Mercenary for Justice

If you've kept up with Seagal's direct-to-video career (as I diligently have) "Mercenary for Justice" is certainly a step in the right direction. No, it's not great movie, but it's a whole lot better than most of his previous direct-to-video efforts. First and foremost the cinematography is really well done. This movie looks great and feels "bigger" than most of Seagal's previous direct to video movies. Second, although there's more gun-play than Aikido, Seagal performs in all his own action sequences (no stunt/body doubles) and the fight choreography is relatively classic Seagal (arm and wrist twisting / body tossing). Third, Seagal's voice doesn't appear to be dubbed at any point during the movie (as it's been in several of his other releases). What's bad is the usual: muddled story, poor supporting cast, some of the dialogue. The first 20 minutes of the movie lack a real cohesive setup / story (in fact, beside a brief freeze frame / still, Seagal doesn't appear for the first 11 minutes or so). The opening also suffers from the classic low budget, "shooting a stunt from multiple angles – then intermittently cutting those different shots of the same stunt into the movie trying to sell it as a new event each time" trick. Oh well. Bottom line: If you've kept up with Seagal this far in his career you won't be disappointed with "Mercenary for Justice." Favorite Seagal theatrical release: Out For Justice / Favorite Seagal direct-to-video release (as of 04/19/06): Belly of the Beast

Seagal has of late been doing material so utterly poor, to suggest that it may be time for him to call it a day, and concentrate on a promising music career. Seagal looks old, overweight and lethargic in his recent films and aside from the slightly more professional twosome of Into The Sun and Belly Of The Beast, looks utterly bored. Add to this fact he is not doing his own stunts, fighting or even dialogue, then clearly many fans are getting annoyed. However Seagal has one of the most forgiving and undemandingly loyal fan bases out there, so he's getting away with it.

Mercenary For Justice is on one hand the usually bog standard he's been doing lately, but on a slightly more positive not he does most of his ADR looping and also all his own fights. Now that might seem like something that should be a given for an action man but these days Seagal films are rated on the following: Participation in fights, stunts, in the shooting itself (not using stand ins!) and participation in performing his own dialogue. As such this film is a step up from Black Dawn and Today You Die, his previous two, poor, poor movies.

The trouble is that the film has an awful script, poor direction and of course an incredibly wooden performance by its lead. The action is all filmed rather than using stock footage, as in the other Seagal and Don E Fauntleroy team up, Today You Die, which borrowed from several films. This it least has Fauntleroy showing slightly more control behind the camera, but unfortunately the film is one of a line of contractually obligated films Seagal had to do. Sure he got well paid to do them, but the fact is there have been rumours of on set troubles with Seagal, turning up late, changing the script. How true this is I don't know but certainly in this film and TYD, Seagal is probably only present for 2/3 of the movie. Thankfully MFJ marks the last time Seagal will work with these producers and this director, following a much publicised legal battle of suing and counter suing.

MFJ makes no sense whatsoever, perhaps largely due to the slipshod and difficult production thanks to the problems between the producers and the star. This is so poorly constructed and shabbily put together that it makes one wonder just how Seagal fans (myself included can keep coming back in the vein hope he'll do a good movie again. Similarly the film is not helped by a poor cast around Seagal, who lest we not forget is not in the movie that much. However Luke Goss isn't bad, but he is sorely underused. In perhaps the most awful performance ever committed to a B action film, Roger Guenveur Smith, grates, and annoys in the most clichéd British bad guy role, in which every word is ludicrously overly enunciated. As such the poor cast fails to engage in the dull and dragging scenes without the main man Seagal. The action itself ranges form mediocre to bad. There's plenty of explosions but the film is badly edited and the fights sequences are particularly dull, despite Seagal's participation in them. They unfortunately lack imagination and aside from some bone breaking and flushing peoples heads down toilets, it's all pretty brief and uninspired.

The sad thing is that many Seagal fans will "settle" for this junk. It shouldn't be that way. I only hope that the far more promising sounding projects, Shadows Of The Sun and Prince Of Pistols will have a more interested Seagal. I don't blame the big man for not raising his game in a film this poor, he was allowed to give minimal effort to collect a big fat paycheque, so fair play to the man. However he will have to deliver better films otherwise the paycheques could well dry up. DTV films don't have to be awful and Lundgren and Van Damme are proving that. I hope Seagal takes note in his next few films, but thankfully I see there will be little chance they are as bad as this. *1/2

"Mercenary for Justice" has one heck of an opening. It starts on a war-torn battlefield with Seagal and a group of mercenaries fighting a legion of French soldiers after having kidnapped and killed the French ambassador. Director Don E. FauntLeRoy, who did the so-so "Today You Die" with Seagal, proves his worth with this sequence as the action is fluid and crisp and looks like it cost way more than the reported $15 million it actually did. It's clear with this film's opening: Seagal is hearing the fan's pleas for better films, and he's going to start trying better. Another thankful gesture to his loyal fans in this film is Seagal actually does his own fighting, and while the fight scenes are less impressive, at least it's him doing it. The plot is ridiculous and silly and most of it doesn't make a lick of sense, but since when did it have to in a Seagal movie? What matters is that the film looks good and makes Seagal look good. Having been a Seagal fan for a while, I must say I was pleased by this film.

This movie isn't bad. Obviously it is not like Nico, above the law or under siege. Not even the glimmer man. But considering the facts is OK.

Again an ex-CIA agent/mercenary blah-blah-blah...

You will see Seagal shooting a few rounds, kicking some butts here and there. An attractive presence (Jacqueline Lord) in his side. There are some smirks (if not laughs) in some points and a semi-satisfying ending.

I don't recommend to watch it with any degree of serious attention, but if you catch it on TV check it out.

Overall: It is what it is!

...he wouldn't have to keep grinding out quota dross like this.

Look, we all know the plot by now. Bad People with Foreign Accents plan to do Bad Things to Good People with Domestic Accents. Seagal is the only man standing between blah and blah and blah de blah blah. OK, we know. We know. Let's just enjoy the ride.

The problem is that the "plot" of this movie jumps around so much that it's impossible to keep track of who is doing what to who and why. Really, I couldn't keep track of Good People and the Bad People, or when they switches sides or why, or which side Black Tech Guy is on from minute to minute.

On the plus sides, Seagal does his own "fight" scenes, but they're just sad now. His leathery skin clearly makes him invulnerable to conventional weapons, and while he does his usual twist/lock work, he's also forced to do some strikes that are simply pathetic. The guy can barely punch past his own belly these days.

The highlights are the supporting cast. Jacqueline Lord is surprisingly competent, and looks like she should have been in a lot more productions than her resume suggests. She clearly missed out on her big break a decade or so ago, but does well as mature totty.

Matt... uh, sorry, Luke Goss owns the few scenes that he's in, but there's just not enough of them to save this movie, and they're irrelevant anyway since Seagal is playing his usual immortal Myrmidon Let's give Goss the last word though: "This is unbelievable," he opines, and there's not much to disabuse that notion here.