Mercenary for Justice

This movie isn't bad. Obviously it is not like Nico, above the law or under siege. Not even the glimmer man. But considering the facts is OK.

Again an ex-CIA agent/mercenary blah-blah-blah...

You will see Seagal shooting a few rounds, kicking some butts here and there. An attractive presence (Jacqueline Lord) in his side. There are some smirks (if not laughs) in some points and a semi-satisfying ending.

I don't recommend to watch it with any degree of serious attention, but if you catch it on TV check it out.

Overall: It is what it is!

Quite a sloppy and lethargic straight-to-DVD Steven Seagal action joint. I've been watching a few of these in recent times, hoping I might just come across a diamond in the rough, but it has mainly been depressing. However where else can you see Seagal being at the end of this line "Yeah, that's it for you poophole!". Yes I'm not kidding. That's what some macho said and Seagal made sure it wouldn't happen again. By taking out this guy, plus the bathroom it occurred in too. Surprisingly here Seagal looks like his doing most of his own stunts, but then again the martial art combat is lacking (plenty of slapping and people being thrown about) and more time is taken up with relentless gunfire and explosions. Like its jacked-up opening. While competent in execution, it remains a pedestrian display. The story follows that of a group of mercenaries being betrayed, and than going onto a mission to free an important figure from a highly protected South African prison. After the betrayal John Seeger is threatened into helping out in this new mission, when his late-friend's family is kidnapped and used to make him participate. The plot seems confounded with so many details, involving double crosses and political interest. Then throw in the usual words of wisdom from Seagal, which randomly come from nowhere and he slurps them out making the meaning of them just as hard to understand. Slapdash performances by the rest of the cast.

"The man's a f*cking ghost."

"Mercenary for Justice" is garbage. Sure, it looks slick, with above-average (by DTV standards) production values, international locations, and some great stunts. But don't let the looks fool you. The story makes no sense whatsoever from beginning to end, and Seagal's ego-feeding is in full-force here (he is introduced as "the most decorated soldier in Gulf War I" - apparently he wouldn't even settle for "second most decorated" - and, of course, nobody can land a single tiny hit on him in a fight, despite the fact that these days he has to send his stunt double to climb over a 10-foot wall). The viewer has no idea what is going on or why, and in a turn of events that shows just how utterly moronic this script is, Seagal and his female partner Jacqueline Lord kill several perfectly innocent Cape Town cops and security people who were just trying to protect the bank that these two were (inexplicably) robbing, yet the film apparently expects us to continue regarding them as the good guys (!!!), because they are trying to save a black kid and his mother. What the hell? Oh, and why does that kick-ass muscular and deadly female mercenary we see in the opening sequence get killed off so quickly? At least SHE could climb over a wall. (*1/2)

Steven Seagal might be getting old and he also might not have the same shape he had 20 years ago but he certainly still can make a movie great just by being in it.

Actually, this movie itself is pretty good. A lot of money has been spent on making it realistic and entertaining. Reminds you of the good old days when Van Damme and Seagal were backed by big budgets.

Mercenary for Justice is a colorful film filled with explosive action scenes, great dialogues and one-liners, fight scenes in which Seagal actually takes part. It had been a while since I really saw him perform anything close to his Aikido moves. The balance between realism and utter irrealism is just perfect.

You got to remind yourself that action movies are a genre in themselves. Lots of folks try to bring them down for various reasons...they just don't get the point. Just like romantic comedies and politic thrillers all follow some basic rules, action movies are also lead by a set of pre-requisites that you just expect to be there. Villains you can hate, a hero you can love, a beautiful girl, guns roaring...

The production is good. Direction sometimes reminded me of "24 esquire" hand held camera. Little part of scenes are sometime fast-forwarded to get a feeling of speed. Well... this still is a direct to video release, I guess they have to include some cheesy stuff.

The only downside to this picture is the story. It's pretty hard to follow but it does keep the characters on the move.

If you've kept up with Seagal's direct-to-video career (as I diligently have) "Mercenary for Justice" is certainly a step in the right direction. No, it's not great movie, but it's a whole lot better than most of his previous direct-to-video efforts. First and foremost the cinematography is really well done. This movie looks great and feels "bigger" than most of Seagal's previous direct to video movies. Second, although there's more gun-play than Aikido, Seagal performs in all his own action sequences (no stunt/body doubles) and the fight choreography is relatively classic Seagal (arm and wrist twisting / body tossing). Third, Seagal's voice doesn't appear to be dubbed at any point during the movie (as it's been in several of his other releases). What's bad is the usual: muddled story, poor supporting cast, some of the dialogue. The first 20 minutes of the movie lack a real cohesive setup / story (in fact, beside a brief freeze frame / still, Seagal doesn't appear for the first 11 minutes or so). The opening also suffers from the classic low budget, "shooting a stunt from multiple angles – then intermittently cutting those different shots of the same stunt into the movie trying to sell it as a new event each time" trick. Oh well. Bottom line: If you've kept up with Seagal this far in his career you won't be disappointed with "Mercenary for Justice." Favorite Seagal theatrical release: Out For Justice / Favorite Seagal direct-to-video release (as of 04/19/06): Belly of the Beast