So, every now and then we'll do something like this where we'll put together a few short, themed reviews that will be in place of the long-form reviews presently on the site. For this first one, we'll do a few brief words about several Steven Seagal films from his recent spate of DTV films.
Pistol Whipped-
A mysterious man asks a gunman to perform a contract killing and will wipe out his debt if he does so, but finds out he's part of a far more sinister plot than was initially let on and tries to free himself from his predicament. One of Seagal's recent comeback films for the DTV market, and this might be one of his weakest efforts in his entire career. Really, really low on action, keeping more of a suspense/thriller tone throughout by the inclusion of it's reluctance to fully divulge what's going on with the proposal, which is nicely developed but has no action to it, and along with the snail-like pace, doesn't really keep it interesting until it gets to the last half-hour where it finally goes full-on with it's shootouts, chasing and hand-to-hand fighting. Seagal isn't as obviously doubled here, even though it's still clearly not him, so the fights aren't that bad, but it's really just hampered by it's slow pace and lack of action.
A Dangerous Man-
A recently released ex-Special Forces agent tries to protect a woman from the Chinese gangsters holding her Grandfather hostage after getting involved in a turf war with the Russian gangsters running the small town he lives in. Official statement here, this is Seagal's best of his recent re-birth in the DTV market, or at least of the one's I've seen as there's still a few small holes in the catalog. Tons of action, lots of shoot-outs, the trademark bone-breaking and snapping of limbs done by a much-more energetic stuntman while his face is used for the close-ups, things blowing up, it's got it all. Some editing problems here (it's way too dark at times during some of the shoot-outs, and the haphazard/quick shot editing during several of the fights makes it impossible to tell what's going on, though it's obvious to hide the stunt double) but overall, Seagal's best work in a while.
Out of Reach-
A Special Forces agent investigates the disappearance of his orphaned pen pal in Poland and finds the home to be the center of an illegal human smuggling operation and sets out to take it down before his friend is sold off. A hugely disappointing effort here, as it's an action film without a whole lot of it happening here beyond one impressive gunfight and a short, quick and barely worthwhile sword fight that doesn't have any real impact. That it spends so long investigating makes this one so hard to get into since nothing happens to him while investigating, the smugglers are aware of his every move and don't do anything and he's never in danger during these scenes. Add to that the fact that Seagal is so badly dubbed, he has three different distinct voices throughout the film, and it's terribly done to hide them each time out. All in all, a poor effort after such a good entry previously.
Attack Force-
A Special Forces team is gathered together to stop a dangerous terrorist group from unleashing a powerful drug into an Eastern European water supply system that will turn recipients into drug-addicted maniacs. Yet another Seagal rebirth effort, only it falls somewhere in the middle of the pack as it's got some good stuff to it and some pretty bad aspects as well. Love the gore and the bloody deaths, with set-ups sometimes right out of Horror films, a couple of suspenseful stalking scenes as they attempt to corral the infected within a vast, underground Gothic labyrinth complete with ambushes, shoot-outs and more, some fine action scenes throughout and a pretty decent final fight by Seagal's standards as his opponent manages to actually get some shots in on him and it's not a real one-sided affair that looks really bad like his usual efforts. On the negative side, again Seagal is so badly dubbed that the different voice is distracting and borders on ingrating, a real lack of typical action scenes beyond a few shoot-outs and a really haphazard plot that needs a lot of work. A decent middle-of-the-road entry, especially compared to his other recent efforts.
Out for a Kill-
A former master criminal returns to his killing ways when a gang of Chinese drug lords planning on using him to smuggle stolen artifacts out of China murder his wife and force him to take action against them. Yet another in a long line of Seagal flicks I've overlooked and finally get a chance at seeing it, this one turned out to be quite enjoyable and even rather above the usual standards in his movies. Granted, the dreaded and utterly overdone stand-in, quick-cutting and stunt doubles are employed to an all-time high in this one as it's probably used for just about everything he does in here aside from the scenes supposed to show that he's there doing the work, but overall there's just no shortage of good action scenes to really make that just a nagging problem here. While a weak story that treats it all with a ho-hum manner in order to get to everything in the later half, it's still a decent enough Seagal effort.
