Marcado para la muerte

I'm going to comment on this movie, but before I do, I have to mention Steven Seagal's running. This is the fifth movie I've seen him in and I don't know where he learned how to run. His right arm flails like it has a mind of its own. It is not an effective way to run yet he is really fast in his movies.

OK, I said my piece.

In "Marked for Death" Hatcher (Steven Seagal) finds himself at odds with a Jamaican cartel known as a posse. In this movie where Jamaican involvement in drug dealing is grossly exaggerated, Screwface (Basil Wallace) and his crew run the streets of Lincoln Heights, Illinois. That means we see a bunch of dreadlock wearing Black guys selling drugs to suburban white kids.

As if.

Hatcher was retired from police work and wanted nothing to do with fighting drug gangs until a couple of Jamaicans cruised through his suburban neighborhood and shot up his home. It was the absurdest of actions based upon the lamest of pretexts, but what better way to bring a guy out of retirement than revenge?

Once Hatcher was effectively activated by the Jamaicans like a killbot that was given the proper password, he began shooting, stabbing, and snapping his way up the Jamaican food chain. He had his partner Max (Keith David) along for backup and sloppy seconds because Hatcher had to contend with violence AND Voodoo. It seems the Jamaicans' evil ways were aided by witchcraft as well as weapons.

"Marked for Death" was hardly distinguishable from "Above the Law" or "Hard to Kill." The plots were different, but in all three Seagal is with law enforcement, is out for revenge, and does all the typical action hero stuff (gun battles, car chases, explosions, and hand-to-hand combat). "Marked for Death" was cool when I was twelve, but now it seems a little stale.

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.

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.

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.

A war veteran and ex-drug agent named John Hatcher (Steven Seagal) retires himself from his dangerous employment. He returns to his family , his sister (Bette Ford) and nephew(Danielle Harris). But he confronts against a Jamaican dope delinquents led by Screwface (Basil Wallace who's a better villain than Seagal's previous films). And as the title says marked him and his family for death. Hatcher and his pals (Keith David and Tom Wright) are back in action to track down the Jamaican killer who is threatening his family. Then Hatcher and Screwface playing a cat-and-mouse game.

Elaborately produced action film with tough Seagal is just another action film full of struggles ,thrills, noise and lots of violence. Ever-wooden Seagal as almost always, playing a two-fisted and loner cop, he delivers the goods in his own style full of usual violence and fights with snapping wrists and worth it just to see Steve in Jamaica where appears singing Jimmy Cliff. Atmospheric musical score by James Newton Howard though composed by synthesizer and appropriate cinematography by Ric Waite. The picture was made in the Seagal's best period when he played high budget movies such as ¨Hard to kill¨(1990 by Bruce Malmuth), ¨Under siege¨ ( Seagal's best film to date, 92, Andrew Davis), ¨Dark territory¨ (95, Geoff Murphy), ¨Executive decision¨ (96 by Stuart Baird), ¨Glimmer man¨ ((96, John Gray), ¨Exit wounds¨(2001, Andre Bartkowiak), among others. Nowadays he does fairly low standards, lesser budget and direct to video movies, such as ¨Half past dead¨, ¨The foreigner¨ and its sequel and many others.

Director Dwight H. Little who gave credibility to Wesley Snipes in 'Murder at 1600' teams up with Aikido expert Seagal for this action-filled cop thriller. The result is a strong outing for action enthusiasts and Seagal is fun to watch.