Hard to Kill

An American action thriller; A story about a police detective who uncovers high-level corruption and is attacked and his family are left for dead. In time he decides to pay them a visit. This is a lively and ambitious revenge flick and does a little more than simply string fight scenes together. It has some similarity to "Commando" (1985) in the way the action flows - villains are disposed of with great efficiency because there are so many to get through and there isn't much depth. Seagal and Le Brock strike up a friendship which is appealing but when this transforms to love interest it feels false because it is rushed and convenient to the plot progression and no more. The film wastes no time in satisfying the audience's bloodlust but uppermost in its appeal is the charisma of Seagal and his aikido movements to disarm his foes.

A thought came up to me as I was watching Hard to Kill (1990). After I watched the film, I was reminded of the Kill Bill movies, and I wondered if Hard to Kill's plot inspired Quentin Tarantino to make the series. It looks so. Both Hard to Kill, and the two Kill Bill movies are all revenge pictures, but with two very different characters. Both characters are shot dead and put into a coma, and both wake up several years later to exact revenge on their enemies. And while I prefer the bloody entertaining Kill Bill movies more, I will say that Hard to Kill is a mildly entertaining action flick.

The film stars Steven Seagal, who plays L.A. cop Mason Storm, who videotapes a mobster being contracted by thugs to kill someone. Storm can't get a clear image of the man who has hired the mobster, but recognizes the voice. But then Storm is caught, and a hit is put on him. More thugs are sent to his home, where they kill him and his wife and kid.

But there's a catch. Storm isn't quite dead, but in a coma, and after seven years, he wakes up in a hospital, where the thugs arrive to finish him off. How they manage to find out that he's alive and well is unknown to me. Storm manages to save himself and a cute nurse, Andy Stewart (Kelly LeBrock), and they decide to take shelter in Andy's cottage, where Storm heals himself by inserting fine needles into his skin, and practices his Aikido.

He soon realizes that a corrupt senator (William Sadler) put the hit on him, and he decides to take him down, along with a crooked cop (Andrew Bloch) who's involved in the scheme.

Seagal is effective here as the cop-turned-crusader, but his character is less convincing, than his Nico Toscani in his earlier feature film, Above the Law (1988). Perhaps, the best fight sequence happens at a liquor store robbery where Seagal takes on four thugs.

There are some strong performances, from the supporting actors. But Kelly LeBrock, who gets second billing, needed more in her role as the nurse, but it is quite obvious that she was placed into the film, because she was Seagal's wife at the time. We don't get to know much about her character, and we almost feel like she has a thankless role here.

William Sadler is hateful in his role as the corrupt senator and Frederick Coffin is convincing as Seagal's ex-partner who holds something dear to Seagal. Something I feel I should not reveal.

Hard to Kill is not up to par with the earlier Above the Law, or Under Siege (1992). Seagal's first two films were good efforts, but then he shifted down to less enjoyable roles in movies, that considered placing large amounts of graphic violence and martial arts combat into his movies, in order for them to become a big hits, like his later film, Marked for Death (1990).

Hard to Kill works as an entertainment (the martial arts sequences are convincing), in spite of its preposterous plotting (hero wakes up in a coma and defeats the bad guys). It's mildly entertaining, but compared to some of his worst efforts, it's one of Seagal's best.

Steven Seagal, whether you love him or loathe him, he's the martial arts action hero that just won't go away. That's partially the premise of "Hard to Kill," the 1990 vehicle obviously meant to throw the pony-tailed, then-sixth-degree Aikido black belt into the action foray with Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Norris, but missed a few steps along the way and it would be another two years after when Seagal would find success in 1992's "Under Siege."

It's true that Seagal has yet to make a perfect film in his thoroughly uneven and distinguished career, but "Hard to Kill" certainly ranks as one of his best and one of my personal favorite pictures of the actor. Two years after breaking and busting the heads of corrupt CIA agents as Nico Toscani in his electrifying 1988 debut "Above the Law," Seagal returns not as the pony-tailed Toscani but as Mason Storm, the most unstoppable cop SOB that ever lived.

