Dangerous Man

Nothing out of the ordinary here. If you have past Seagal work, then you know exactly what to expect. I liked it for what it is. Lots of action. Lots of blood. Lots of forearm-breaking (you Seagal fans know exactly what I mean here)

As per usual, some of the lines were extremely lame. Get this one: one of the bad guys said

'we have to get him, he threatened my balls...no one threatens my balls'...lol.

How lame can you get. But like I said, I knew what to expect. It was exactly what I expected, and I liked it. Seagal is really showing his age. The big long action sequence at the end of the movie was really dark. It was very difficult to follow what was going on at times.

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.

-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.

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)

Budget : $6,500,000; Gross worldwide: $166,865. Classic entertainment charitably provided. This Seagull flick perfectly represents the plethora of such productions in the slow, fat, geriatric era of his career. Of course he found a droll niche utilizing hilarious dialog and signature wrist-twisting, pattycake-slapping, bone-crunching fight moves ('Out for Justice', of an earlier era, was his best bone snapper). Lately he can only kick 'em in the shins or when they're down cause he can't lift his leg any higher lol. Even so, while super heroes have succumbed to mostly taking a beating until the very end, Seagull fans are never disappointed with his enduring invulnerability, focused omnipotence and campy coolness. His side man Byron, a comedy genius if unintentionally, singlehandedly sustains the tongue in cheek atmosphere... make no mistake about it: this is an action comedy. You can enjoy it without paying constant attention to it and by fast forwarding in spurts. Gratuitous girlyness included.