Born to Raise Hell

Chapters 80 and 90 are probably the golden age of Seagal, so to speak. This film could almost have been missed in every way.

There were so many things wrong here.

The very first thing that struck me in the eyes was in some places very bad imaging technique and surgery.

Added to this is a very minor aspect.

This time could have been better used. The number of stars shown on this site did tell quite honestly about the level of the movie.

Among B-movie action heroes, Romania has become recently popular. In addition to Seagal, e.g. Van Damme and Lundgren have also found some subject matter there (one of the poorest NATO countries with respective issues, and a cheap place for filming...? Well, Bucharest is an okay and grand capital). Anyway, the plot is unpretentious as usual, although Seagal shows more oral and less fighting skills, but shooting-fighting- chasing scenes are still catchy and clichés used do not become ridiculous or boring (with the exception, perhaps, Seagal's erotic scenes with much younger woman). Scenes towards the ending originate from the principle "enemy of my enemy is my friend" and are not too credible.

In any event, the movie is watchable, if you are not a Seagal's hater; for the others, to grin and mock, you better choose some other movie - Born to Raise Hell is not among Seagal's worst, sooner the opposite.

I wish I could meet Steven Seagal, not only to ask for his autograph but also to sit down with him and discuss what's made his recent string of movies so disappointing for even a devoted fan like me. I would use BORN TO RAISE HELL here as an example, being sure to compliment the film's strengths but also making clear to him exactly what about it sucks. I'm not so naïve to believe that Seagal is in total creative and technical control of each of his features, but perhaps I could convince him to take a more hands-on role in their production and perhaps aikido-chop the idiots who are truly responsible for the lackluster nature of some of these movies.

The plot: An international drug task force operating out of Romania, headed by ex-Interpol agent Samuel Axel (Seagal), sets its sights on bringing down the operations of a deadly and sadistic gang of drug traffickers...

People who don't like Steven Seagal by default are going to hate this movie. Seagal occupies most of the scenes (perhaps still making up for his absence throughout most of AGAINST THE DARK?) and his character is boisterous, arrogant, and most of the other characters cow to him in one way or another. Surprisingly, I found myself appreciating this: a supercilious Steven is still more fun to watch than the detached, bored-looking dope he played for a while in movies like FLIGHT OF FURY. However, whatever effort he seems to have made for this film is marred by extensive dubbing of his voice - something not present in his movies to this degree since the picture I just mentioned. There aren't any other real technical snafus to be seen, but further post-production add-ins like nonstop slow motion, freeze-frame shots galore, and way too many time-killing collage scenes continue to have the movie feeling more like Seagal's trash pictures of yesteryear, moving him further and further away from the high standard he had achieved with URBAN JUSTICE.

The action scenes are composed mostly of boring shootouts, but there are a couple hand-to-hand encounters which, while not too flashy, feature Seagal doing just about all of his own moves and getting some good aikido throws in. There's also an impressive instance wherein he kicks a thug so hard that the man flies about six feet through the air before crashing through a bench. These lead up to the finale with martial artist Darren Shahlavi, who had been running around the rest of the picture as the necrophilic, drug-dealing main villain. This is where things get *really* disappointing, to the point of costing my rating an entire star. Shahlavi had consistently delivered great physical performances in the past, and one of his most recent movies at the time - IP MAN 2, released on the same day as BORN TO RAISE HELL - featured him in some very good fights with Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung; in this one, however, he has one very brief fight halfway through the film before getting absolutely manhandled by Seagal during the climax. The fact that Shahlavi had just been in an internationally-acclaimed martial arts masterpiece makes this ugly and one-sided encounter more disappointing than Seagal's similar exchanges with Gary Daniels and Byron Mann: at least they didn't have any recent major successes behind them to live up to.

At this point in our conversation, if I had been able to speak freely and if the rumors concerning Seagal's temper and ego were true, I figure he'd either have left the room in disinterest or he would have me by my throat. I'd quickly try to point out that the acting is decent in general and, despite being shot in Romania, the film's cinematography is less grey than I expected and pretty fun to look at...but would this be enough to save me? It certainly isn't enough to save the movie, which I fear can be shelved along with the growing number of failed DTV outings starring the Buddhist Bonecrusher. I doubt that I'll ever actually have this conversation with Steven, but I'm still holding out on the hope that he's going to get back on the horse and make it worth being a fan of his again; when this one came out, it really wasn't.

Another ill-distinguished action odyssey from big man Seagal, in which an age-old storyline involving rival gangs of gangsters and one dedicated cop is spoiled by dumbass direction and some of the worst editing you'll ever witness. Yes, it's another low rent movie in which a great deal of could-have-been-good action scenes are spoiled by dizzyingly bad, sea-sickening cutting.

Seagal has more of a hand in this than usual, having written and produced as well as starred (although, as is the norm for the actor these days, sometimes the hand isn't his own: the body and voice doubles are back in force). This time around he's an imported American cop, wearing a flak jacket and leading a police squad through some grimy streets in scenes probably inspired by his own TV show, STEVEN SEAGAL: LAWMAN. Along the way he contends with Brando-lookalike Russian mafia man Dimitri and a particularly vicious rapist/murderer gypsy.

The supporting cast and locales are entirely Romanian, and a great deal of scenes take place in strip joints where women parade around in their next-to-nothings and Seagal glowers at anyone who comes close. There are the requisite goons to be dealt with, along with walking clichés (the partner who finds out he's about to become a dad) and a 20 year-old girlfriend who awkwardly frolics with the star in the sack at one stage. Not a good look, man.

Watching a Steven Seagal film is a bit like going to eat something you know is not really good for you and has passed it's sell by date, but somehow,you still can't resist taking a bite. I am no expert on the film career of Mr.Seagal, but in everyone of his films that I have seen, he appears to play the same person. In this film Steve is transported to Eastern Europe to take on a Russian Drug Dealer called Dimitri and another gang led by a very unpleasant fellow called Costel. Dimitri is supplying drugs to Costel but it soon develops that these two fall out, with very unpleasant consequences to follow. The job for our hero becomes personal when Steve's partner is killed and the usual gun fights and fist fights ensue. In between all the action there was a tender moment between Steve and his girlfriend, however, as Mr.Seagal is not in the first flush of youth he might well be advised in the future to avoid love scenes with topless young women,as it looks a little unattractive. Born to Raise Hell is basically the usual Steven Seagal movie under another name, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it.