After getting home movie footage of an aspiring political candidate (Bill Sadler) conspiring with shadowy underworld types on tape, Storm is tracked down by corrupt cops and nameless and faceless goons and they shotgun the unstoppable SOB into a seven-year coma while also wiping out his wife and young son. O'Malley (Frederick Coffin), Storm's dedicated Internal Affairs friend, whisks him away into a coma-care unit under the assumed name of "John Doe."

Seven years later, Storm awakens and with the help of gorgeous nurse Andy Stewart (Seagal's then real-life, lovestruck wife Kelly Le Brock, who manages to catch peaks at our hero's anatomy), he trains intensely to regain his strength using the Oriental healing arts, renews his Aikido skills, and sharpens his eyes with that good ol' police-issue. All this culminating in some very nasty, neck-breaking, arm-twisting action.

As somewhat mis-directed by Bruce Malmuth and written by Steven McKay, "Hard to Kill" is undoubtedly one of the actor's most competently skilled performances because he's able to rise above the average material and make it his own. The problem may be with Seagal though. He snaps a few wrists and what's this? - he throws out one-liners - most of which are quite corny and fall flat on their face and simply put aren't Seagal's strong points. His strengths are in the arm-snapping and finger-breaking.

But still, Seagal's fists of fury are at their best (because that's what he does best) because this time around, he's mad and it's wise to not get characters played by Steven Seagal mad. Pretty soon after Storm has regained his skills and strength, the corrupt cops and goons that put him into his coma come back to finish the job. And this time, he's ready.

The action begins to pick up about half-way through and from there on in it's non-stop, which is true Seagal fashion, if you get my drift. But with "Hard to Kill," it's the seven-year Storm, and there's no letting up.

6/10

Mason Storm is a tough cop who uncovers the beginnings of something big when spying on gangsters on a deserted pier. He uncovers a conspiracy involving a politician – a discovery that gets his wife and his partner killed and him and his son thought dead. After being hidden by a friend in a coma hospital under an alias for seven years, Mason wakes up to find that his wife's killers are still after him and that the politician has become a very big target indeed.

After seeing a podgy Seagal in rapper `banger' movies in the past few years, it is almost a relief to see him in a film where he is slim, agile and a bit less `up his own ar*e' with all that new age stuff! That's not to say that `Hard to Kill' is a good film, for it certainly isn't, but it's basic nature is almost refreshing in how lacking in pretension it is – want a revenge thriller which is of video standard, then this is for you.

The plot is laughable at times. The whole thing lacks cohesion and logic, often making huge leaps with no real explanation. However it does just about enough to provide reasons for Seagal to fight with groups of people at the same time. Some of the dialogue is hilarious and reminded me of the character in the Simpsons who apes Arnie and delivers cr*p kiss-off lines. Seagal's funniest is `I'll take you to the bank – the blood bank!' Dialogue like that reminded me that this was a video movie and not a blockbuster! The action is basic, although it is nice to see Seagal in fights where his movies are fully visible and are fluent, the only thing that put me off here was just how cruel the whole thing was.

Seagal is a rubbish actor if you expect anything more than his whisper-voice-of-menace acting style and his one facial expression where he looks like his piles are giving him mild discomfort. However for fans this will be accepted and I was OK with it as par for the course for his films. LeBrock has no real excuse for being as bad as she is – a rubbish English accent, awful dialogue and really poor delivery. Sadler is OK but has very little screentime – playing the least subtle corrupt politician in the world! I mean, sitting and talking with thugs and hoods in front of all the cameras and never using middlemen!?

Overall this film is OK at what you expect from it – fight scenes with Seagal's skills on good show. However almost everything else (characters, logic, plot, humour, acting) is either really basic or so poor it's funny. In some ways this is better than his recent movies simply because the recent ones raise expectations with their budget and effects – here I had no illusions about what I was getting into!

This movie is absolutely HILARIOUS.

If people even know who Steven Segal is, they should already know what they are getting into before they start playing this movie (meaning that it is FULL of plot holes, jumps in logic, continuity errors, outrageous stunts, etc).

That having been said, this movie is so much fun to watch it more than makes up for its shortcomings. Watch this movie with a group of friends that enjoy laughing at unintentionally ridiculous action and I guarantee it will deliver in spades - I found it to be a lot funnier than most comedies.