Pistol Whipped-
A mysterious man asks a gunman to perform a contract killing and will wipe out his debt if he does so, but finds out he's part of a far more sinister plot than was initially let on and tries to free himself from his predicament. One of Seagal's recent comeback films for the DTV market, and this might be one of his weakest efforts in his entire career. Really, really low on action, keeping more of a suspense/thriller tone throughout by the inclusion of it's reluctance to fully divulge what's going on with the proposal, which is nicely developed but has no action to it, and along with the snail-like pace, doesn't really keep it interesting until it gets to the last half-hour where it finally goes full-on with it's shootouts, chasing and hand-to-hand fighting. Seagal isn't as obviously doubled here, even though it's still clearly not him, so the fights aren't that bad, but it's really just hampered by it's slow pace and lack of action.
A Dangerous Man-
A recently released ex-Special Forces agent tries to protect a woman from the Chinese gangsters holding her Grandfather hostage after getting involved in a turf war with the Russian gangsters running the small town he lives in. Official statement here, this is Seagal's best of his recent re-birth in the DTV market, or at least of the one's I've seen as there's still a few small holes in the catalog. Tons of action, lots of shoot-outs, the trademark bone-breaking and snapping of limbs done by a much-more energetic stuntman while his face is used for the close-ups, things blowing up, it's got it all. Some editing problems here (it's way too dark at times during some of the shoot-outs, and the haphazard/quick shot editing during several of the fights makes it impossible to tell what's going on, though it's obvious to hide the stunt double) but overall, Seagal's best work in a while.
Out of Reach-
A Special Forces agent investigates the disappearance of his orphaned pen pal in Poland and finds the home to be the center of an illegal human smuggling operation and sets out to take it down before his friend is sold off. A hugely disappointing effort here, as it's an action film without a whole lot of it happening here beyond one impressive gunfight and a short, quick and barely worthwhile sword fight that doesn't have any real impact. That it spends so long investigating makes this one so hard to get into since nothing happens to him while investigating, the smugglers are aware of his every move and don't do anything and he's never in danger during these scenes. Add to that the fact that Seagal is so badly dubbed, he has three different distinct voices throughout the film, and it's terribly done to hide them each time out. All in all, a poor effort after such a good entry previously.
Attack Force-
A Special Forces team is gathered together to stop a dangerous terrorist group from unleashing a powerful drug into an Eastern European water supply system that will turn recipients into drug-addicted maniacs. Yet another Seagal rebirth effort, only it falls somewhere in the middle of the pack as it's got some good stuff to it and some pretty bad aspects as well. Love the gore and the bloody deaths, with set-ups sometimes right out of Horror films, a couple of suspenseful stalking scenes as they attempt to corral the infected within a vast, underground Gothic labyrinth complete with ambushes, shoot-outs and more, some fine action scenes throughout and a pretty decent final fight by Seagal's standards as his opponent manages to actually get some shots in on him and it's not a real one-sided affair that looks really bad like his usual efforts. On the negative side, again Seagal is so badly dubbed that the different voice is distracting and borders on ingrating, a real lack of typical action scenes beyond a few shoot-outs and a really haphazard plot that needs a lot of work. A decent middle-of-the-road entry, especially compared to his other recent efforts.
Out for a Kill-
A former master criminal returns to his killing ways when a gang of Chinese drug lords planning on using him to smuggle stolen artifacts out of China murder his wife and force him to take action against them. Yet another in a long line of Seagal flicks I've overlooked and finally get a chance at seeing it, this one turned out to be quite enjoyable and even rather above the usual standards in his movies. Granted, the dreaded and utterly overdone stand-in, quick-cutting and stunt doubles are employed to an all-time high in this one as it's probably used for just about everything he does in here aside from the scenes supposed to show that he's there doing the work, but overall there's just no shortage of good action scenes to really make that just a nagging problem here. While a weak story that treats it all with a ho-hum manner in order to get to everything in the later half, it's still a decent enough Seagal effort.
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