"Guns, Girls, and Gambling" director Michael Winnick's "Code of Honor" isn't as egregious as some Steven Seagal epics are these days. Predictably, most Seagal sagas qualify as potboilers, but writer & director Winnick really brings the pot to a boil with this exception to the rule. He stages several bullet-riddled firefights with high body counts and flying CGI blood spray. When Seagal isn't dispatching morally reprehensible villains with his well-aimed shots, Craig Sheffer wields dual knives and stabs away at his own adversaries. Aside from Craig Sheffer, "Code of Honor" features a better-than-average cast with familiar faces, including James Russo, Griff Furst, and Louis Mandylor. This movie amounts to an improvement over recent Seagal thrillers because it is not all about Seagal. Listed as a producer, too, Sheffer takes his share of screen time with Mandylor turning up more often than usual as a city detective investigating the killings. The ending will give spectators something to ponder, which isn't often the case in a Seagal movie.
Our soft-spoken, paunchy protagonist sports those distinctive orange-lensed spectacles, wears his boot-polish black hair slicked back, and doesn't waste a whole lot of time talking. He has equipped himself with an impressive arsenal of firearms, and he handles these weapons with confident expertise. Former Special Forces honcho Colonel Robert Sikes (Steven Seagal of "Exit Wounds') has "a laundry list of medals," and he is cleaning up the streets of an anonymous city. He prefers to carry out his work with a high-tech sniper-rifle, but he can sling a knife with nimble accuracy. This trigger-happy vigilante has embarked on a killing spree because his wife and son died in a random drive-by shooting incident while Sikes was in Afghanistan searching for terrorists. When the police conduct a background check on Sikes, they learn that the Army has Sikes listed as "missing in action, presumed dead." Initially, Winnick gets "Code of Honor" off to a bullet-blasting start with a nocturnal massacre. Sikes uses a long-range rifle from the safety of a high place to wipe out two gangs during a drug exchange in a parking lot. Sikes clashes with his old nemesis, Special Agent FBI Agent William Porter (Craig Sheffer of "Night Breed"), who is just as violent as Sikes.
One of the more amusing as well as brutal scenes occurs after a rendezvous between Sikes and Porter at a local nightclub owned by a gangster. Sikes shows Porter a portable detonator in his fist and warns the Special Agent that if he tries to rise from his chair that Sikes will blow him to kingdom come. Sikes exits the nightclub without fanfare, and then Romano's henchmen armed with machine guns come after him to kill him. Porter labors under the mistaken belief that Sikes has told him the truth. Porter swaps shots with his adversaries while clutching the chair, even after he has toppled sideways on the floor. Imagine his chagrin when Porter realizes afterward that Sikes has deceived him! Romano (James Russo of "Django Unchained") tries to kill Porter, but Detective James Peterson (Louis Mandylor) gets the drop on him. The nightclub scene is the most imaginative in "Code of Honor," and Winnick orchestrates the action without a shred of humor. The big difference between Sikes and Porter is that Sikes controls his encounters while Porter finds himself in the middle of melees. Eventually, about 81 minutes into the action, we learn Porter isn't a Fed, but an inactive soldier. Another thing that differentiates this Seagal movie from lesser efforts is the cast. Aside from the usual array of characters, "Code of Honor" has a stripper heroine, Keri Green (Helena Mattsson of "Seven Psychopaths") who escaped from an explosion at a strip club that served as a depot for arms. The confusing last-minute surprise resembles something about of "Fight Club." It seems that Sikes may in fact be Porter! Of course, Winnick refutes this during a rooftop confrontation between the two men. "Somehow everybody's thinking that you're me, and I'm you," Sikes tells Porter. Sikes whips Porter in a brief, close-quarters hand-to-hand combat sequence. Afterward, when Porter tries to escape, Sikes blows up a floor of the building where Porter fled. Meantime, the FBI has entered the fray and takes over the high-profile vigilante case from who has been on the case since the get-go. Ironically, at the end, Porter may have escaped the explosion because the stripper's son has a baseball glove that appear in Porter's motel room earlier.
The big difference between this Segal outing and others is that it is set in America and not Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, Seagal is still relying on stuntmen that are clearly thinner than himself. Comparably, "Code of Honor" ranks as above-average Seagal fare.
Our soft-spoken, paunchy protagonist sports those distinctive orange-lensed spectacles, wears his boot-polish black hair slicked back, and doesn't waste a whole lot of time talking. He has equipped himself with an impressive arsenal of firearms, and he handles these weapons with confident expertise. Former Special Forces honcho Colonel Robert Sikes (Steven Seagal of "Exit Wounds') has "a laundry list of medals," and he is cleaning up the streets of an anonymous city. He prefers to carry out his work with a high-tech sniper-rifle, but he can sling a knife with nimble accuracy. This trigger-happy vigilante has embarked on a killing spree because his wife and son died in a random drive-by shooting incident while Sikes was in Afghanistan searching for terrorists. When the police conduct a background check on Sikes, they learn that the Army has Sikes listed as "missing in action, presumed dead." Initially, Winnick gets "Code of Honor" off to a bullet-blasting start with a nocturnal massacre. Sikes uses a long-range rifle from the safety of a high place to wipe out two gangs during a drug exchange in a parking lot. Sikes clashes with his old nemesis, Special Agent FBI Agent William Porter (Craig Sheffer of "Night Breed"), who is just as violent as Sikes.
One of the more amusing as well as brutal scenes occurs after a rendezvous between Sikes and Porter at a local nightclub owned by a gangster. Sikes shows Porter a portable detonator in his fist and warns the Special Agent that if he tries to rise from his chair that Sikes will blow him to kingdom come. Sikes exits the nightclub without fanfare, and then Romano's henchmen armed with machine guns come after him to kill him. Porter labors under the mistaken belief that Sikes has told him the truth. Porter swaps shots with his adversaries while clutching the chair, even after he has toppled sideways on the floor. Imagine his chagrin when Porter realizes afterward that Sikes has deceived him! Romano (James Russo of "Django Unchained") tries to kill Porter, but Detective James Peterson (Louis Mandylor) gets the drop on him. The nightclub scene is the most imaginative in "Code of Honor," and Winnick orchestrates the action without a shred of humor. The big difference between Sikes and Porter is that Sikes controls his encounters while Porter finds himself in the middle of melees. Eventually, about 81 minutes into the action, we learn Porter isn't a Fed, but an inactive soldier. Another thing that differentiates this Seagal movie from lesser efforts is the cast. Aside from the usual array of characters, "Code of Honor" has a stripper heroine, Keri Green (Helena Mattsson of "Seven Psychopaths") who escaped from an explosion at a strip club that served as a depot for arms. The confusing last-minute surprise resembles something about of "Fight Club." It seems that Sikes may in fact be Porter! Of course, Winnick refutes this during a rooftop confrontation between the two men. "Somehow everybody's thinking that you're me, and I'm you," Sikes tells Porter. Sikes whips Porter in a brief, close-quarters hand-to-hand combat sequence. Afterward, when Porter tries to escape, Sikes blows up a floor of the building where Porter fled. Meantime, the FBI has entered the fray and takes over the high-profile vigilante case from who has been on the case since the get-go. Ironically, at the end, Porter may have escaped the explosion because the stripper's son has a baseball glove that appear in Porter's motel room earlier.
The big difference between this Segal outing and others is that it is set in America and not Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, Seagal is still relying on stuntmen that are clearly thinner than himself. Comparably, "Code of Honor" ranks as above-average Seagal fare.