A Dangerous Man

If you've seen one Seagal flick, you've seen them all. This is particularity true with his later DTV output so I'm not going to waste time going into details, they're all the same here but what is new is that this one actually isn't half bad!

The movie has some real action scenes throughout with the last 20ish minutes being almost nonstop gunfights. Seagal must have been feeling peppy because he even jogs for a few seconds! Ok, that was probably his double but he does move around more than usual.

If for some reason you want to see what the sensei has been up to in his recent years (besides eating at the buffet) this is one of your better options.

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.

-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.

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.

If you have any idea of the kind of movies Seagal has been churning out since his last theatrically released movie (2002's "Half Past Dead"), you probably will know why I had sworn off watching any new Seagal movies some time ago, at least if I had to pay to see them. I rented "A Dangerous Man", because I read a positive report on it at another web site.

To my surprise, I found the movie to be a decent way to spend an hour and a half. Oh sure, the movie is filled with flaws. Seagal is still using an obvious double for his fight scenes (and in one shot of a sex scene), the movie doesn't manage to disguise the British Columbia shooting locations as American, there are long chunks of the movie where Seagal is nowhere to be seen, and the climax goes on too long. But I was still entertained. The action sequences (and there are quite a few of them) are pretty brutal and bloody at times, and you do get to see less of Seagal's double in the fight scenes than in other recent films of his. The plot goes by at a fairly brisk pace, and the various villain schemes and actions by the other characters actually kept me interested in what would happen next. The movie's no classic, but it does provide an acceptable amount of entertainment.