The Shepherd: Border Patrol

Shepherd Herds in Rogue Special Forces
In "The Shepherd" (2008), Van Damme plays a Texas border cop battling former member from an elite U.S. military force who now turned their past expertise into running a proficient drug smuggling trade from Mexico into the US. The movie breaks new grounds for Van Damme as he moves in to a more mature role with stronger acting. Van Damme's trademark fight scenes highlights an upcoming martial artiste, Scott Adkins whose zeal nearly turns the staged studio fights into a legitimate match between the two with a visual delight jammed with innovative techniques and true-to-life kicks. Reality slips into the fights forcing and inspired and newly invigorated Van Damme to truly draw on his own genuine fighting history to legitimately weather his younger rival. By way of irony, Adkins in real life while growing up was inspired by Van Damme.

A Shepherd over your Damme desires
I must say, I was really looking forward to this movie. And I was probably looking forward to Scott Adkins as much as I was to Van Damme. My expectations were high (even for a ridiculous b-movie like this) after what Issac Florentine and J.J. Perry did with Undisputed II. The movie wasn't spectacular and it didn't quite reach my highest hopes, but I wasn't disappointed. Van Damme played his usual laconic self - this time with a bunny. Scott Adkins' character wasn't very interesting either (and the main villain was a bit annoying), but you can't have it all with these kinds of movies.

With the exception of the final showdown, the fight scenes were very well shot and choreographed. J.J. Perry (the fight choreographer) did a great job with Van Damme's abilities while still giving him room to exhibit his "Van Damme" style. Scott Adkins was excellent as usual (although his skills are best displayed in the director's other films), but it doesn't seem that the writers gave much...

Damme Good After All These Years!
The Shepherd: Border Patrol is a very good film! Van Damme's best and most action packed since Wake of Death. Seriously, all the good ingredients are in there, guys. There's plenty of hand to hand fighting in The Shepherd, even the gratuitous bar fight. There's a likable chemistry between the lead and supporting cast, and the villains are well picked. There's also a lot of good soundtrack work done in a style familiar to spaghetti westerns.

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