'Driven to Kill' review by MartialHorror

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DRIVEN TO KILL(2009)
(Directed by Jeff King)

"Isn't Steven Seagal always driven to kill?"- Signed by MartialHorror

Plot: A former Russian gangster is forced to work with the son of his old rival to find and kill the people who attempted to kill his daughter. Also known as “Ruslan”.

Review:

Ugh, curse you Steven Seagal! You make crap movie after crap movie and just when I’m thinking about giving you up, you do an immensely mediocre movie that still manages to keep my interest! Curse you! Of course, “Driven to Kill” is just another generic entry in Seagals massive filmography of generic entries. Just look at the title. It tells us nothing about the story, and the prepositional phrases are getting kind of old. The titles are lazy, generic, and forgettable. But at least the movie is decent. No, not “Marked for Death” decent, but at least “Pistol Whipped” decent.

Steven Seagal plays Ruslan, a (former) Russian mobster who was renown for his vicious attitude, sharp skills, and his vanishing Russian accent. One day, he receives a phone call from his Ex-Wife, who announces that their daughter is going to get married. To whom? To Stephan(Chepovetski), the son of his old rival, Mikhail(Jijikine). Obviously he’s skeptical, but he knows he hasn’t been a good enough father to have the right to object. Furthermore, it appears that Stephen wants nothing to do with his Father. Lanie(Mennell), his daughter, actually has a good relationship with Ruslan. So Ruslan decides to let her make her own choice. But while he’s gone, two gangsters break into the house and kill his Ex and critically injure his daughter. He makes a deal with the Police to cover up the fact that his daughter is alive in order to protect her. Not quite trusting Stephan, he decides to bring him along so that they can find the guys who did this and kill them.

“Driven to Kill” is basically a cheaper version of “Taken” in terms of its structure. Seagal goes to one place, kicks some ass, goes somewhere else, and kicks some more ass. The mystery loses its potency because they reveal the bad guys way too early, but the pacing is tight and it’s nice to see that Seagal is trying. “Driven to Kill” mainly works because it doesn’t suffer from what Seagal’s lesser flicks tend to suffer from. “Kill Switch”(also directed by Jeff King), for example, had a terrible narrative, causing the plot to appear disjointed. It felt like multiple movies spliced into one. “Driven to Kill” isn’t going to win any awards for its screenplay, but it knows what it wants to be so there is no difficulty following it. “Against the Dark” suffered because……Well, I couldn’t see anything. “Driven to Kill” either spent more on lighting equipment or made better use of natural lighting. Regardless, the film never becomes murky or too dark. Finally, unlike “Flight of Fury”, Seagal doesn’t fight any stock footage. Hooray! Of course, these aspects don’t turn this into a great film. It does turn it into a watchable film. Come on, these aspects should be obvious Seagal. We don’t expect “Casablanca” from you, but we would like a little consistency here…..

“Driven to Kill” does suffer from your typical Seagal flaws. The quick, incoherent editing makes the fight scenes look weak, although they are still better than most of what Seagal has come out with recently. The dialogue is mawkish in its attempts to be Shakespearian. Ruslan is too perfect of a character, as all of Seagals characters are. Notice how he rarely ever hits the rock bottom stage from “The Hero’s Journey”, which is a checklist of what most fictional heroes go through. There’s a pointless subplot involving 2 cops, who are both incompetent and are poor comic relief…….Finally, well….Seagal still isn’t much of an actor.

But “Driven to Kill” benefits from the actors. Sure, Steven Seagal(Ruslan) doesn’t do much acting and fails to maintain an accent, but at least the part suits him. Dmitry Chepovetski(Stephan) does great as the grieving fiancé. Igor Jijikine(Mikhail) is perfectly cast as the Russian mob boss. He was also a heavy in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull”. Robert Wisden(Terry Goldstein) does fine as the sleazy Lawyer. Overall, the cast is surprisingly good, which is another reason why “Driven to Kill” elevates itself beyond most of Seagals DTV actioners.

If you’ve seen one Seagal movie, you’ve probably seen them all. Hell, “Driven to Kill” is basically “Urban Justice” and “Hard to Kill” mixed into one generic action film. But the pacing is tight, the actors are sincere, and Seagal doesn’t cast himself as a playboy, so “Driven to Kill” works nicely as a DTV movie. Now if it was released in theaters, I probably wouldn’t be so nice……….

Violence: Rated R. Some surprisingly graphic kills.

Nudity: Rated R. There is a hillarious scene in a strip club which shows off some breasts.

Overall: Watch “Driven to Kill” only if you’re a fan of DTV action, Steven Seagal, or both. It’s nothing great, but it isn’t bad if you’re a fan. You’d be surprised at how decent it is compared to some of the others I’ve been forced to endure. But Steven Seagals work ethic seems to be found in Ruslan. Why does he make so many bad films? As Ruslan says, "The trick is to just not give a f@ck". Too right sir.

2/4 Stars

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