The Asian Connection

Steven Seagal has done some good, or at least watchable, films. Particularly 'Under Siege'. He has also done a lot of mediocre and less films, indicative of laziness and that Seagal was well past his sell by date, and a good deal of them are even very bad.

'The Asian Connection' for me is down there with Seagal's worst. Did not expect much, but watched it because Seagal has shown signs that he can be halfway decent and as said not all his films are bad. Also do appreciate the action genre and there are good films out there in the genre, classics even. 'The Asian Connection' is far from that, more closer to a waste of time that shows little signs of trying.

Seagal, in a role smaller than the advertising lets on, himself gives another lazy and wooden performance that shows that he was not interested and wanted to be somewhere else. His reading-from-an-autocue-like and robotic line delivery in particular betrays that. The rest of the cast are just as poor though in all fairness have little to work with and over-compensate.

The characters are ones we know very little about and don't care what happens to happen, so unengaging and one-dimensional they are. The dialogue is risible, with a lot of cheesiness, awkwardness and far too much talk delivered with little emotion or momentum and bordering on the near-incomprehensible.

Its excessively talky nature affects severely the pacing, which never comes to life. There is no urgency, let alone tension, intrigue or suspense. The action doesn't feature enough in comparison and suffer from pedestrian choreography and laughably bad editing. The story is by-the-numbers, dull and not always easy to follow.

Direction is flat and ill-at ease, while the sound/soundtrack are one-note and obvious as well as poorly recorded and the whole film looks cheap. And it's not just the editing, the slapdash effects and drab photography also. The only okay asset here is the backdrop sadly wasted by the rest of the production values being awful.

Overall, a mess. 1/10 Bethany Cox

An American action thriller; A story about two expatriates living in Thailand who go to Cambodia to steal a drug lord's money. The best thing about the film is the glowering nature of Steven Seagal who looks like an illegitimate son of "Dr No". The indeterminate nefariousness of his crime lord outfit is beguiling. Alas, the film has a very poor script and the characters are too feintly sketched for the viewer to get behind any of them. Nevertheless it does have a throughline of pure action and a good plot. It just has a look and feel of tackiness.

I really thought that the inclusion of MJW would hopefully lift this slightly higher than expected. Sadly he is unseen but for a fleeting scene in which his role could have been played by any random crackhead.

The whole thing is so poorly acted and scripted not to mention directed that it really comes down to a D grade action flick built around Sensei Seagal playing patty cake in his pj's (yet again) and delivering even worst dialogue than usual. Even giving him the opportunity of playing a bad guy for a change seems too much like hard work for the Sensei who dials in one of the lamest performances from him yet. Maybe his lethargy is a result of being squeezed too tightly into his Spanx.

Perhaps the worst offender in this mess is Director (and I use that term very loosely) Daniel Zirilli. He continues his rise towards mediocrity with another typical example of his very obvious limitations.

Watch only if you absolutely must, but don't say you weren't warned.

The biggest garbage i have ever seen. Steven Seagal is awful the leading actor is awful. This movie is a total disaster. The only good thing in this movie is that British guy with his accent.

Don't waste your time!

'The Asian Connection' is An Okay Watch, despite a few arresting moments & a top-billed Steven Seagal. I liked the attempt, but the execution isn't foolproof.

'The Asian Connection' Synopsis: Two American expatriates, Jack and Sam, unwittingly steal a drug lord's money when they rob a series of banks in Southeast Asia and become the target of the gangster's vengeance.

'The Asian Connection' begins well, but the narrative falls short as its progresses. The characters appear lethargic, although the villain has his moments. Also, the pace is inconsistent. The Writing needed to be stronger, crisper. There was great potential here, but it only utilizes only half of it.

Daniel Zirilli's Direction is passable. Cinematography is standard. Editing lacks sharpness. Action-Sequences are very okay.

Performance-Wise: Steven Seagal is on a roll. 'The Asian Connection' is his 3rd release in a span of just a month, first Sniper: Special Ops, then Code of Honor & now this. He's seen in a negative role here & he does his best. Michael Jai White is wasted. John Edward Lee is a loose leading man. Byron Gibson is efficient. Sahajak Boonthanakit is ordinary.

On the whole, 'The Asian Connection' is fair.