So, here we have the latest from Steven Seagal. Of course, after the triumph of Submerged, those words hold a great deal more meaning than they did in the days of Out of Reach or Out for a Kill. Yeah, the project that follows up Seagal's best film since Belly of the Beast can only be a disappointment, but even Seagal's disappointments are pretty damn entertaining.
A woman gets a tarot card reading, and the old lady reading the cards tells her that she needs Steven Seagal to interpret her prophetic dreams for her. Okay, so she doesn't mention Seagal by name, but it's obvious who she's talking about. Luckily for this other chick, Seagal is already her boyfriend. His name is Harlan Banks in this one. So, when the chick has her Avid-fart visions that do nothing to advance the plot, Harlan is there to not have anything helpful to add. Well, never mind all that ****. See, Harlan is a thief, a Robin Hood type. He robs from rich criminals and gives to poor criminals, or something like that. He pulls one last job, which results in a few dead bodies, and then it's time for him to go straight. To Vegas. On the way to town, Banks and his girlfriend pass a children's hospital with a going-out-of-business sign out front. Gee, I wonder if anyone could possibly help those kids. Anyway, forget about them for a while, too. As it turns out, Harlan's new legit job is to drive an armored truck for a guy who is obviously a villain. Then, during a pickup of quite a few million dollars, the guy he works with just starts shooting people for no reason. They're chased by the cops, and Harlan gets away, but then he decides to take a nap on the street, and the cops get him. Now, everybody wants to know what Banks did with the money. Banks just wants revenge on the people who put him in jail. Luckily, he meets a fellow convict who just happens to have an escape plan at the ready. You guessed it: This is a buddy movie.
Yes, in the tradition of Out for a Kill, our hero isn't just a convict. He's a convict who used to be an expert thief. Of all the Seagal movies they could have ripped off for a plot...
These are busy days for Seagal. Not only does he have three more movies on the way, but he's also got a new energy drink (Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt) and an album of his own songs (Songs from the Crystal Cave). The amazing thing is that even with all this extra pressure, he still keeps up the same level of quality. Okay, considering what that level of quality is, maybe it's not so amazing, but I think I'm going to be amazed anyway, at least until I try his energy drink.
This is not one of those Seagal pictures that can be enjoyed on more levels than just laughing at the film's crappiness. I blame the director, a guy named Don E. FauntLeRoy. Why? The movie looks kind of crap. The fight scenes and shoot-outs are incoherent. Who's shooting at who? Where are any of these people? Why are they over there now? Sure, some of that can be blamed on the editors, but even the best editor can't do **** unless you give him the right shots to work with. And little lord FauntLeRoy has another Seagal flick called Mercenary coming out later in the year. Oh, I'll watch it, but I'm not expecting much from him. I think this guy's already proven that he doesn't know his ass from his elbow.
But, that doesn't mean that this film isn't amazing. It's just amazing in different ways. For instance, there's a scene where we see some characters pushing a cart down a hallway, and it's a dolly shot keeping pace in front of them. Typical stuff, but then we see some security camera shots of the same scene, and one of them is that same dolly shot. Like they have a security camera set up on wheels, rolling down the hall.
Later, there's a news report about our hero's daring prison break, and the reporter mentions that their footage of people running around outside the prison was taken by an amateur photographer. Yeah, that's right, there just happened to be a guy with a video camera around to record some footage of the chaos at this prison that's in the middle of the ****ing desert.
What I'm saying is: This movie kicks ass in its own special way. And I think you know what kind of special I mean.
** out of ten for the script
**** out of ten for the visuals
** out of ten for the acting
****** out of ten for entertainment value
Average Score- 3.5 points out of ten
Bottom Line- SEAGAL MOVIE
Source : Live Journal.
A woman gets a tarot card reading, and the old lady reading the cards tells her that she needs Steven Seagal to interpret her prophetic dreams for her. Okay, so she doesn't mention Seagal by name, but it's obvious who she's talking about. Luckily for this other chick, Seagal is already her boyfriend. His name is Harlan Banks in this one. So, when the chick has her Avid-fart visions that do nothing to advance the plot, Harlan is there to not have anything helpful to add. Well, never mind all that ****. See, Harlan is a thief, a Robin Hood type. He robs from rich criminals and gives to poor criminals, or something like that. He pulls one last job, which results in a few dead bodies, and then it's time for him to go straight. To Vegas. On the way to town, Banks and his girlfriend pass a children's hospital with a going-out-of-business sign out front. Gee, I wonder if anyone could possibly help those kids. Anyway, forget about them for a while, too. As it turns out, Harlan's new legit job is to drive an armored truck for a guy who is obviously a villain. Then, during a pickup of quite a few million dollars, the guy he works with just starts shooting people for no reason. They're chased by the cops, and Harlan gets away, but then he decides to take a nap on the street, and the cops get him. Now, everybody wants to know what Banks did with the money. Banks just wants revenge on the people who put him in jail. Luckily, he meets a fellow convict who just happens to have an escape plan at the ready. You guessed it: This is a buddy movie.
Yes, in the tradition of Out for a Kill, our hero isn't just a convict. He's a convict who used to be an expert thief. Of all the Seagal movies they could have ripped off for a plot...
These are busy days for Seagal. Not only does he have three more movies on the way, but he's also got a new energy drink (Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt) and an album of his own songs (Songs from the Crystal Cave). The amazing thing is that even with all this extra pressure, he still keeps up the same level of quality. Okay, considering what that level of quality is, maybe it's not so amazing, but I think I'm going to be amazed anyway, at least until I try his energy drink.
This is not one of those Seagal pictures that can be enjoyed on more levels than just laughing at the film's crappiness. I blame the director, a guy named Don E. FauntLeRoy. Why? The movie looks kind of crap. The fight scenes and shoot-outs are incoherent. Who's shooting at who? Where are any of these people? Why are they over there now? Sure, some of that can be blamed on the editors, but even the best editor can't do **** unless you give him the right shots to work with. And little lord FauntLeRoy has another Seagal flick called Mercenary coming out later in the year. Oh, I'll watch it, but I'm not expecting much from him. I think this guy's already proven that he doesn't know his ass from his elbow.
But, that doesn't mean that this film isn't amazing. It's just amazing in different ways. For instance, there's a scene where we see some characters pushing a cart down a hallway, and it's a dolly shot keeping pace in front of them. Typical stuff, but then we see some security camera shots of the same scene, and one of them is that same dolly shot. Like they have a security camera set up on wheels, rolling down the hall.
Later, there's a news report about our hero's daring prison break, and the reporter mentions that their footage of people running around outside the prison was taken by an amateur photographer. Yeah, that's right, there just happened to be a guy with a video camera around to record some footage of the chaos at this prison that's in the middle of the ****ing desert.
What I'm saying is: This movie kicks ass in its own special way. And I think you know what kind of special I mean.
** out of ten for the script
**** out of ten for the visuals
** out of ten for the acting
****** out of ten for entertainment value
Average Score- 3.5 points out of ten
Bottom Line- SEAGAL MOVIE
Source : Live Journal.