Above the Law

"Above the Law" was Seagal's debut film. It wasn't the best, but we got to see martial arts on display that was for maiming and dismembering instead of marathon fighting like most. His disabling moves weren't for the faint of heart.

Seagal played Nico Toscani, a Chicago P.D. detective that caught on to a plot to kill a senator. He and his partner Delores Jackson (Pam Grier) shot and fought their way to discover the culprits (OK, so it was mostly Toscani).

Toscani, like just about every action hero, fearlessly went up against incredible odds, danger, and death knowing that even if he didn't have a gun he was always armed and dangerous. You can look at this as heroic or unfathomably stupid. I'm sure it comes down to whether or not you like Seagal.

I was watching television the other day, just flipping through the channels when I came upon 'Above the Law'. I hadn't seen this movie in years, and was anxious to watch it again. I must say that I was impressed. I believe it deserves no less than a 9/10. Why? The martial arts in superb as well as the action in general. Moreover, this movie operates on many different levels of meaning.

M.A. Rogers, in his commentary believes that Seagal's behavior contradicts his affirmation that nobody is above the law. This is not so. I believe that his actions are morally justified, inasmuch as there exists in the plot-line no other way for justice to be done. If the police force is corrupt and the C.I.A. are up to no good (not to mention the usually scum), what is one to do? It is therefore up to Toscani (Seagal) to take on a 'poetic license' of sorts and bring the transgressors back to justice.

M.A. Rogers, however, cogently points out in his commentary, that Seagal portrays a double-edged character. On the one hand he is easily angered, while on the other he puts out this "Mr. Cool" who is rife with obnoxious comments. This is why the film does so well. Important also is the scene in which his wife (Sharon Stone) pleads with him. She asks him to put down his 'pride'. She loves him because he is not like other men, but begs him to think of his family and back down. One cannot help, upon viewing this scene, to think of book six of "The Iliad" by Homer, where Andromache pleads with Hektor to stay in Troy for her sake and for the sake of his new-born son Astyanax. The emotion of the scene in Above the Law is heightened because of Seagal's show of restrained emotion: one isn't convinced that he is a 'family man'. He is. His stern face shows that he is a hard man, with a burden on his shoulders and an obligation to save his society as well as his family from an ailment that abounds everywhere. There is lots more to say on the matter, but I will leave that to another commentary. If you are at all a fan of the genre, than you must see it, even if you care only for the action. But I must make it clear that this movie is just as deep and sophisticated as any current drama. One just has to look beyond the surface.

Michael W. Helfield

Although I have never been a big Steven Seagal fan, I instantly liked this film when my uncle gave it to me for Christmas one year. It is one wild ride. I enjoyed the awesome stunts and action scenes in the film, and I had to laugh out loud at some of the scenes because it was fun to watch. Although I didn't care for Sharon Stone's acting in the film (she seemed to be too much of a weakwilled whiner, as opposed to her later films), Steven Seagal and Pam Grier were excellent as the main heroes. The film reminded me of the fun I had watching cop movies like Dirty Harry mixed with martial arts movies, so I recommend it to fans of those kinds of films.

This is Steven Seagal's film debut , here he also co-wrote and co-produced . The pictures in the opening credits , including the one of the baby Nico , are actually real pictures of Steven Seagal in his youth . It deals about Nico , a tough Chicago cop , he's a CIA ex-agent , Vietnam veteran and Aikido expert . He teams up with a police woman (Pam Grier) , forming a two-fisted duo . Nico takes on drug smuggling ringleader (Daniel Faraldo) and undergoes a violent confrontation against corrupt Cia agents (Henry Silva) and criminal gangs.

The picture packs noisy action , buddy movie , thriller , shootouts, suspense and results to be quite entertaining . Violent and not particularly literary but worthy entry in action genre . Wooden Seagal plays the violent Nico , he cleans up Chicago city by means of punches , kicks, bounds and leaps , martial arts abound with fights certainly slick . The sword-fighting sequence was staged using Steven Seagal's own martial arts . Steven Seagal personally selected every weapon seen in the film . The Aikido expert Seagal saves the day in this exciting movie which co-produced and wrote developing some autobiographic events about his real-life . In the film appears Sharon Stone in role secondary , as Nico's wife , furthermore Michael Rooker, almost extra and Ron Dean , an actor which director Andrew Davis likes to use in most of his movies . The picture contains enough action and violence for fans of the genre and the addicts will give this a passing grade because being professionally directed by Andrew Davis . He has shot most of his films in Chicago and he's an action movies expert (The guardian , Collateral damage , Chain reaction , The fugitive) and previously gave credibility in a vehicle for Chuck Norris (Code of silence) and again directed to Seagal in his best movie (Under siege) . This one is an acceptable thriller , exciting and tense at times with fine work , as always , from director Andrew Davis . If you're a former Steven Seagal fan you'll like it because is a strong outing for action buffs .

Before the hair transplant, before he ate all the pies, before he went mad, and before everything was uttered in an inaudible whisper Seagal made his debut with this confusing, over-plotted thriller directed by Andrew Davis. Seagal plays Nicola Toscani, a ludicrously-named ex-CIA cop (as are virtually all Seagal characters) with family in the Mafia. Seagal conjured up the story (which was then expanded, of all people, by Steven Pressfield and Ronald Shusett) and it's probably his first effort at ego-massage. The opening narration is semi-biographical and the beginning of Seagal confusing fantasy and reality.

The plot, despite being from 1988, still comes across as contemporary and relevant. Nico quits the CIA in the 'Nam after witnessing a crooked superior taking advantage of the war to become a drug baron. Many years later he encounters that same villain who is abusing his status of being 'above the law' to seize more drug territory and pump more drug money into the CIA. War is always profitable.

It would be an intriguing plot for a 135-minute movie. But Above the Law tries to cram it all into 99 minutes and in the style of early 80s Charles Bronson. Don't get me wrong, Andrew Davis has always had muscular direction and takes the material seriously, but the heavy story and ambitious commentary are mostly squandered for the sake of making sure the credits roll after an hour and a half. The ending seems rushed, leaving just a little to much confusion and too many dots unconnected.

Still, it's interesting to see Seagal young, thin, and talking clearly.