The Gardener (2025): Jean-Claude Van Damme Hits a Career Low in This Misguided Action-Comedy

The Gardener (2025) – Film Review

Directed by: David Charhon

Written by: David Charhon, Sébastien Fechner, Vincent de Brus

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Youn

Release Date: June 6, 2025

Review Published: June 4, 2025

Poor JCVD

There was a moment, not so long ago, when it looked like there might be a path forward in the career of action star Jean-Claude Van Damme. Aging out of his martial arts action hero phase, Van Damme took an unexpected, introspective turn with 2008’s JCVD. In that film, he looked inward, examining his public persona and place in pop culture. The meta approach, paired with a surprisingly sensitive, honest, and smart performance, earned Van Damme both critical praise and audience sympathy. For a brief moment, it felt like maturity had come calling for one of our more immature, off-brand action legends.

But while JCVD earned cult status and a devoted following, it failed to make a significant dent in the mainstream. Despite strong reviews, it underperformed in theaters, only gaining some traction later as a streaming rental favorite. Disheartened that the film didn’t reignite his Hollywood career, Van Damme returned to the low-budget grind. He began taking on whatever direct-to-video action gigs would pay the most for the least effort. His post-JCVD output has been so uninspired that even Nicolas Cage at his most eccentric would raise an eyebrow. Van Damme made several nearly identical movies just to stay afloat financially.

Comedy Could Use Some Pruning

Now, at age 64, Van Damme has perhaps hit his career nadir with The Gardener, a dreadful French action-comedy directed by David Charhon. Here, Van Damme plays Leo—a former spy turned peaceful gardener who only fights when his garden is disturbed. Yes, that’s the actual premise.

In theory, there’s potential in the absurdity. An action comedy about a grizzled ex-operative defending his tulips could be tongue-in-cheek fun. But The Gardener never commits to its concept. Instead, it wallows in apathy. Van Damme looks visibly bored, physically uncomfortable, and entirely disengaged. He performs the minimal amount of martial arts he’s still capable of at his age while Charhon’s direction and some sloppy editing attempt to mask just how much he can’t do anymore.

Who is Michael Youn and When is He Going Away?

Even worse, Van Damme is not even the lead. That role goes to French comic actor Michael Youn, who gives an aggressively annoying performance that combines the worst elements of Jerry Lewis and Eugenio Derbez. Youn’s schtick consists of exaggerated facial expressions, spastic gestures, and mile-a-minute yammering. It’s grating, exhausting, and most damning of all—completely unfunny. At one point, when his character is shot in the back, I genuinely cheered, only to discover it was just tranquilizer darts.

The Best of a Bad Movie

To be clear: Jean-Claude Van Damme is still the best thing in this film, and he’s barely trying. That’s how bad The Gardener is. Unpleasant, unfunny, awkward, and loud, this is a film that fails at every level. Even die-hard Van Damme fans will find little to love here. The action sequences are uninspired, the comedy is dead on arrival, and the story is too thin to care about.

I don’t blame Van Damme for getting older or needing to pivot creatively. What’s frustrating is the refusal to acknowledge those limitations and reinvent himself accordingly. Instead, The Gardener tries to prop up the myth of the ageless action hero, and in doing so, it makes Van Damme look foolish—trapped in a movie that doesn’t work, alongside a cast and crew who can’t make it work either.

In short, The Gardener is an action-comedy disaster. Skip it.

★☆☆☆☆ (1 out of 5 stars)

Jean-Claude Van Damme deserves better—and so do we.

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