Dangerous Man

Steven Seagal stars as a wrongfully imprisoned akidio expert who defends a girl from Chinese mobsters (led by Byron Mann) and who joins forces with Russian mobsters to defend the girl in question. Steven Seagal movies tend to be really lame these days. In fact I don't think i've enjoyed a Seagal movie in a long time, mainly because the movies are terrible in the worst kind of way, mainly stunt doubles, the same plot about Seagal being some type of secret agent who goes rogue when his employers double-cross him (ad nauseam) Still this movie worked in such a way that I actually bought the film for 5 bucks and didn't feel too bad about such. A Dangerous Man works because it is so fast paced, certainly Seagal seems to care more than usual and it would appear he wasn't dubbed and his fight sequences have less stunt doubles. Indeed Seagal appears trimmer than usual. Still there are still some flaws mainly the story is routine and clichéd but the action element is there, Mann makes for an enjoyable villain and the chick in question is hot. Indeed you can do a lot worse in terms of Seagal movies. Indeed I must admit I only rented this (after swearing Seagal off after Against The Dark) because of his part in Machete. Although if Seagal can manage such level of quality, one won't dread renting the latest Seagal flick.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

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.

An American crime thriller; A story about an ex-special forces operative falsely convicted of murder. He is released from prison, only to stumble into a gangland shootout. Rescuing a woman who had been kidnapped, he battles to protect her from Russian gangsters, corrupt cops, and Chinese special agents. This is a routine story and plot with stereotypical villains, but it is fast-paced and gripping because of the intensity and brutality of the action scenes that never seem to stop. There are a few continuity issues, and the gunfights are overlong, but it is watchable for its gung ho and energy.

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.

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.