'A Dangerous Man' review by MartialHorror.

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A DANGEROUS MAN(2009)
(Directed by Keoni Waxman)

"At least the generic title really fits, as I wouldn't want to mess with Seagal in this movie!"- Signed by MartialHorror.

Plot: After spending 6 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, an ex-special forces op gets caught up in a smuggling scandal and has to protect a young girl who is in the center of it all.

Review:

YES! A STEVEN SEAGAL MOVIE I ACTUALLY KIND OF ENJOYED! After 10 years of *beep* direct-to-DVD films, there is possibly a light at the end of the tunnel. While yes, it wasn’t too long ago that I had to endure the horrendous “Against the Dark” and “Kill Switch”. With “Driven to Kill”, it appeared Seagal was at least trying to make tolerable movies(and that’s what they were: tolerable). What indicated to me that he was putting effort into his career was actually his role in the overrated-but still fun- “Machete”(which was released in the theaters, albeit being an under-performer) as well as doing a reality TV show where he acts as a cop or something(I never watched it and have heard mixed reviews). But it was “A Dangerous Man” that has finally given me hope, because I don’t consider “Machete” to be a Steven Seagal movie as much as I consider it to be a movie that happens to have Steven Seagal in it. This film isn’t especially good, nor even as good as his older, theatrical releases. It lies somewhere in between, but it’s a start!

Shane(Steven Seagal) is a happily married ex-special forces guy who chases off some *beep* who tried to mug his wife. Unfortunately, this was a mistake on his part because the guy turns up dead and Shane appears to be the obvious culprit. He spends the next 6 years behind bars and his wife ends up leaving him(seriously? Only 6 years? And didn’t he chase the guy defending you?! Bitch!), causing him to flash back to the one time they had sex(he flashes back to the same sex scene quite often; so I have to presume that was their only intimate moment) but is released when its proven that the DNA doesn’t match up. Continuing to flash back about his former sex life, he witnesses a cop being murdered and must rescue some kid named Sergey(Jesse Hutch) from the murderers(Chinese dudes). Shane dispatches them and discovers a *beep* of money in their car as well as a kidnapped girl named Tia(Marlaina Mah). She’s the center of some smuggling scandal and he decides to protect her. But he can’t do it alone so he turns to Surgey’s Father, Vlad(Vitaly Kravchenko), who happens to be a Russian mob boss. You can expect that things will get bloody.

Okay, I have to confess, the first 10 minutes or so had me worried, starting with showing clips of the film attached to each name for the credits. It's usually a sign that the movie will suck. After that, prior to the wife being mugged, they use that flashy, sped up, blurry animal attack POV shot that they use generally when an animal/alien/monster is chasing someone. It’s a corny technique when used cheaply and it appears in almost every direct-to-DVD movie ever. Then the movie bombards us with its lack of logic by having Shane convicted on painfully circumstantial evidence. Then it has those flashback sex scenes, where someone needs to tell Steven that the sight of him automatically diminishes any eroticism that comes from a topless girl(at one point though, it looked like Steve was using a body double during the shots from behind). The flashback sequences feel oddly edited too, although maybe it was Seagal’s crappy acting that made it seem so strangely pasted. Seagal spews plenty of crappy lines and his acting is more choppy than usual. But then he encounters two thugs and that’s when things begin looking up.

Steven Seagal doesn’t just beat up on them. After taking them down, he proceeds to make a horrendous line come true(“I’m going to *beep* you up ugly”) by taking part of the thugs gun and repeatedly striking him in the face. Seagal is a mean bastard in this movie and that’s why I liked it. It’s freaking visceral. There is lots of action(both hand-to-hand and gun fights) and it is all wonderfully brutal. I often cringed. Speaking of action, the fight scenes are actually okay this time around. Seagal does pull off some good moves and the choreography is well done(for a Seagal film), even if the film is obviously being sped up. The director, despite constantly using direct-to-DVD directorial clichés, amplifies this by using red hues for its lighting. This creates a somewhat hellish atmosphere, which compliments the violence nicely.

The film, while having a fairly typical story, still managed to keep my interest with its intriguing characters. This is mostly benefited by the actors. Unfortunately, Steven Seagal(Shane) himself is pretty weak. At first, he pulls the angry part off well, but soon just falls into typical Steven Seagal except he continues to try to be hip with the dialogue and drops the F-bomb a bit too much. At least he’s putting effort into the fights though, which is what matters. Another weak link is Marlaina Mah(Tia) as the damsel in distress. She’s cute, but her performance is just……..awkward. Jesse Hutch(Sergey) is passable but the real treat tended to be Vitaly Kravchenko as Vlad, who blends 'dignified leader' with 'brutal mob boss' perfectly, being kind of scary. I also liked the Asian villains. Terry Chen(Chen) was funny as the local crime boss, being pretty likable despite being a villain and Byron Mann(The Colonel) was intense and worked as the more imposing of the villains. These characters interested me and considering Seagal himself occasionally drops off the radar, this was important.

But make no mistake, this isn’t really a good film. It suffers from plenty of the flaws, like how everything comes together coincidentally. The flaws from the beginning constantly come into play and in fact, the whole ‘innocent man sent to prison’ thing ends up being pretty irrelevant. Much like “The Keeper”(also directed by Waxman), the opening scene is meant to give Seagal development but also like that movie, it’s underused and practically ends up being worthless. Finally, the fight scenes near the end(especially the one with the Colonel) become a bit too tightly edited. As I said, they're the usual faults in a Seagal movie, but this time around at least there are good things too.

“A Dangerous Man” is obviously a few steps away from being a good movie. It’s still no “Above the Law”, or any of Seagal's 'good' theatrical releases. But it’s the first direct-to-DVD movie of his that I can say I enjoyed. Most of his direct-to-DVD films that I give passable grades too(his two previous films, among others) are passable because I feel nothing towards them. Considering that it's either that or downright hating them, that’s why I tend to give them the okay. But “A Dangerous Man” is the first of them that I can say I enjoyed more than not. The rating is sort of generous, but I have to emphasize it’s superiority over the bulk of its predecessors.

Violence: Rated R worthy. It’s grisly. Very grisly.

Nudity: There is a sex scene with some breasts and some more sexuality littered throughout.

Overall: “A Dangerous Man” is the only direct-to-DVD Seagal movie I’d recommend if you’ve liked Seagal’s earlier works. Fans should be happy.

2.5/4 Stars



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