Well, this film is the height of Seagal's career. The best film he has ever done.....fact!
Playing Casey Ryback, the ship's cook, Seagal brings a level of charm, charisma and action man can-do attitude to this film. Aided, of course by beautifully OTT villains, played by the unholy trinity of Tommy Lee Jones, Gary 'Insane in the membrane' Busey and Colm 'DS9' Meaney, they all chew the scenery until their mouths are full. Gary Busey especially excels as the charmless and dangerous Commander Krill (Busey in drag is a scene that highlights his frame of mind).
The director, Andrew Davis (who also directed Nico) directs this film with flair and style and commands a not terrible cast to perform well with a run of the mill script. The story is a simple, terrorist highjacking narrative but it is elevated with a cheeky humour, nice little one liners and characters fleshed out a little bit more than you would have expected from a film of this type. Once again, the martial arts and gunfights are well done, there is a knife fight towards the end of the film which is just good and there is no shortage of explosions, creative deaths and gunfire to keep the crowd from noticing a number of plot holes.
All in all, a good film. Not even a good film compared to the other Steven Seagal films listed here, it is actually a good film if you're in the mood for, and can tolerate, mindless action.
Playing Casey Ryback, the ship's cook, Seagal brings a level of charm, charisma and action man can-do attitude to this film. Aided, of course by beautifully OTT villains, played by the unholy trinity of Tommy Lee Jones, Gary 'Insane in the membrane' Busey and Colm 'DS9' Meaney, they all chew the scenery until their mouths are full. Gary Busey especially excels as the charmless and dangerous Commander Krill (Busey in drag is a scene that highlights his frame of mind).
The director, Andrew Davis (who also directed Nico) directs this film with flair and style and commands a not terrible cast to perform well with a run of the mill script. The story is a simple, terrorist highjacking narrative but it is elevated with a cheeky humour, nice little one liners and characters fleshed out a little bit more than you would have expected from a film of this type. Once again, the martial arts and gunfights are well done, there is a knife fight towards the end of the film which is just good and there is no shortage of explosions, creative deaths and gunfire to keep the crowd from noticing a number of plot holes.
All in all, a good film. Not even a good film compared to the other Steven Seagal films listed here, it is actually a good film if you're in the mood for, and can tolerate, mindless action.