Review: Urban Warfare (2011)

Director: Keoni Waxman | 87 minutes | action, drama, thriller, crime | Actors: Steven Seagal, Meghan Ory, Warren Christie, William ‘Big Sleeps’ Stewart, Sarah Lind, Adrian Hough, Elizabeth Thai, Adrian Holmes, Greg Webb, Rachel Luttrell, Andrew Kavadas, Jonathan Walker, Phillip Mitchell, Biski Gugushe, Mike Desabrais , Fraser Aitcheson, Alex Mallari Jr., J. Anthony Pena

Actually, Steven Seagal has never changed. No, the reasonable success of ‘Under Siege’ (1992), a huge blockbuster at the time, he approaches less and less over time, but his films today are otherwise not spectacularly different in design. The old aikido master is not as fast as he was then, but he can still get rid of his weapon like no other. That is also one of the few positive aspects of his current stream of films – indeed, current, because his last two, ‘Brotherhood’ and ‘Urban Warfare’, are so obviously the same thing that it is difficult to separate them. keep it. In both, Seagal plays the old hand in the profession Elijah Kane, formerly a commando and general mourner, but now working as a sleuth for the Seattle Police Department. Both movies,

Under Warfare is about gangs from Russia and the Middle East who have personally targeted Kane, while a serial rapist and a conspiracy at an expensive school must also be busted. It is of a sad level: a mess, overflowing with clichés and plot holes. Both films are two parts of a television series stuck together, and it shows in the very messy running of both titles. But nobody watches a Seagal movie for the right story. Is the action worth it? As said, the man has aged a day; he will turn 60 in 2012. He is therefore no longer in top shape, so he often resorts to trigger-happy moments to keep order in Seattle. Unfortunately, both films, which are released only on DVD, were made on a seemingly minimal budget, and with Seagal as co-writer, producer and therefore protagonist. Seagal’s ambition to keep making films is in some way admirable, but on such a tight budget it takes a lot of inventiveness to make a thrilling action movie that has more to offer than just two explosions and a single shootout. However, it is missing here, which makes it a long, sometimes even boring session with its 86 minutes. That couldn’t possibly have been the intention. at times even becomes boring. That couldn’t possibly have been the intention. at times even becomes boring. That couldn’t possibly have been the intention.

Seagal still appeals to the imagination of a lot of people (rather, men), as the hero of famous yet pulpy action films from long ago. That he still resonates is also evident from his honorary role in Robert Rodriguez’s most recent half-lucky ode to the b-movie, ‘Machete’. Sylvester Stallone’s ‘The Expendables’ proves that action machos still have an acting career in their age: every action hero except Seagal (Stallone himself, Lundgren, Jet Li, Statham, Willis) was allowed to show up for a while, with enormous financial success. Perhaps that is one last chance for Seagal: don’t take yourself too seriously, and cherish and monetize your status as a cult hero. Until then, his work is probably unfortunately of this deplorable level.