Mercenary for Justice

...he wouldn't have to keep grinding out quota dross like this.

Look, we all know the plot by now. Bad People with Foreign Accents plan to do Bad Things to Good People with Domestic Accents. Seagal is the only man standing between blah and blah and blah de blah blah. OK, we know. We know. Let's just enjoy the ride.

The problem is that the "plot" of this movie jumps around so much that it's impossible to keep track of who is doing what to who and why. Really, I couldn't keep track of Good People and the Bad People, or when they switches sides or why, or which side Black Tech Guy is on from minute to minute.

On the plus sides, Seagal does his own "fight" scenes, but they're just sad now. His leathery skin clearly makes him invulnerable to conventional weapons, and while he does his usual twist/lock work, he's also forced to do some strikes that are simply pathetic. The guy can barely punch past his own belly these days.

The highlights are the supporting cast. Jacqueline Lord is surprisingly competent, and looks like she should have been in a lot more productions than her resume suggests. She clearly missed out on her big break a decade or so ago, but does well as mature totty.

Matt... uh, sorry, Luke Goss owns the few scenes that he's in, but there's just not enough of them to save this movie, and they're irrelevant anyway since Seagal is playing his usual immortal Myrmidon Let's give Goss the last word though: "This is unbelievable," he opines, and there's not much to disabuse that notion here.

"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)

I liked Seagal.... In his prime. A long time ago, (Okay, 1989) Steven Seagal was the master of the martial arts, A man who speaks little, but makes up for it in kicking ass... and he was lean and mean. Nowadays, he's fat, he can barely talk above a whisper, and he just doesn't care. But he keeps churnin' out the junk.

And I keep falling victim to it. For Seagal DTV standards, (does that even make sense?) it isn't as bad as "Submerged" , but it's not as good as "Belly Of The Beast".

The plot: John Seeger (you know who...) is an ex-mercenary, CIA, FBI dude, who has to break into a prison, while orchestrating a bank robbery. Then Seeger shoots lots of people. That's about it.

What's with the three word titles? Enough already. I guess people don't think it's a Seagal flick without a three word title. The title doesn't even make sense. A mercenary works for money and he has no soul, he doesn't do it for justice.

The only actors good in this is Roger Guenveur Smith as the villain Mr. Chapel and Luke Goss as Dresham. But even they were coasting.

If you want a good Seagal flick, go with "Out For Justice" instead.

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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.

'Mercenary for Justice' is a routine fare, that works only in parts. Its a regular Steven Seagal film, with good action & a strictly passable story.

'Mercenary for Justice' Synopsis: A mercenary gets involved in a mission that threatens the lives of his kin. In order to succeed, he must break into one of the most well guarded prisons in Eastern Europe and free the son of the most notorious drug lord in the world today.

Not much really stands out in here, besides Seagal of course. I've been a fan of his & he does deliver some kick-ass action here too. Although appearing morbidly overweight, the action star still has the chops. As for the Screenplay, it has some interesting moments & some sequences, particularly the penultimate portions, are engaging. Don E. Fauntleroy's Direction is alright.

On the whole, 'Mercenary for Justice' is, at best, a one-time watch.