Knock Off (1998) Biography, Plot, Production Release, Reception, Fight.

Knock Off (1998)

Knock Off is a 1998 action film directed by Tsui Hark and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Rob Schneider. The film was released in the United States on September 4, 1998. The title is a double entendre, as the term colloquially refers to both counterfeit goods as well as targeted killing. The film is one of the last in the world to feature Kai Tak Airport still in use; the airport closed in 1998. It was Hark’s second and last American film; he returned to Hong Kong after Knock Off, feeling unsatisfied with his work in the United States. The film is also the second collaboration between Van Damme and de Souza, the first film being Street Fighter, released in 1994.

Plot.

Russian agents searching for something underwater find a crate as Hong Kong police close in. They accidentally open the crate and baby dolls float to the surface before being detonated. Some Russian agents and a Hong Kong detective pursuing them survive. Downtown, Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider) is arranging a fashion show for “V-Six” Jeans. His partner, Marcus Ray (Jean-Claude Van Damme) shows up late after inspecting a warehouse of their goods where he sees several knock-offs, including the exploding dolls, peddled by a Hong Kong gangster, Skinny. Marcus and Tommy then participate in a rickshaw race during which Marcus’ adopted brother and friend Eddie cheats to win by switching with a body double. The body double gets kidnapped by Russian agents (looking for Eddie) and Marcus gives chase. Ultimately, they kill the fake Eddie and Hong Kong police arrest Marcus and Tommy, but release them without charges.

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Back at their office, an executive from V-Six, Karen Lee (Lela Rochon), claims a shipment of jeans was counterfeit and Marcus and Tommy are responsible for over $5 million of losses. She agrees to let it go if they go to the warehouse that switched the fake jeans and identify who did it. Meanwhile, the Russian bosses kill the agents who failed to reclaim the dolls and get tipped off by Skinny that V-Six is onto them and is going to their warehouse. When Tommy gets kidnapped at a restaurant, Marcus follows him and finds him talking to his CIA handlers. He is a CIA agent sent to discover the counterfeiters who used Marcus, “the king of knock offs,” as his cover. That night, before they arrive at the warehouse, a truck bursts out. Marcus gets on top of it and when it ultimately crashes they find it full of tiny discs. Tommy’s boss, Harry Johansson (Paul Sorvino), determines they are powerful “nanobombs” at their base inside a Buddha statue. Believing Eddie to be in on it, they go to see him.

Eddie fingers Skinny as the counterfeiter; he found out they had bombs in the merchandise and tried to have it dumped in the ocean before the Russians found them. He opens a safe to give them proof, but it explodes, killing him. Tommy and Marcus have to fight their way out of the building. Tommy obtains security footage on the way out. Marcus kidnaps Skinny and takes him back to the CIA base in the Buddha. There, the security footage reveals Karen was in the warehouse just before they were. At the office, she handcuffs Tommy and prepares to question him. After Marcus leaves, the Buddha explodes, and Marcus races to the office to save Tommy.

Production, Release.

The film was announced at the 1997 American Film Market. Knock Off opened in the United States on September 4, 1998. It took the 4th spot and grossed in $5,516,2311 at 1800 theaters, at an average of $3,064 for the weekend. From there it grossed a total of $10.3 million in US ticket sales.

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Reception.

Knock Off holds an 8% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 39 reviews. The site’s consensus states: “Muddled plot; stiff acting.” Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “D+” on an A+ to F scale. Joe Leydon of Variety called it “an exuberantly cheesy action opus” that is made worth watching by Tsui Hark’s directing despite its confusing and formulaic plot. Paul Tatara of CNN wrote that it is “the most incomprehensible mess I’ve ever had to sit through”, and Jeff Vice of the Deseret News called it “incompetent in almost every aspect of filmmaking”. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times, however, called it Van Damme’s best film to date and said it has crossover appeal due to its humor.