Maximum Conviction

Several years ago I essentially stopped watching Steven Seagal's new movies, because they had become unbelievably bad. However, this new film of his intrigued me because he was being paired up with Steve Austin, so I decided to give it a look. After watching it, I swear once again I will not rent any future Steven Seagal movies. Austin is not a great actor, but he does seem to be trying - certainly a lot better than Seagal, who is awful. Seagal has gained so much weight that he waddles instead of walks, and his martial art sequences are so rapidly edited that it's clear he can't pull off multiple moves like he did with his earlier films. Though plenty of blame has to fall on the shoulders of director Keoni Waxman, who films the action sequences (both martial art and gun battles) in the dullest way possible, and lenses everything in unattractive and murky colors. By the way, though the DVD box seems to suggest that Seagal and Austin fight side by side, in actual fact their characters have almost no time together.

Review: Finally a decent movie from Seagal! I quite enjoyed this intense, action packed, movie about a prison which has been taken over by an elite force because they want to get a highly valuable chip which has been implanted into one of the inmates. They thought that it was going to be an easy task, but when they come up against Stone Cold Steve Austin and the fast hitting Steven Seagal, there task becomes a steep hill to climb. I really liked the intensity throughout the movie and I liked the chemistry between Austin and Seagal. The military action scenes, seemed quite real along with the acting which wasn't that bad. You can tell that the director didn't have a massive budget to play with but they done a good job with what they had. I must admit, it is the quietest prison that I have ever seen and I don't understand why Seagal didn't call for some help to take down the intruders but thats just me being picky. Anyway, it's full of mindless action with a half decent storyline so I can honestly say that it's worth a watch. Watchable!

Round-Up: I hope they make more movies with Seagal and Austin because they really worked well together. There wasn't that many scenes with them together in this movie but there raw action skills and non-trash talking styles, compliment each other. It still makes me laugh how these characters try there best to get close to Seagal in the action scenes and he ends up taking them down with one severe blow, no matter how much weight he has put on. His acting isn't that great and he isn't the best person to show true emotion but I like his cool style which makes all of the baddies in his movies seem stupid. Although his movies, along with Austins movies, don't make that much money, you'll always no what to expect from there films and this one doesn't disappoint. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action movies about an elite force who try to take over a prison to get a highly valuable chip which has been implanted into an inmate. 5/10

"If you listen to me and do what I say I'll kill them before they kill you." Former black-ops agents Tom Steele (Segal) and Manning (Austin) are assigned to decommission an old prison, as well as deal with the arrival of two new female prisoners. When a team of mercenaries decides to crash the party and the identities of the women come out it becomes much bigger of a job then expected. This is pretty much what you would expect from a movie like this. Steven Segal and Steve Austin in the same movie. There is a lot of action, but Segal is a little older now so the fighting scenes aren't as exciting as they could be, but the gun fighting scenes are still worth watching. Steve Austin is pretty decent but he isn't in this as much as Segal is (in case your wondering). To be fair this isn't really my kind of movie. I know a ton of people will be all over this but I just have never really been a fan of Steven Segal so read this review with that in your head. I will admit this is one of his better movies though. Overall, if you are a fan of Segal and Austin this you will love this movie. I am not. I give it a C-.

Steven Seagal's final line in this Movie is..."it's not over till we're dead". Possibly a shout-out to his relentless critics that endlessly tell him to retire or at the very least to lose some weight. In this Movie he seems to be trying to end the laziness. He is not dubbed here and manages to find just enough breath to make his lines understandable. He is not doubled here and actually does his own Martial Arts scenes.

So that is the upside. Steve Austin on the other hand makes the other Steve look like a thoroughbred Thespian. Seriously, does this guy have ANY expressions or changes of tone to his voice. He has got be the worst Action Hero Actor ever, bar none. But hey, he is an imposing physical presence and that is the minimum requirement to convince.

This is a darkly lit, endless trek down corridors and around corners. Stiff and long scenes in front of consoles and computer keyboards. It jumps and pulls the frame once in a while to try a bit of styling but no go. Anyway there is quite a bit of gunfire and a goodly amount of hand to hand and enough Characters to allow for a large body count, so if this is for you, have at it, and for the curious to see if maybe Segal is on a self-imposed comeback.

Steven Seagal & Steve Austin - Together = Bad-Ass Entertainment! 'Maximum Conviction' is hard-core, fast-paced entertainment!

The Plot is simple: The Bad-Guys mess up, our Heroes come to clean up.

The Screenplay is fast-paced. Direction Wise, fair. The Action-Sequences are fantastic. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are proper.

Seagal & Austin are in top-form. Seagal is the eternal Bad-Ass & Austin is just getting there. I truly enjoyed watching them both kicking-butt & delivering with such energy.

On the whole, 'Maximum Conviction' worked for me. I Enjoyed!