Marcado Para a Morte

Yes, Steven Segal has packed on the pounds lately - haven't we all. He doesn't move like he did in his early films. I believe this was his second film and it has all the action one could wish for in a kick-butt martial arts action movie.

You are not here to see Oscar-worthy acting or sumptuous costumes and sets, you are here for an adrenaline-pumping vicarious thumping of the bad guys - in this case Jamaican drug dealers. so, sit back and enjoy the ride with a big bowl of popcorn and you will not be disappointed.

Now, if I could just figure out the name of that drop-dead beauty he was dancing with in the Jamaican bar, I would die a happy man.

I cannot believe this film got such bad ratings as it is one of my favourite action flicks of all time. Marked for Death has Steven Seagal playing John Hatcher a cop whose out for revenge against a gang of Jamaican drug dealers. The film has some terrific action sequences and set pieces, example being the shopping centre fight which really showcases Seagal's talents. This has excellent pacing as well as good location shoots. The score for Marked for Death is amazing, suiting the film so well, giving it the right sinister kind of atmosphere. The voodoo elements were cool, Screwface has to be one of the best villains and the twist at the end is unexpected. The violence in the uncut version is some of the most brutally realistic you can find in a mainstream action flick, with Seagal snapping bones as if they were twigs. Be warned though, like most of Seagal's films, in the U.K Marked for Death was cut badly by the censors so nearly all of the bone breaking violence is now gone, leaving just a standard badly edited action film. If you want to see the real power of Marked for Death then you would be advised get your hands on the uncut versions somehow. The only minor flaw with this film is that the beginning in Mexico is a little ropey, but apart from that the only Seagal flick that Warner bros didn't make but Fox did, deserves a place next to Under Seige 2 as being one of my favourite Steven Seagal films.

You can split Segal films into 2 categories, the early stuff (Hard To Kill, Nico) and the later stuff (Fire Down Below, Today You Die). The latter group doesn't usually even get to the cinema but the former has some real action gems. Marked for death is one of them.

This film has loads of martial arts, Yardies, drugs, black magic, Drive by shootings, people dressed like Aswad, and the big black guy from platoon who escapes from the shootout at the end by getting rotated back to America. One of the things that ruins Segal films is having too much shooting and not enough fighting, But the action is pitched just right here, with still enough shooting thrown in to spice it up. The guys playing the Yardies are fantastic and the dialogue is second to none, in fact for those IDM fans out there Luke Vibert sampled some in 'screwface'. Other than Segal and the platoon guy the only person I recognised was Danny Trejo, Hollywoods default Mexican criminal. This is an action classic folks, watch it or Screwface will give you a thousand deaths worse than mine.

Although I am not a huge fan of action movies I enjoy them from time to time. One of the reasons I saw this movie is because it has Steven Seagal as the lead, and there was a period back in the 1990s when he used to do some great movies (such as ABOVE THE LAW, UNDER SIEGE, ON DEADLY GROUND, OUT FOR JUSTICE) and I consider him an enjoyable actor despite he has also made various terrible movies especially in recent years. While this one didn't struck me, I still liked it.

At the beginning John Hatcher (Seagal) is in Columbia chasing a thug (played by a then unknown Danny Trejo) and after he manages to capture there is a brutal murder where a young prostitute is involved (and there is also some blood splattered in the process). As a result he retires and returns in the USA with his family. He passes by the local school and meets his childhood friend Max Keller (Keith David), who has become the trainer for the school's football theme after he left the US Army. Max and John join forces to find out about the man who sells drugs illegally in their hometown; it's a Jamaican witch doctor named Screwface that has lots of henchmen that worship him as a God, One night Max and John go to his HQ in a small Jamaican island and Hatcher be-heads Screwface with a sword; back in the US he shows the head to his friends but Screwface arrives as the decapited one was his twin. Hatcher manages to get rid for him and while he goes away into the night with Max he realizes that he has freed his hometown from the dangers of drug smuggling.

One of the reasons why I liked this movie is because Steven Seagal played so well and in a convincing way a man that wants justice and won't stop at nothing for getting it (and he doesn't take NO for an answer) and I really felt his reasons for behaving that way as very appropriate. It actually reminded me a bit of the DIRTY HARRY movies. The soundtrack was also very good and I loved the ending song JOHN CROW.

Seagal gives one of his best performances and I think he was born for this role. Keith David gives great support as Seagal's best friend who follows him around. In supporting roles even then-unknown character actors Kevin Dunn and Danny Trejo.

Although not an excellent action movie, it was quite decent despite a few gory scenes. Great for Steven Seagal fans and enjoyable for everyone else.

DEA agent John Hatcher (Steven Seagal) returns from Colombia after the death of his partner. He goes home to his sister's family in Chicago. He and army buddy Max (Keith David) have a drink and he reluctantly gets in the middle of a shootout with the drug gang Jamaican Posse. The leader of the gang is Screwface (Basil Wallace). John arrests one of Screwface's man and his sister's house is shot up. His niece Tracey (Danielle Harris) is left in critical condition.

It's one of Seagal's better efforts for what that's worth. He kicks some bad guys and shoots up a storm. The bad guys use Jamaican voodoo but that adds to the atmosphere. None of it should be taken seriously. It's straight forward and without any apologies.