The Keeper

"The Keeper" is better than most Steven Seagal Direct to Video films (but not as good as any of his theatrical films from back in the day, of course). I mean, anyone who says this is a downturn in quality obviously never saw "Kill Switch" or "Out for a Kill," "Today You Die," or any of the other Seagal DTVs that were so re-dubbed, re-edited, and filled with stock action sequences cut-and-pasted from other films that they were totally incomprehensible. At least "The Keeper" had a basic story you could follow and made sense overall. It's almost at the level of lower tier action flicks like Charles Bronson's "Evil Men Do," or Burt Reynold's "Malone" (and about at the level of Van Damme's "Border Patrol"). Serviceable vehicles for aging action stars. And the film has a tiny bit of Seagal-dubbing at the opening, a few lame supporting performances, and some minor continuity and plot hole problems--the usual for super low budget action flicks. But the leading lady is pretty good--delivers her lines well and is sexy in that gangly, puppet-ish Scarlette Johanssen way). And the guy that plays her dad is channeling Levon Helm, so that's OK. The film's opening, where cop Seagal is shot and then has to train his way back to fighting health, is pretty good, but seems to be from a different movie; none of the characters it introduces appear later on in the movie (in fact, the opening incident isn't even mentioned later on). I suspect that the best parts of two not-that-great screenplays were melded together.

But the really WEIRD error in this otherwise workmanlike flick is that Seagal's character's name, Rolland Sallinger, changes halfway through to Rolland BALLINGER! Just out of nowhere, one of the other actors start calling him "Ballinger" instead of "Sallinger"! This is both the kind of thing you'd expect in a Seagal DTV, given that they are often slapdash, but also exactly what you wouldn't expect! I mean, Seagal's DTVs are notorious for the re-dubbing of dialog and the makers of The Keeper opted not to re-dubb dialog in a case where it actually would have made sense to do so!

All in all, though, this is a passable 90 minutes entertainment for fans of the giant, middle-aged, whispering bada$$ we all secretly love.

As Steven Seagal is no longer in his prime, so is the character he portrays in The Keeper. Some things haven't changed of course, No matter what name he goes by, he is still the same butt kicking rogue he has always portrayed, with the facial expression of a Maori Head.

The plot seems kind of pointless, but then again that is the least of worries in a Seagal film. He is recruited from California to help a wealthy ex-cop and an old friend who lives in Texas, and is in need of a body guard for his daughter. She has been kidnapped by some business rivals. The first question we ask is why, turn to Seagal. Strangely enough, the character asks that very question in one scene. The answer he gets makes little sense.

So this is the first of a few things that needs to be fixed in The Keeper. There is also the matter of Seagal's acting, which was never very good to begin with, but now, at his present age of fifty something, is sounds like he is struggling to even get words out, let alone deliver lines. Unless you have a good speaker system, you may have to turn the volume way up to hear. the climax was okay, but the ending is terrible, almost non existent, another couple minutes would have been nice.

Quite frankly though, I don't care that much. The fact that Seagal can still hold my attention despite the fact that he's losing it, must count for something. I still have many to see, but from those I have, I'd say this is about average, maybe a little less.

The Keeper: Seagal's delivers another film. The regularity of his releases brings a sense of excitement (well, to Seagal's fans anyway) but also trepidation. Will it have dubbing? Will it have doubling? Will it just plain old suck? On the most part, Seagal's DTV release normally tick a yes to all those questions. In recent years, Pistol Whipped and Renegade Justice were watchable exceptions. Pistol Whipped in particular was almost worthy of Seagal films of old. His last two have been pretty poor. Kill Switch was abysmal, while Driven To Kill was mediocre, suffering from lacklustre direction, poor cast, an all too whispery Seagal, and terrible editing. So does the Keeper deliver? On the whole…yes! Okay, this film isn't great by any stretch. But it's serviceable, and it kicks ass as well. Seagal actually has a bit of character in this, and shows off a bit more of the charisma that made him a star. As well as that, the co-stars are better than in his last few films, while the previous company he worked with, for Kill Switch, and Driven To Kill, has a reputation for half-assing. At least for The Keeper, there's a greater sense of effort to make something that delivers for the fans.

