Steven Seagal is a deeply serious man. If you don't believe me, check out his official website at stevenseagal.com and read his views on Buddhism and man's inhumanity to man. This is, to Steven Seagal, a deeply serious film about the plight of the environment. The last reel of the film features a grandstanding monologue - with a slide show, no less - so we can tell just how deeply serious Steven is about the future of our planet.
Of course, Steven Seagal knows that the movie going public don't want to sit through a 90 minute cinematic lecture about the environment, so he has prefaced this with a routine action flick about a maverick ex-Special Forces troubleshooter (Steven, of course) who comes to realise that the problems at Aegis Oil's refineries are not as simple as they first seem. No, in fact, corrupt CEO Michael Jennings (Caine, as a cartoon villian) is bullying Eskimos and innocent oil workers because he wants to steal their land and pollute it with his nasty chemical waste.
There's no mistaking that Caine and his oil are evil - he even has had his hair dyed black and heavily slicked back to ram this point home. All he needs is a waxed moustache to complete his Dick Dastardly persona. Clearly just here for the pay cheque, Sir Michael camps it up in enjoyable fashion. The scene where he's making a commercial to persuade the world just how deeply Aegis care about the environment, which is reminiscent of Bill Murray's "staples" scene in Scrooged, is probably worth the price of the video alone.
Otherwise, it's a barely competent actioneer with plenty of A-Team style fun (Steven keeps a preposterously small bunker with a huge weapons arsenal which he cannibalises to explosive effect), but it's definitely Steven's show. Joan Chen must be relieved that most of her part appears to have been left on the cutting room floor, as must everyone else, including a beefy Billy Bob Thornton in an early role as a henchman. Clearly, unnecessary distractions such as other characters, plotting and script have been ditched by the great Steven to allow himself and his message more screen time. But his attempts at integration of an environmental message into this utterly moribund genre are about as convincing and subtle as an infomercial ("Knee deep in toxic waste? Try Seagal, the irony-free solution to unsightly oil deposits").
Kevin Reynolds once gave some advice to his former friend Kevin Costner, which clearly applies to Steven as well: "He should only star in movies he directs himself, then he can work with his favourite director and his favourite actor at the same time." It's just a pity he sees fit to foist this film upon us, rather than keep it to himself for his own private ego-trip.
Overall: <b>4/10</b>
Article taken from <a href="http://www.citizencaine.org">Citizen Caine</a>
Of course, Steven Seagal knows that the movie going public don't want to sit through a 90 minute cinematic lecture about the environment, so he has prefaced this with a routine action flick about a maverick ex-Special Forces troubleshooter (Steven, of course) who comes to realise that the problems at Aegis Oil's refineries are not as simple as they first seem. No, in fact, corrupt CEO Michael Jennings (Caine, as a cartoon villian) is bullying Eskimos and innocent oil workers because he wants to steal their land and pollute it with his nasty chemical waste.
There's no mistaking that Caine and his oil are evil - he even has had his hair dyed black and heavily slicked back to ram this point home. All he needs is a waxed moustache to complete his Dick Dastardly persona. Clearly just here for the pay cheque, Sir Michael camps it up in enjoyable fashion. The scene where he's making a commercial to persuade the world just how deeply Aegis care about the environment, which is reminiscent of Bill Murray's "staples" scene in Scrooged, is probably worth the price of the video alone.
Otherwise, it's a barely competent actioneer with plenty of A-Team style fun (Steven keeps a preposterously small bunker with a huge weapons arsenal which he cannibalises to explosive effect), but it's definitely Steven's show. Joan Chen must be relieved that most of her part appears to have been left on the cutting room floor, as must everyone else, including a beefy Billy Bob Thornton in an early role as a henchman. Clearly, unnecessary distractions such as other characters, plotting and script have been ditched by the great Steven to allow himself and his message more screen time. But his attempts at integration of an environmental message into this utterly moribund genre are about as convincing and subtle as an infomercial ("Knee deep in toxic waste? Try Seagal, the irony-free solution to unsightly oil deposits").
Kevin Reynolds once gave some advice to his former friend Kevin Costner, which clearly applies to Steven as well: "He should only star in movies he directs himself, then he can work with his favourite director and his favourite actor at the same time." It's just a pity he sees fit to foist this film upon us, rather than keep it to himself for his own private ego-trip.
Overall: <b>4/10</b>
Article taken from <a href="http://www.citizencaine.org">Citizen Caine</a>