In Maximum Risk, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a French Cop (that explains the accent!) who runs afoul with the Russian mob, the FBI and a sexy New York waitress (Natasha Henstridge from Species) as he tries to investigate the death of his gangster brother. Hong Kong Director Ringo Lam (City on Fire, the movie Quentin Tarantino allegedly cribbed to make Reservoir Dogs) serves up plenty of eye-popping explosions, car chases and stabbings and makes fine use of real French and Brighton Beach locations. Unfortunately, Lam never lets us get close to the characters (that may have something to do with Van Damme’s and Henstridge’s limited acting ranges), so the proceedings are never as involving as they are impressive. As a result, Maximum Risk is only occasionally more than marginal entertainment ( R ). Rating: 5.