It's 2014 folks, the DTV market is low budget (it's not like it was 10 years ago)...As long as the Sensei is kicking ass...I'm happy.
I get that, I really do, but low budget is no excuse for laziness and lack of effort.
Look at something like The Raid, produced for under $1M, less than any Seagal DTV more than likely, and they were able to make one of the most badass and awe-inspiring martial arts action movies ever made.
Dolph Lundgren wrote the script for Skintrade and tried to get it made for years, and now has been able to assemble a great cast around him, a real dramatic director, and from the looks of it one of the better DTV movies in recent years.
That could have only happened because Dolph really pushed the project, and waited for the right time to make it.
I wouldn't be surprised if he declined to get paid his acting fee and instead put the money back into the budget, because he realizes it's a good investment for his career.
After having seen it a few times, I would say that the trailer for Absolution is one of the worst trailers for a Seagal movie I have seen.
You can't tell what the story is about, it seems like not only Steven but the supporting cast too are all whispering and mumbling, it seems to have been filmed in three small and dark rooms and the fight scenes seem to be the usual, Seagal stands in place and waits for the other guys to run up to him, he slaps them a few times and pushes and flips them around, end of fight.
He's capable of so much more, but we rarely see anything else but these generic cookie cutter fist fights and stock aikido moves we've seen a million times before.
During the filming of Maximum Conviction it was rumoured that Seagal only worked 4 hours a day, and I remember Keoni Waxman saying in one of the Q&A's how they filmed a fight scene with Seagal's parts first in only 4 hours, and then the other parts, which would support the rumour that he is indeed only working 4 hours a day.
And frankly, it shows. It only leads to more stunt doubles, more dubbing, and more of these movies that take place in dark rooms, because it's faster to film an indoors scene, especially if you have only 4 hours with your star.
I too hope that Seagal starts working with new directors. I have a feeling that the reason why he's been pretty much working exclusively with Waxman these few years is because it's comfortable for him, he probably doesn't push Steven at all, they just crank these at best mediocre DTV movies out as fast as they can.
The only directors I really feel were able to push Seagal into something more in his DTV career were Don Fauntleroy with Urban Justice, and Roel Reine in Pistol Whipped.
In Urban Justice he was the closest to the badass old school Steven Seagal we all love, and in Pistol Whipped I feel for the first time he really played a flawed character, an alcoholic, pill popping gambler who's a bad father. He wasn't playing the most perfect man in the world with a 20-year old model playing his wife while they make love with him wearing a leather jacket in bed.
I don't think it's a coincidence that he stopped working with Fauntleroy and Reine. He found it easier to work with Waxman. He stopped trying.
No matter how small the budget, it all has to start with Steven himself. He would have to start putting in the effort, but he's not.
We all saw the interview he gave while on tour recently where he had no idea what movie he just did and talked about it with the same passion as if he was talking about his tax report.
Low budget is really no excuse. I watch a lot of independent low budget movies, some action and some not, and there are so many talented young filmmakers out there who are making great movies often with budgets that wouldn't pay for the catering in a "big" DTV movie.
It's because they have passion and drive.
Steven used to have passion and drive, but clearly doesn't anymore.