Sous haute protection

And so Steven Seagal continues his prolific career in straight-to-video product with THE KEEPER, another film completely indistinguishable from the dozens he's made since evacuating our cinema screens back in the 1990s. It's a completely serviceable movie that plays out as a string of action sequences well executed but completely unmemorable; there are scenes of Seagal fighting in hand-to-hand combat with bad guys, disarming bad guys and engaging in shoot-outs with bad guys. The plot is weak and the script limited; essentially, this is one of those action-star-as-bodyguard movies featuring our hero risking his life to save a young woman from the clutches of kidnappers.

The good things? The film is ably directed and the fight sequences short, snappy and well-handled. Seagal is pretty poor, it has to be said, and there's still far too much distraction from his copious use of doubles (not content with a mere body double in the fight sequences, he now employs a hair double for back-of-the-head shots). Thankfully his voice is only dubbed in the opening scene, which is something. The unfamiliar supporting cast is very bland with the notable exception of Liezl Carstens, who I found quite smouldering as the sultry young damsel-in-distress; if ever an actress could pull off the unconvincing romantic scenes involving her and Seagal's character, it would be her.

As Steven Seagal is no longer in his prime, so is the character he portrays in The Keeper. Some things haven't changed of course, No matter what name he goes by, he is still the same butt kicking rogue he has always portrayed, with the facial expression of a Maori Head.

The plot seems kind of pointless, but then again that is the least of worries in a Seagal film. He is recruited from California to help a wealthy ex-cop and an old friend who lives in Texas, and is in need of a body guard for his daughter. She has been kidnapped by some business rivals. The first question we ask is why, turn to Seagal. Strangely enough, the character asks that very question in one scene. The answer he gets makes little sense.

So this is the first of a few things that needs to be fixed in The Keeper. There is also the matter of Seagal's acting, which was never very good to begin with, but now, at his present age of fifty something, is sounds like he is struggling to even get words out, let alone deliver lines. Unless you have a good speaker system, you may have to turn the volume way up to hear. the climax was okay, but the ending is terrible, almost non existent, another couple minutes would have been nice.

Quite frankly though, I don't care that much. The fact that Seagal can still hold my attention despite the fact that he's losing it, must count for something. I still have many to see, but from those I have, I'd say this is about average, maybe a little less.

I think that even if there are still fans of Steven Seagal out there, they will agree that he doesn't seem to care anymore about how he appears in his movies, or the quality of the other parts of his movies. Oh, I admit "A Dangerous Man" was decent, but that was despite him, not because of him. In "The Keeper", he returns to the kind of movies he's been churning out ever since he moved to direct-to-video movies. He seems half asleep as he speaks his (limited) dialogue, and his puffy face and baggy clothing show he's in great need of going on a diet. But he's not the only one to blame for this movie's downfall. There is very little action in the first hour of this movie, and when the movie does get around to showing some action, it's often directed and edited in such a frenzy that it's impossible to figure out what's going on. While I'm speaking of an actor who doesn't care, I'd like to state that I don't care to see another Steven Seagal movie anytime in the future.

There was nothing of much interest on TV a couple of nights ago so I stumbled onto this one. I used to like Steven Seagal when he still made "real" movies so I thought, what the heck, let's watch it. I cannot say that my hopes were high though. After he started to spew out direct to DVD movies he have made some real crap ones.

I have to say that I was somewhat positively surprised. Sure it is not exactly Oscars material but it is a decent enough TV-movie and Seagal was pretty okay in playing the fairly silent but deadly ex-commando, or in this case ex-cop, that I personally want to see him as. Some people complain that he doesn't care and that he mumbles his dialog. I cannot say that I agree. He played his role as I would have expected. His silent manner, low voice and absence of emotions and outbreaks is what I hope for when I watch a Seagal movie. Also, the fighting in this movie was fairly okay compared to some of his movies where he seemed to be so out of shape that he just stood around and flapped his arms.

The story? Well pretty standard meh TV-quality bad guy tries to muscle in and extort the good guy. Good guy has daughter. Good guy's daughter gets kidnapped. The hero moves in and saves the day. Nothing really innovative and fantastic but good enough to serve as an excuse for some on-screen action and reasonably well implemented.

Not really a bad movie. Of course not really anything more than you would expect from a direct to DVD movie but not bad either and, as I said, way better than some of the crap Seagal have produced.

An American action thriller; A story about a policeman who is double-crossed by his partner and relieved from duty on medical grounds but is approached to protect the daughter of an old friend. Next stop Texas for the aikido master. Seagal looks of pensionable age so not so convincing as a cop, but as a personal bodyguard he is more convincing and carries the part with a modicum of charisma. Sound is a problem in parts, where audio levels are a bit low, but otherwise this is a film of adequate structure and sharp editing. All in all, a film that meanders in the first act and treads water in the second, rescued only by intermittence: Seagal being put to work his impressive martial arts.