Littledragon
Above The Law
By Michael Machosky
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 15, 2002
Ja Rule might be one of the hottest pop stars on the planet right now. His tough-guy demeanor and ear for catchy hooks has elevated his records to the very top of the mega-selling pop-rap pantheon.
So you'd think that someone with his ear so close to the ground would know better than to get involved in a dead-on-arrival 50-car pileup like "Half Past Dead."
It doesn't say much for the craft of acting that Hollywood feels perfectly happy having someone right off the pop-star assembly line carry a feature film. But, evidently someone thinks it's a great idea.
And it's probably safe to say that it would be more fun to watch Jackie Chan give blood than to watch Steven Seagal take on yet another evil criminal army. Although he was never among the most kinetic of kung fu heroes, he now actually looks half past dead. And what's worse, he looks bored.
Seagal barely even attempts the deadly akido moves that built his action reputation in movies such as "Above the Law" and "Under Siege." Instead, he gets off with a lot of ho-hum gunplay, some bafflingly stupid one-liners ("I'm cuckoo crazy!" he says at one point) and some lame action sequences dressed up with the by-now predictable "Matrix" twirling camera angles.
The plot revolves around a deep-cover FBI agent Sascha Petrosevitch (Seagal) and his crime syndicate friend Nick Frazier (Ja Rule), who are sent to jail at "New Alcatraz" (conveniently located on the site of the old Alcatraz). An inmate, Lester (Bruce Weitz), is about to be executed there, taking to his grave sole knowledge of where $200 million in gold is buried. Just before his sentence is carried out, a group of heavily armed criminals led by Donny (Morris Chestnut) attack the prison, intent on forcing him to talk. Only Sascha, Nick and a motley band of convicts can stop them.
In one scene, Seagal gets to parachute out of an airplane to catch a falling hostage in midair, as raucous rap-rock blares on the soundtrack. It's almost embarrassing to witness this brazen pandering to the demographic that supposedly loves Vin Diesel and Mountain Dew commercials - especially because I'm supposed to be part of this demographic.
Ultimately, "Half Past Dead" raises some intriguing questions. Did the title of this ephemeral hip-hop-flavored film really come from that old song by The Band, "The Weight"? Rode into Nazareth/I was feelin' 'bout half past dead/Just lookin' for a place/Where I could lay my head. And didn't Alcatraz already get used in an action movie - the Sean Connery vehicle "The Rock"? Shouldn't there be a statute of limitations on this kind of thing?
'Half Past Dead'
Director: Don Michael Paul
Stars: Steven Seagal, Morris Chestnut, Ja Rule
MPAA Rating: PG-13, for action violence, language
Source : http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/entertainment/movies/reviews/s_102576.html
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 15, 2002
Ja Rule might be one of the hottest pop stars on the planet right now. His tough-guy demeanor and ear for catchy hooks has elevated his records to the very top of the mega-selling pop-rap pantheon.
So you'd think that someone with his ear so close to the ground would know better than to get involved in a dead-on-arrival 50-car pileup like "Half Past Dead."
It doesn't say much for the craft of acting that Hollywood feels perfectly happy having someone right off the pop-star assembly line carry a feature film. But, evidently someone thinks it's a great idea.
And it's probably safe to say that it would be more fun to watch Jackie Chan give blood than to watch Steven Seagal take on yet another evil criminal army. Although he was never among the most kinetic of kung fu heroes, he now actually looks half past dead. And what's worse, he looks bored.
Seagal barely even attempts the deadly akido moves that built his action reputation in movies such as "Above the Law" and "Under Siege." Instead, he gets off with a lot of ho-hum gunplay, some bafflingly stupid one-liners ("I'm cuckoo crazy!" he says at one point) and some lame action sequences dressed up with the by-now predictable "Matrix" twirling camera angles.
The plot revolves around a deep-cover FBI agent Sascha Petrosevitch (Seagal) and his crime syndicate friend Nick Frazier (Ja Rule), who are sent to jail at "New Alcatraz" (conveniently located on the site of the old Alcatraz). An inmate, Lester (Bruce Weitz), is about to be executed there, taking to his grave sole knowledge of where $200 million in gold is buried. Just before his sentence is carried out, a group of heavily armed criminals led by Donny (Morris Chestnut) attack the prison, intent on forcing him to talk. Only Sascha, Nick and a motley band of convicts can stop them.
In one scene, Seagal gets to parachute out of an airplane to catch a falling hostage in midair, as raucous rap-rock blares on the soundtrack. It's almost embarrassing to witness this brazen pandering to the demographic that supposedly loves Vin Diesel and Mountain Dew commercials - especially because I'm supposed to be part of this demographic.
Ultimately, "Half Past Dead" raises some intriguing questions. Did the title of this ephemeral hip-hop-flavored film really come from that old song by The Band, "The Weight"? Rode into Nazareth/I was feelin' 'bout half past dead/Just lookin' for a place/Where I could lay my head. And didn't Alcatraz already get used in an action movie - the Sean Connery vehicle "The Rock"? Shouldn't there be a statute of limitations on this kind of thing?
'Half Past Dead'
Director: Don Michael Paul
Stars: Steven Seagal, Morris Chestnut, Ja Rule
MPAA Rating: PG-13, for action violence, language
Source : http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/entertainment/movies/reviews/s_102576.html