Force of Execution

Seagal's best days are now far behind him, but he's made a niche for himself in the DTV market. FORCE OF EXECUTION, while not one of the better movies he's made, is at least watchable and has some good action to boot. This time around, Seagal is Alexander, a crime boss with a past in government special ops. He runs a southwestern town with an iron fist, to be sure, but backed up with a code of honor. Martial artist Bren Foster plays Hurst, Alexander's chief hit-man and a protégé of sorts. They are joined in the cast by Ving Rhames, an up-and-coming gangster and Danny Trejo as a bar owner with a few tricks up his sleeve. The event that sets the plot in motion is a hit that goes bad, resulting in Hurst's "retirement," and the severe injury of his hands. Meanwhile, Iceman (Rhames) maneuvers around Alexander in order to take control of his territory, climaxing in a showdown between the two gangs. First, the good parts. Seagal is playing a type of character that he doesn't usually play, an antihero of sorts in a movie populated solely with lowlifes. There is also some decent martial arts on display, but mostly from Bren Foster. Seagal is relegated to doing his usual chops and take-downs when he isn't just using firearms. Finally, Ving Rhames gives the best performance in the movie as Iceman, lending credibility to his role as a gangster and delivering some great improvised dialogue. The rest is mediocre at best. The basic plot is paper thin, and not enough time is spent developing the three main characters. Most of the dialogue scenes are corny discussions about honor and respect, tough talking without any purpose other than to make the characters seem tougher. As far as the technical aspects go, director Keoni Waxman opts for the currently in-vogue shaky-cam, and some of the editing choices obscure the action. While this was most likely to conceal stunt doubles in some shots, it makes the action hard to follow in places, especially with Seagal. Fortunately for Bren Foster, they pulled back the camera a little bit so you can see him work. Overall this should be enough to placate Seagal fans, but everyone else should just stay away.

This movie is another glimmering piece of art from the great Steven Seagal. Once again he has broken down the walls of racial discrimination by performing his non- offensive, non-pigment related rendition of black face.

In this movie mister Seagal plays a middle aged black man who is the head of the crime syndicate somewhere in Florida. As usual his otherworldly BA persona fills the screen and delivers in true SS fashion. This time his limp wrist-ed karate domination is accentuated by his knowledge of black magic. Only in a legendary Seagal film could the worlds most lethal scorpions combine to become a healing power that nearly rivals the power of Steven's karate chop. He feasts on the lesser endowed rival gangsters in a way only he could make believable.

One scene in particular demonstrates his skill in pure acting. When sitting at a table talking with "ice man", he says something with such a heavy slur that it is only intelligible when re-winded and viewed multiple times. I anticipate the following 2 movies in this trilogy with bates breath.

Sadly this site only allows 1000 words per movie review. I feel that my review is not capable of doing this movie justice, no matter how elegant. In a thousand lifetimes I could not adequately pay tribute to this work of borderline inappropriate genius.

When I picture heaven I imagine a place where we all wake up in the morning, pull our pony tails back and are blessed with the talents of Steven Seagal. Also, if you have not had the chance to watch his music videos online, you are sorely missing out.

Long live Seagal! (Although that's a moot point considering there isn't anything deadly enough to conquer him)

I've looked at a lot of reviews for 'Force of Execution' and they would have you believe that it's an absolute classic. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting Shakespeare. I knew I'd be letting myself in for a B-movie with stars from yesteryear, however, all I got was a pretty sub-standard affair.

The story is all over the place with one scene after the next depicting one gangland hit after the next. Steven Segal phones in his performance and Ving Rhames just grunts all the way through it (and don't get me started on his 'fighting abilities'!).

In short, this story is a mess. The settings chop and change from one location to another, never really linking together the overall tale, let alone leaving any space for the audience to care about any of the one-dimensional characters.

Yes, I know it's a B-movie, but I was hoping for it to be entertaining. Sadly, this one's better left off everyone concerned's C.V.

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I am not a huge fan of Steven Seagal nor a detractor. As I pointed out in the reviews for the other movies I saw with him, there are times when he makes enjoyable films and times where his movies are quite awful (such as PISTOL WHIPPED). And this sadly falls in the second category despite I wanted to like it.

Crime lord John Alexander (Seagal) has a good life until his best man Roman Hurst fails in a heist that should have been easier for him. Alexander saves him but paralyses his hands; he'll need him again tho when he discovers that assassin Iceman (Ving Rhames) wants to kill him.

This film has all the ingredients for a bad Steven Seagal movie; zero coherent plot, bad action scenes as Seagal has become fat in recent years and it's very noticeable and performances and timing duller than dust! Towards the end I was tempted to turn it off, and when this happens to me it's a bad sign. And it's hard to believe that Ving Rhames did such a movie considering the fact that he still does some great movies like the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE ones.

I won't recommend it to anyone, perhaps only to the die-hard fans of Steven Seagal who try to watch all his movies.

First, I've liked Seagal's early movies (Above the Law, etc.) and have seen all that hit theaters and half the "straight to video" movies he's made. I'm a martial arts aficionado & can overlook a fair amount of bad acting & thin plot as long as choreography & fighter abilities are at least somewhat accomplished and plausible. I respect that Seagal is Aikido Sensei 7th Dan and was first white man to run a martial arts dojo in Japan in his early years. Furthermore I cut him some slack that he's older and not light on his feet any more (but really, he couldn't loose at least a FEW pounds?!!). That said, THIS IS WITHOUT A DOUBT ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES EVER MADE! Plot is kinder-garden level at best & almost non-existent. Acting is awful, script is worse than awful, concept is awful and worst of all this movie has some of the worst fighting ability and choreography I've ever seen. Seagal does virtually none of his own fighting and you only see him start to throw a punch & camera cuts to guy falling down, every time! A boring, worthless, un-engaging piece of crap movie. Most insulting is this is obviously just a low-budget excuse for a pay day for Seagal & he literally does not care how it reflects on him. He has truly dishonored & embarrassed himself & the Aikido arts & soiled his spirit & integrity by releasing such a ruinously awful piece of junk, it exhibits that he has no integrity left and is now only a worldly uncharismatic uncaring shadow of his former self. I don't wish to disrespect him or be unkind but he has completely disrespected himself for many years & this is the final bad straw. Won't watch anything further he ever is involved in and would never vote for him if he gets into politics; His lack of objectivity & caring is appalling & disturbing. I hope someone forwards this review to him. STEVEN: You need to wake up & regain your lost values and abilities to at least some degree (Sorry, tough love). At least start doing some moving meditation & energy exercises; Qi-Gong, Tai-chi, something... If movement is restricted from injuries then at least throw your own short-range wing-chun type punches & let the camera show it... Even the greatest masters eventually lose combat ability over time, but the greatest masters never sell out integrity - C'mon Steven... READERS: Don't waste your time watching this, seriously, don't bother.