The Keeper opens with a worrying start. Dubbing! Oh dear lord! Not dubbing. However it's just in the beginning few lines, and in truth it's a couple of lines that are really needlessly added in. There was only one other moment later in the film I noticed any, but again, it was pointlessly added in. Mr Stand in still gets some screen time of course, but not that much. I'm also pretty sure, Seagal's double was given a supporting role in the film as another character, because one of the cast looks like he could double for Seagal for behind shots.

But anyway, The Keeper is a Seagal film, and first and foremost, it needs to kick ass. And it does. The action has a bit of punch to it. The gun fights are quick and punchy, while the fights are bone-breaking and violent. Sometimes in Seagal films, they stretch the action scenes out, and make them dull, when short and snappy would be better, particularly in hiding the budget. Generally here, the action is short and to the point. The only problem is, that the film could have done with more action, as the pace drags at times. There aren't many fights, but they are tightly edited, and Seagal beats the hell out of the bad guys. There's not quite some of the ingenuity to the fights that we saw in Pistol Whipped, which is a shame.

Keoni Waxman does a service-able job in direction. He's got more of an eye for direction than Seagal's previous director, Jeff King (who's first name is actually Wan). Truthfully he never does anything beyond okay, but in DTV land, that can be a blessing. And in fairness to him, he never does anything that's too lame. Seagal himself seems more interested in what he's doing here. He's back to his badass self, and showing some charisma again too. He won't be winning any Oscars, but at least there is some sort of character for him, and the film manages to throw in some moments of humour too. His last couple of films were slightly wretched to be honest. Elsewhere, the music is not too bad, and the film is his best looking one for a while (the main disappointment on Pistol Whipped was that it was shot on Super 16).

Overall though, this is a decent DTV film. It delivers what you'd expect. Some action, and some badassedness. The plot is simple, and again, for Seagal, that is better. No CIA intrigue sub plots to drag the film down. It also avoids the usual Seagal, revenge line, that's become a little tiresome for him. Early on in the film there's a few moments in the plotting that are just really, really (and I mean really) dumb, but they don't really drag the film down too much. At least The Keeper delivers the minimum you'd want and expect from Seagal. As for Seagals next two DTV specials, he'll be back with director, Keoni Waxman, which is a good sign. On The Run looks more action packed, so hopefully won't suffer the pacing issues of this film. It might lack some of the character of this one though. ***

And so Steven Seagal continues his prolific career in straight-to-video product with THE KEEPER, another film completely indistinguishable from the dozens he's made since evacuating our cinema screens back in the 1990s. It's a completely serviceable movie that plays out as a string of action sequences well executed but completely unmemorable; there are scenes of Seagal fighting in hand-to-hand combat with bad guys, disarming bad guys and engaging in shoot-outs with bad guys. The plot is weak and the script limited; essentially, this is one of those action-star-as-bodyguard movies featuring our hero risking his life to save a young woman from the clutches of kidnappers.

The good things? The film is ably directed and the fight sequences short, snappy and well-handled. Seagal is pretty poor, it has to be said, and there's still far too much distraction from his copious use of doubles (not content with a mere body double in the fight sequences, he now employs a hair double for back-of-the-head shots). Thankfully his voice is only dubbed in the opening scene, which is something. The unfamiliar supporting cast is very bland with the notable exception of Liezl Carstens, who I found quite smouldering as the sultry young damsel-in-distress; if ever an actress could pull off the unconvincing romantic scenes involving her and Seagal's character, it would be her.

Just another mid 2000s Steven Seagal action flick, hard cuts lots of stunt doubles doing crazy things while Seagal stands there and waves his arms and waddles around smacking and shooting ppl

this time he is a cop recovered from a near death who helps a friend with his kidnapped daughter mostly non sense script as per usual. Plot kinda useless in these

Just enjoy the cringy and absurd dialogue and lots of seagal smacking guys and slapping and tossing them all over the place just don't ask questions you won't really get answers

hey yall fahgot ya knife man in that Louisiana twang with a waddle swagger.