Jean-Claude Van Johnson review: Why we need a second Damme season
The premise of the show is this: Jean Claude Van Damme is using his Hollywood persona as a cover for the real work he does – he’s a black ops special agent that goes on highly dangerous missions. He’s been retired for a few years (from both Hollywood and being an agent), but when he runs into a woman he used to work with (and the love of his life) named Vanessa he decides to get back in the game. With this being a Van Damme show there is of course a science fiction element to it (which is a lot of fun) and with this being littered with Van Damme material that fans have loved over the years there’s only one thing we want after watching season 1: Jean-Claude Van Johnson season 2! Here are some of the major reasons why a season 2 needs to happen immediately if not sooner:
Jean-Claude Van Damme as the lead: We loved the set up of Jean-Claude himself as an action hero everyone looks up to, but when you see him at home, he’s depressed, eats pop tarts every day, showers in coconut water (because he’s just that rich) and has about 20 pictures of different dogs on his mantel showing his lack of family and connection with other people. It’s a really interesting juxtaposition for him and for us watching since everyone on the planet knows him for being the greatest action hero alive, not a depressed sad sack. He’s surprising funny, and delivers this wonderfully sad, broken down version of himself and even though his character has only been out of the entertainment business for a few years, he’s so out of touch with everything – you would think that he’s been hiding out in his coconut water palace for the past 20 years not 2 years.
The inside jokes: If you are a Van Damme fan then the inside jokes about Time Cop being better than Looper, how he can only fight one bad guy at a time, and him not being able to do the splits for his famous junk punch because he’s severely out of shape were right on the money. We loved how he always tried to name drop himself and his movies even when he was about to get killed (“why would the greatest actor of all time kill all my friends” had us laughing all day). Also adding in a science fiction feel to the story line helped to make any Van Damme fan feel right at home. Even if you haven’t see a lot of Van Damme’s work, this show clues you into the humor right away, so you don’t feel lost.
Poking fun at Hollywood: They aren’t afraid to poke fun at some social issues that have been happening in Hollywood the past few years, like gender/race swapping well known roles (making Tom Sawyer a woman and casting an Asian actor as Jim), hipster vaping directors that will give the stars anything they want and how ridiculous it can be remaking classic stories like Huckleberry Finn and turning them into a science fiction/action movie.
Action, Action, Action: What can we say, we love a good action sequence and Van Damme is known for bringing some of the best stunts to life on the big screen. As for the action sequences on the small screen, he delivered just the same. There were some smaller, more intimate fights where we really got so see the choreography up close and then full blown out action scenes that involved many people, on many different platforms and levels. Just awesome.
CarterMatt Verdict
There’s a lot of heavy content out there in TV land right now, so having a chance to watch something that makes us laugh is a real treat. Add to that the lack of really funny comedies these days (we are talking about the ones that really make your belly hurt from laughing so much) and Jean-Claude Van Johnson is coming in a the perfect time. What we also liked about this show is that it has a story that threads through out all of the episodes, which is not something that a lot of comedies do. Last but not least they left a pretty awesome cliffhanger (outside of us dying to know which other big Hollywood actor/ operative is going by the code name “Brown”), so we really need a season 2!
What did you think of Jean-Claude Van Johnson and do you want to see the show come back for a second season? Leave us a comment in the box below with your thoughts. If you want more news on Jean-Claude Van Johnson then be sure to join our CarterMatt Facebook group to stay up to date with all of our coverage on the show. (Photo: Amazon)