Steve Clark (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ihatemovies) wrote,@ 2005-07-05 11:37:00 |
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Out For Justice
Just lately, I've been watching a lot of Steven Seagal movies. There's something charming about the corniness of these things. Now, Out For Justice, one of his earlier films, isn't anywhere near as wonderfully crazed as On Deadly Ground or Belly of the Beast, but it's still good for a laugh.
Seagal is Detective Gino Felino. I love that name. His parents must have had a real mean streak. Like most of these action heroes, he's not a very good cop. At the start of the movie, Gino screws up a major drug bust to stop a pimp from beating on his ho. Okay, that's not so bad. Later, though, Gino's partner gets shot by some crazy guy named Ritchie. At this point, Gino goes into full-on bad cop mode. He wants Ritchie dead, and he doesn't care what he has to do to get it. He walks into a bar that Ritchie's brother owns, and he just starts beating the shit out of people for no reason. He arrests Ritchie's sister on trumped up charges, and when her elderly father shows up to bail her out or something, Gino arrests him, too. Also, Gino seems a little too chummy with the local mafia, if you know what I mean. That works out pretty well, in this case, since the mobsters want Ritchie dead, too. In the meantime, Ritchie is going around being a crazy fuck, and his thugs keep trying to take down Gino. This does nothing to improve their health.
You want to know what the best thing about this movie is? The Brooklyn accent that Seagal is trying to keep up through the whole movie. For all I know, this guy could be from Brooklyn, but he's still trying way too hard to sound like it.
The second-best thing in this movie is when Seagal blows off some guy's leg with a shotgun. That's a great shot. I must have rewound and watched that shot six times, once in slow motion.
Of course, the dialog's corny and the plot is total nonsense, so that's cool, too. The fight scenes aren't all that convincing, which is typical for a Seagal picture, but there's a nice streak of meanness to the fights, probably Gino letting out all that anger over his name. I'm serious, in one scene, he pins a guy's hand to the wall with a meat cleaver.
For the most part, it's a typical action movie, which is too bad, but there are some nice moments of weird. Like, there's this scene where our hero's driving around, and this big-breasted hooker walks up to his car and says, "Wanna fuck?" Well, Gino drives slowly away and starts laughing. Then, he turns to some winos he's driving past and says, tickled pink, "Did you hear what she just said?" Oh, those nutty hookers. This scene is made even more entertaining by Seagal's strained Brooklyn accent and plank-of-wood-with-a-ponytail acting style.
No, it's not one of Seagal's greats, but it's good enough for me.
** out of ten for the script
***** out of ten for the visuals
*** out of ten for the acting
****** out of ten for entertainment value
Average Score- 4 points out of ten
Bottom Line- SEAGAL MOVIE
Just lately, I've been watching a lot of Steven Seagal movies. There's something charming about the corniness of these things. Now, Out For Justice, one of his earlier films, isn't anywhere near as wonderfully crazed as On Deadly Ground or Belly of the Beast, but it's still good for a laugh.
Seagal is Detective Gino Felino. I love that name. His parents must have had a real mean streak. Like most of these action heroes, he's not a very good cop. At the start of the movie, Gino screws up a major drug bust to stop a pimp from beating on his ho. Okay, that's not so bad. Later, though, Gino's partner gets shot by some crazy guy named Ritchie. At this point, Gino goes into full-on bad cop mode. He wants Ritchie dead, and he doesn't care what he has to do to get it. He walks into a bar that Ritchie's brother owns, and he just starts beating the shit out of people for no reason. He arrests Ritchie's sister on trumped up charges, and when her elderly father shows up to bail her out or something, Gino arrests him, too. Also, Gino seems a little too chummy with the local mafia, if you know what I mean. That works out pretty well, in this case, since the mobsters want Ritchie dead, too. In the meantime, Ritchie is going around being a crazy fuck, and his thugs keep trying to take down Gino. This does nothing to improve their health.
You want to know what the best thing about this movie is? The Brooklyn accent that Seagal is trying to keep up through the whole movie. For all I know, this guy could be from Brooklyn, but he's still trying way too hard to sound like it.
The second-best thing in this movie is when Seagal blows off some guy's leg with a shotgun. That's a great shot. I must have rewound and watched that shot six times, once in slow motion.
Of course, the dialog's corny and the plot is total nonsense, so that's cool, too. The fight scenes aren't all that convincing, which is typical for a Seagal picture, but there's a nice streak of meanness to the fights, probably Gino letting out all that anger over his name. I'm serious, in one scene, he pins a guy's hand to the wall with a meat cleaver.
For the most part, it's a typical action movie, which is too bad, but there are some nice moments of weird. Like, there's this scene where our hero's driving around, and this big-breasted hooker walks up to his car and says, "Wanna fuck?" Well, Gino drives slowly away and starts laughing. Then, he turns to some winos he's driving past and says, tickled pink, "Did you hear what she just said?" Oh, those nutty hookers. This scene is made even more entertaining by Seagal's strained Brooklyn accent and plank-of-wood-with-a-ponytail acting style.
No, it's not one of Seagal's greats, but it's good enough for me.
** out of ten for the script
***** out of ten for the visuals
*** out of ten for the acting
****** out of ten for entertainment value
Average Score- 4 points out of ten
Bottom Line- SEAGAL MOVIE
