk” phenomenon was a misstep in pop culture, in our opinion. Of course, we blame Sloane (1984) for starting it all.

The movie is really nothing more than a compendium of cliches, from the prerequisite torture scene to the abandoned warehouse shootout, but that might be one of the movie’s strengths after all. The Tracker is what people rented in video stores when everything else they intended to rent was out for the evening. 

For better or worse, Connor Spears (remember this was the heyday of Britney) did not return for another outing. There were to be no franchises for him. It would have been interesting to see an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) kind of thing, where Howie Long plays Casper Van Dien’s father, and they can compete to see who has the squarest head.  So that was not to be, but at least we have this, and we’re all happy about it, right? ....right?

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a review by our buddy Keith from The Unknown Movies! 

The Minion (1998)

The Minion (1998)-* * *

Directed by: Jean-Marc Piche

Starring: Dolph Lundgren and Francoise Robertson













When archaeologist Karen Goodleaf (Robertson) goes to investigate a burial site found underneath New York City, she gets way more than she bargained for. Among the relics is an ancient key. This key just happens to unlock the hiding place of  “The Minion”, a devil or demon of some sort. Luckily, Lukas (Dolph), is sent from a monastery in Jerusalem to help recover the key before it falls into the wrong hands. As it turns out, Lukas is a direct descendent of The Templars, and his “warrior priest” status helps Karen fend off the powers of The Minion, whose spirit can inhabit the bodies of others. What will happen to the mysterious key?

The Minion has some noteworthy ideas, such as modern-day Templars, and the dialogue is fairly interesting, or at least attempts to be. For example, The Minion has the ability to turn you into a were-minion. So many DTV movies seem like they’re not even trying; say what you will about The Minion, you could tell the filmmakers were at least putting forth some effort into delivering a product with some worthwhile thought put into it. The dialogue to convey said ideas is delivered convincingly by Dolph, who must have chosen this role because it’s a bit different than what he’s usually known for (or he was hitting a rough patch in his career and had no other option but to go to Canada and shoot this).

Now while there are historical references (among plenty of mumbo-jumbo, of course) - the film borrows heavily from such contemporary movies as The Relic (1997), but crosses it with C.H.U.D. (1984), of all things. Dolph  can only stop the evil with a huge spiked glove, highly reminiscent of The Glove (1979). But it’s one of the cooler aspects of this movie nonetheless. Actually, an entire movie could - nay - MUST be made of Dolph fighting more baddies and punks with a spiked glove. Come to think of it, forget all this mystical demon noise. Dolph and “The Glove” forever! Who’s with us? Anyway, add in a demon in some kind of supernatural prison, and Dolph as the most badass dude to wear a white Priest’s collar, and you have a decently entertaining Dolph vehicle, despite its flaws.

It may not be one of Dolph’s shining moments, but The Minion really isn’t all that bad. It’s a good one-time watch.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty