Shadow Man - Kurier des Todes

The film concerns about a shadowy CIA ex-agent (Steven Seagal) , he goes to Bucarest (Romania) and at airport his daughter is kidnapped after an explosion . A Romanian cabbie (Eva Pope) carries to the small girl and being pursued by Seagal . Later on , he contacts with the American Ambassador (Imelda Staunton : Vera Drake). The film expands an exciting suspense about world of espionage blending with lethal virus intrigue and a kidnapping.

The picture contains numerous gunshots , blown up , bloody killings and great lots of violence when struggles and murders happen . Interesting scenes when Seagal is locked into room and he similarly to ¨McGiver¨ uses items for creating weapons confronting nasties ; besides , some cars chase are quite thrilling . Here appears the prestigious British actress Imelda Staunton , she shot for two days, but Seagal did not film any reverse angles with her . All the scenes where her character speaks with Seagal's character were done with the help of a stand-in . Imelda Staunton was quite vocal about her displeasure with the film with several online publications , she went on to say that the picture was a disorganized, under-funded mess . The film is produced by veteran French producer Pierre Spengler and Joe Halpin , usual financiers of Seagal films and shot at Castel Studios in Bucarest where have filmed his last movies .

The picture belongs the last period of Seagal career when he's making middling and low budget films , directly to video and many of them are considered semi-turkeys stinkers . These film are directed by B-directors as Don E. Fauntleroy (Mercenary for Justice) , Michael Oblowitz (Foreigner) , Anthony Hickox (Submerged) , Alexander Gruszynski (Black down) and this one , Michael Keusch (Attack force , Flight of fury) who directed him in three films . Following the tendency to oriental action cinema , Seagal hired Asian directors as Mink (Into the sun) , Leong (out the reach) , Ching (Belly of the beast) . These movies aren't on the level from previous successful and big budget Seagal films just like : ¨Glimmer man¨ , ¨Under Siege I,II¨ , ¨Exit wounds¨ , ¨The patriot¨ , ¨Fire down below¨ and others .

The former CIA agent Jack Foster (Steven Seagal) travels to Bucharest with his daughter Amanda (Skye Bennett) and his father-in-law George (Michael Elwyn) to spend vacations in Romania. In the airport of Bucharest, Jack sees his daughter being kidnapped by the taxi driver Anya (Eva Pope) and the limousine of George exploding. He chases the taxi with the CIA agent Harry (Vincent Riotta) and he finds that different groups believe George gave him the research of a lethal virus. While trying to rescue his daughter, Jack is entwined in a network of traitors and criminals that are disputing the powerful biological weapon and he has to fight to survive.

"Shadow Man" is another messy and noisy movie of Steven Seagal. The screenplay is terrible with an awful development of the characters and the situation, and along the first fifteen, twenty minutes, the viewer does not know what is happening. The cast is above average, highlighting the awarded Imelda Staunton and Eva Pope, but unfortunately the story is not good. I found funny to see the character of Steven Seagal with a girlfriend (with a wonderful body) and having a romance with Anya, since it is unusual in his movies this type of situation. The locations in Bucharest are very beautiful and with a better screenplay, this film could have worked. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "O Homem Sombra" ("The Shadow Man")

The photography appeared to be foreign made and of poor quality. In many scenes Segal appeared passive and bored and just along for the ride. Overall it lacked the crispness of most of his prior films.

It appears that the shirt that Segal is wearing upon arrival at the taxi driver's apartment is not the one he was wearing in the taxi while on the way there.

The plot was difficult to follow and I found myself relying on the action scenes to maintain interest. There is an excellent body count if that is your bag, although some innocent people needlessly died at Segal's hands. He is usually for the underdog, but in this film he does not appear to care who he terminates.

I always wonder if Steven Seagal reads the forums here.I think he does as his latest,Shadowman is actually an entertaining action movie that does not mock(most of the time)or insult the audiences Intelligence. Did I just say that?The story is another matter.

Yes he is Jack foster.Not a bad name this time.He is yet another CIA agent.Yes his daughter has been kidnapped by shady types.All in a eastern European area.What is a shadow man to do but kick some ass.

Whats different here is that Seagal actually tries and succeeds in giving a decent turn here.He does most of his own fights.Gone is the raspy voice and Dubbing.The stunt doubles are kept to a minimum.He gets into quite a few scraps here that recall his early days glory.

The only bad thing is they needed to get some better actors to back him up.With the exception of Eva Pope most of the Bad guys are what else?Clichés.I do remember when the villains were written good even for low-budget movies.

The other problem is the most common plaguing DTV movies today.The Badly-done CGI.Its the same problem in the Detonator and Second in command.

Director Michael Kunesch Keeps the movie rolling,gives it a nice look,but winds up a little uneven.He is the best since Anothony Hickox though.Production values are good.

Its a few notches above Seagals latest work which was depressing me.What is good to see is that Seagal has woken up to the fact that we want the old-time Seagal action.

Before I start I would like to say that I already know Seagal isn't known for his acting but for his fight scenes. Exit Wounds was a fun thriller where Seagal actually put effort in his acting. Into the Sun wasn't that bad of a film either which had a decent plot. This film just had nothing.

What can I say, Steven Seagal keeps throwing films at us. They are completely rushed. Segal plays Jack where his daughter gets kidnapped and all he does is watch and with no emotion as his daughter is taken away from her. Throughout the movie Jack never does show anytime of emotion. I know that Seagal plays a tough guy throughout his movies but this was so over the top.

The directing and the editing also credits for this mess as plot holes developed quickly. Such examples included that Seagal would trust people to quickly than all the sudden he would become best friends.

If you are a Seagal fan than this movie wouldn't bother you. It doesn't compare to Exit Wounds but I can say, this film was better than his previous three (Submerged, Today You Die, and Black Dawn). That really isn't saying much. I will admit I enjoy watching Seagal films even though I usually disappointed.

Overall this film gets a 2 for directing, 2 for editing, 2 for acting, 2 for plot, and 6 for the stunts.