A Dangerous Man

-Ufortunately even though its a relatively good film,it failed to impress after the highs of DTK and TK.The film does start strongly,and in the positives i have to count Steven's performance as it shows a character and not Seagal himself..He is angry,disappointed,sad and violent and he doesn't hide it..The action was pretty good,some explosions and a lot of shootouts,but the latter were almost unwatchable, due to the frantic editing.The editing also affects the fight scenes,most are shot really close to Steven's face(a 'trend' started by the ever popular Burne movies) making it really hard to understand whats going on and to actually SEE the fight..Thus even though the film does have a satisfying amount of fights,only a few are completely watchable..I think the best and most extensive fight was in the beginning with the Chinese man at the rest stop..The supporting cast is pretty good,and while Byron Mann makes a really convincing villain he is terribly underused, appearing in only a handful of scenes and failing to showcase his martial art skills..The film goes for a much darker tone than The Keeper, which surprisingly does not feel out of place since the story is much darker and brutal than Seagal's previous effort.

Negatives

-Dubbing in 30% of the film -Bad editing that ruins most of the fights,the worse since KS -Villain underused -Seagal only in 60-70% of the film -Boring story

Positives

-Plenty of action scenes -Seagal gives a surprisingly good performance -Lots of bloody action -Polished,and on a darker tone and style than TK -Good supporting cast -Effective villain -More fight scenes than TK -Stunt doubles remain "hidden"(no outrageous/blatant use of them like BOTB or Out Of Reach)

Overall my feelings are kind of mixed about this one..On the one hand it's a straightforward action film,and it doesn't take long for the action to start,also Steven is pretty good in it.But it just didn't really click with me,the editing was awful and i think we could have gotten a much better film with a bit more care..Personally I would rate it at 70%. A satisfying Seagal action movie, but keep your expectations lowered.

If you have any idea of the kind of movies Seagal has been churning out since his last theatrically released movie (2002's "Half Past Dead"), you probably will know why I had sworn off watching any new Seagal movies some time ago, at least if I had to pay to see them. I rented "A Dangerous Man", because I read a positive report on it at another web site.

To my surprise, I found the movie to be a decent way to spend an hour and a half. Oh sure, the movie is filled with flaws. Seagal is still using an obvious double for his fight scenes (and in one shot of a sex scene), the movie doesn't manage to disguise the British Columbia shooting locations as American, there are long chunks of the movie where Seagal is nowhere to be seen, and the climax goes on too long. But I was still entertained. The action sequences (and there are quite a few of them) are pretty brutal and bloody at times, and you do get to see less of Seagal's double in the fight scenes than in other recent films of his. The plot goes by at a fairly brisk pace, and the various villain schemes and actions by the other characters actually kept me interested in what would happen next. The movie's no classic, but it does provide an acceptable amount of entertainment.

Steven Seagal stars as a wrongfully imprisoned akidio expert who defends a girl from Chinese mobsters (led by Byron Mann) and who joins forces with Russian mobsters to defend the girl in question. Steven Seagal movies tend to be really lame these days. In fact I don't think i've enjoyed a Seagal movie in a long time, mainly because the movies are terrible in the worst kind of way, mainly stunt doubles, the same plot about Seagal being some type of secret agent who goes rogue when his employers double-cross him (ad nauseam) Still this movie worked in such a way that I actually bought the film for 5 bucks and didn't feel too bad about such. A Dangerous Man works because it is so fast paced, certainly Seagal seems to care more than usual and it would appear he wasn't dubbed and his fight sequences have less stunt doubles. Indeed Seagal appears trimmer than usual. Still there are still some flaws mainly the story is routine and clichéd but the action element is there, Mann makes for an enjoyable villain and the chick in question is hot. Indeed you can do a lot worse in terms of Seagal movies. Indeed I must admit I only rented this (after swearing Seagal off after Against The Dark) because of his part in Machete. Although if Seagal can manage such level of quality, one won't dread renting the latest Seagal flick.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

If you've seen one Seagal flick, you've seen them all. This is particularity true with his later DTV output so I'm not going to waste time going into details, they're all the same here but what is new is that this one actually isn't half bad!

The movie has some real action scenes throughout with the last 20ish minutes being almost nonstop gunfights. Seagal must have been feeling peppy because he even jogs for a few seconds! Ok, that was probably his double but he does move around more than usual.

If for some reason you want to see what the sensei has been up to in his recent years (besides eating at the buffet) this is one of your better options.

An American crime thriller; A story about an ex-special forces operative falsely convicted of murder. He is released from prison, only to stumble into a gangland shootout. Rescuing a woman who had been kidnapped, he battles to protect her from Russian gangsters, corrupt cops, and Chinese special agents. This is a routine story and plot with stereotypical villains, but it is fast-paced and gripping because of the intensity and brutality of the action scenes that never seem to stop. There are a few continuity issues, and the gunfights are overlong, but it is watchable for its gung ho and energy.