here’s a man in my house!” After a terrorized woman is killed and set aflame in her apartment in Washington, Detective Jake Riley (Michael Rooker) rushes to the scene of the crime to rescue a baby about to perish alongside its mother. He also attempts to apprehend the culprit, a man wearing sunglasses and a black leather coat, which leads to a hostage situation that turns into another foot chase, ending when the mystery murderer nearly runs over Riley. Known as “The Torch” (Jean-Claude Van Damme), the serial killer has been stalking mothers for over three years, with the police failing to make much progress. And now, Jake is retiring.

The Feds offer him another opportunity, however, which Jake doesn’t mull over for very long before accepting. He may be done with the standard Seattle cops, but as a National Security Force agent, he’ll have greater resources available to finally catch the killer. With virtually no shock whatsoever, Jake is introduced to a top-secret counterterrorism cloning program, which will use the latest technology to create a new version of The Torch from a small DNA sample. After the clone grows up a bit, Riley will work with him to see if he can give him some insight into the original monster (reminiscent in some ways to the premise of “The Silence of the Lambs”).

Inexplicably – and almost laughably – the former police detective doesn’t even bat an eye at the NSF’s scientific capabilities. Apparently, an adult human clone just isn’t a reason to be impressed (when other personas learn of his existence, they’re equally unfazed). Nor are the mentions of genetic memory and telepathic abilities. At the end of the day, the clone is a disposable creature anyway, continually treated like a barely domesticated animal. The setting isn’t obviously futuristic or otherworldly, yet no one bothers with much time for explaining this technologically advanced new realm. It moves incredibly fast, assuming that audiences will simply accept the strangeness of a clone (a “million-dollar project”) learning to behave like a normal adult, all while possessing seemingly superhuman agility and athleticism – as he was trained by watching gymnasts on a television in his prison-like quarters. “Do I get an owner’s manual on this guy?”

It’s surreal in its eerie weirdness; it’s decidedly sci-fi, but the sets and props and characters are entirely present-day in their designs. It’s as if this project started as a straightforward crime thriller before spontaneously adding in the concept of Replicants. Even more bizarre is the way the relationship builds between Jake and his subhuman ward; it’s cruel and abusive at the start, before becoming manipulative and then tolerant and minimally friendly – not unlike in other odd-couple partnerships with an extraterrestrial flair, such as “Alien Nation” and “Enemy Mine.” But here, Jake is never sympathetic; he’s too hard-edged and ruthless to be a real hero. And with no appropriate supervision, the Seattle flatfoot remains short-tempered and violent; he’s really the least qualified person to be carting around an inexperienced clone-person (for which there are no rules, regulations, ethical guidelines, or thoughts about what to do with a leftover human after he’s served his purpose – as determined by unthinking government goons).

Of course, since Van Damme gets to play both the serial killer and the Replicant (this is at least the third time that he’s played two different characters in the same picture), moments are reserved for his signature roundhouse kicks and other martial arts duels (some of which are Van Damme versus Van Damme). The film boasts a handful of decent stunts and action sequences; several of the fist fights are unusually heavy-hitting. It also utilizes a few notions from “Demolition Man,” while it lends to a couple of ideas in “Minority Report.”

Ultimately, it lingers too long on trying to have the clone remember the past or predict the future, instead of relying on dependable sleuthing (it’s not a stretch when the slayer’s motives and reasons behind specific methods come to light), which could have made for the same level of entertainment value without the excessive suspension of disbelief necessary with the cloning premise (a genre mishmash). The elaborate chases and confrontations pose fleeting complexities. But with almost no dialogue for the Replicant (a suitable concept for this particular star, especially when he behaves like a Terminator), Van Damme isn’t half bad. And the finale, drawn out and exceptionally bloodthirsty, is moderately satisfying – even if terribly unrealistic, which matches the nonsensical parting shots (and the outrageously discordant end-credits music).

– Mike Massie