Échec et mort

Steven Seagal, whether you love him or loathe him, he's the martial arts action hero that just won't go away. That's partially the premise of "Hard to Kill," the 1990 vehicle obviously meant to throw the pony-tailed, then-sixth-degree Aikido black belt into the action foray with Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Norris, but missed a few steps along the way and it would be another two years after when Seagal would find success in 1992's "Under Siege."

It's true that Seagal has yet to make a perfect film in his thoroughly uneven and distinguished career, but "Hard to Kill" certainly ranks as one of his best and one of my personal favorite pictures of the actor. Two years after breaking and busting the heads of corrupt CIA agents as Nico Toscani in his electrifying 1988 debut "Above the Law," Seagal returns not as the pony-tailed Toscani but as Mason Storm, the most unstoppable cop SOB that ever lived.

After getting home movie footage of an aspiring political candidate (Bill Sadler) conspiring with shadowy underworld types on tape, Storm is tracked down by corrupt cops and nameless and faceless goons and they shotgun the unstoppable SOB into a seven-year coma while also wiping out his wife and young son. O'Malley (Frederick Coffin), Storm's dedicated Internal Affairs friend, whisks him away into a coma-care unit under the assumed name of "John Doe."

Seven years later, Storm awakens and with the help of gorgeous nurse Andy Stewart (Seagal's then real-life, lovestruck wife Kelly Le Brock, who manages to catch peaks at our hero's anatomy), he trains intensely to regain his strength using the Oriental healing arts, renews his Aikido skills, and sharpens his eyes with that good ol' police-issue. All this culminating in some very nasty, neck-breaking, arm-twisting action.

As somewhat mis-directed by Bruce Malmuth and written by Steven McKay, "Hard to Kill" is undoubtedly one of the actor's most competently skilled performances because he's able to rise above the average material and make it his own. The problem may be with Seagal though. He snaps a few wrists and what's this? - he throws out one-liners - most of which are quite corny and fall flat on their face and simply put aren't Seagal's strong points. His strengths are in the arm-snapping and finger-breaking.

But still, Seagal's fists of fury are at their best (because that's what he does best) because this time around, he's mad and it's wise to not get characters played by Steven Seagal mad. Pretty soon after Storm has regained his skills and strength, the corrupt cops and goons that put him into his coma come back to finish the job. And this time, he's ready.

The action begins to pick up about half-way through and from there on in it's non-stop, which is true Seagal fashion, if you get my drift. But with "Hard to Kill," it's the seven-year Storm, and there's no letting up.

6/10

This movie is absolutely HILARIOUS.

If people even know who Steven Segal is, they should already know what they are getting into before they start playing this movie (meaning that it is FULL of plot holes, jumps in logic, continuity errors, outrageous stunts, etc).

That having been said, this movie is so much fun to watch it more than makes up for its shortcomings. Watch this movie with a group of friends that enjoy laughing at unintentionally ridiculous action and I guarantee it will deliver in spades - I found it to be a lot funnier than most comedies.

An American action thriller; A story about a police detective who uncovers high-level corruption and is attacked and his family are left for dead. In time he decides to pay them a visit. This is a lively and ambitious revenge flick and does a little more than simply string fight scenes together. It has some similarity to "Commando" (1985) in the way the action flows - villains are disposed of with great efficiency because there are so many to get through and there isn't much depth. Seagal and Le Brock strike up a friendship which is appealing but when this transforms to love interest it feels false because it is rushed and convenient to the plot progression and no more. The film wastes no time in satisfying the audience's bloodlust but uppermost in its appeal is the charisma of Seagal and his aikido movements to disarm his foes.

Mason Storm is a tough cop who uncovers the beginnings of something big when spying on gangsters on a deserted pier. He uncovers a conspiracy involving a politician – a discovery that gets his wife and his partner killed and him and his son thought dead. After being hidden by a friend in a coma hospital under an alias for seven years, Mason wakes up to find that his wife's killers are still after him and that the politician has become a very big target indeed.

After seeing a podgy Seagal in rapper `banger' movies in the past few years, it is almost a relief to see him in a film where he is slim, agile and a bit less `up his own ar*e' with all that new age stuff! That's not to say that `Hard to Kill' is a good film, for it certainly isn't, but it's basic nature is almost refreshing in how lacking in pretension it is – want a revenge thriller which is of video standard, then this is for you.

The plot is laughable at times. The whole thing lacks cohesion and logic, often making huge leaps with no real explanation. However it does just about enough to provide reasons for Seagal to fight with groups of people at the same time. Some of the dialogue is hilarious and reminded me of the character in the Simpsons who apes Arnie and delivers cr*p kiss-off lines. Seagal's funniest is `I'll take you to the bank – the blood bank!' Dialogue like that reminded me that this was a video movie and not a blockbuster! The action is basic, although it is nice to see Seagal in fights where his movies are fully visible and are fluent, the only thing that put me off here was just how cruel the whole thing was.

Seagal is a rubbish actor if you expect anything more than his whisper-voice-of-menace acting style and his one facial expression where he looks like his piles are giving him mild discomfort. However for fans this will be accepted and I was OK with it as par for the course for his films. LeBrock has no real excuse for being as bad as she is – a rubbish English accent, awful dialogue and really poor delivery. Sadler is OK but has very little screentime – playing the least subtle corrupt politician in the world! I mean, sitting and talking with thugs and hoods in front of all the cameras and never using middlemen!?

Overall this film is OK at what you expect from it – fight scenes with Seagal's skills on good show. However almost everything else (characters, logic, plot, humour, acting) is either really basic or so poor it's funny. In some ways this is better than his recent movies simply because the recent ones raise expectations with their budget and effects – here I had no illusions about what I was getting into!

Wow. The Seagal movies just keep on coming. Right after I commented on 'Out For Justice', I caught the horrible 'Out for a Kill' on pay TV, and then 'Hard to Kill' came on after that on free-to-air. With any luck, the most awesome of all Seagal's movies - 'Under Siege' - will be on sometime soon, but for now, 'Hard to Kill' was rather awesome.

Seagal plays Mason Storm, a cop investigating links between some mobsters, crooked cops, and crooked politician, and suddenly everything turns into a 'Kill Bill' prototype: The bad guys kill Storm's family, and leave him for dead. After waking up from a seven-year coma, Storm sets out for vengeance.

'Hard to Kill' is an entertaining action movie. The amount of limb-snapping may be lower than usual for a Seagal movie, but the fight scenes are good. An added bonus is the fact that 'Hard to Kill' features some of Seagal's best lines and moments ("I'm gonna take you to the bank, Senator Trent. To the blood bank!"). The hide and seek scene has got to be the best scene Seagal has ever filmed.

'Hard to Kill' rates as one of my favourite Seagal movies, and certainly much better than anything he's done lately. Seagal fans should get a kick out of this - 7/10