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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Mixed Bag, December 2, 2005
In "Out for a Kill," wooden Indian Seagal takes on the Tongs single-handedly. The film is a definite mixed bag, giving us both some of Seagal's best scenes from any of his films, littered with some of his worst and most unintentionally funny. The result is a moderately entertaining but very frustrating movie, frustrating because it could have very easily been better. In fact, it could have been Seagal's best film. Too bad.
Seagal plays Robert Burns, a thief who was imprisoned and who then earned a PhD in archeology while in prison. Upon release he was hired at Yale, where he became the university's most distinguished academician. On a dig in which he discovers drugs hidden in artifacts, his assistant is killed. He's imprisoned, released, and harassed by the Tong's. His wife is killed and he embarks on a killing spree after mumbling the best line in the film, "They say kill one to warn a hundred. I might have to kill a hundred to warn one."
Let us now summarize what is both bad and good with this film, starting with the bad. First, the plot is ludicrous. You can't earn a PhD from a credible university while in prison, and Yale would not hire an ex-convict, period. Second, the only emotion Seagal can convey is determination. When his assistant is murdered, he simply frowns for a second. His reaction when his wife is murdered is no more emotional. He doesn't even seem to care, emotionally. Perhaps his reaction is simply due to the sheer principle of the matter. (Compare this to the wonderful and heartbreaking scene in "Wake of Death" when Van Damme discovers that his wife has been murdered!) Third, many of the scenes are so bad that they should have simply been cut, such as Seagal bonding with the black guy in jail (AGAIN trying to make Seagal look "cool"), the VERY fake scene of Seagal flying a plane with detectives standing in front of a fake-looking sky, and the scenes of the house in Connecticut that are composed of graphics so bad that Xbox games are more convincing. Fourth, Seagal needs to dub his own damn lines. In the first 15 minutes of the film Seagal is never shown moving his mouth and all of his dialogue is given as a voice-over, because, unsurprisingly, it's not really Seagal talking! Many of the decisions made by the filmmakers here must be questioned, such as why in the "barbershop fight," after an amazing beginning in which Seagal engages in a superb series of blocks, did they decide to ruin everything by making the guy fly and crawl on walls? DUMB!
Now for the good side: some of the scenes in this film are remarkably well-filmed. Similarly, some of the cinematography is surprisingly spectacular. So much so, in fact, that these scenes seem somewhat out of place here, as though they were stolen from a much better film. I think the director was going for a film noir feel here, and in this he succeeded. Some of the scenes are saturated with deep, moody, rich colors, creating a foreboding, brooding, almost "Blade Runner" feel. It's quite beautiful. In fact, some of this film is surprisingly artistically done, such as the male detective's death scene, the barbershop, the mah jong game room, the fight in the restaurant, the tattoo parlor, etc. In general, all of the Chinatown and eastern European scenes have very successful, moody, noirish "feels" to them. These successful scenes, counterpoised against the lame scenes mentioned above are what make watching this film so frustrating. Some moments are downright laughably bad, as when the last line of the masterpiece "Chinatown" is blatantly ripped off for no apparent reason whatsoever. Further, there is an entire subplot about tattoos on the Tongs' wrists and a "riddle" that is composed by piecing the tattoos together (though it is really not a "riddle" at all but a quote). This subplot perhaps did not make sense, and some narration was added in attempt to aid the viewer's understanding. Notice that whenever we hear Seagal's character's thoughts, it is never actually Seagal's voice!
Fans of Seagal watch him for the action scenes, which is why fans may not be disappointed here (assuming they've been able to stomach his other post-mafia films). "Out for a Kill" has more and better fight scenes than most of his other recent pictures (which have had virtually none!). There is less wirefu nonsense than in "Belly of the Beast," thankfully. Unfortunately, however, there is still a high degree of doubling. Ever notice now how much of Seagal's fights are filmed at odd angles, shot from behind his back, or are so low his head is out of the frame? That's because it's not Seagal doing the fighting. They cut to a shot of his face grimacing, then cut back to some arms playing paddycake. Unfortunate. (In the last fight, in which Seagal enters the villain's "lair," for instance, we only see "Seagal" from behind-because, it's not Seagal at all!) With that said, the scenes actually performed by Seagal are some of his best, recent work. The fight where he uses bamboo sticks to kill a tai chi sword master is excellent (but notice how the other bad guy is just kind of off doing his own thing, and then looks up in apparent surprise that his buddy is dead!) In this movie Seagal also uses more aikido than in his other, newer films, displaying some beautifully executed throws here shown in slow motion. There is also a greater degree of wrist locks, arm bars and arm breaks.
Some of the pseudo-Chinese philosophizing in the film may get on viewers' nerves, as may the mostly pointless scenes of the Tongs sitting around a table calling Seagal a "gwilo professor." These scenes are only interesting in the end, when we learn that all of these men were sent to Seagal knowing Seagal would kill them, so that their leader wouldn't have to split the dough with them. If this is a metaphor for a leader and his troops or a king and his men then it is a shallow one, as are all the other attempts at philosophy in the film made by sprinkling about random, cryptic quotes, such as when Seagal asks a Tong where his leader is and he growls, "Crows everywhere are equally black." Huh? Does that mean that Seagal will never find him? or that everyone is equally guilty? Who knows. Kill'em all, Seagal. That's what you're good at.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Out for a . . . burger and fries., August 25, 2003
With one of the worst titles for any kind of movie in recent memory, this new Steven Seagal actioner limps its way onto DVD. Produced by those kind folks at Nu Image (who have continually amazed us with such direct-to-video nightmares as DERAILED, SPIDERS and OPERATION DELTA FORCE), this is the kind of movie that makes you want to stop watching films altogether.The story has The Tall Guy playing renowned archeologist Robert Burns, who has unearthed precious artifacts in Eastern China. However, the chinese mafia are using these artifacts to smuggle drugs overseas and within seconds, Seagal is framed, has his assistant murdered and is sent to prison. MInutes (which seem like hours) unfold as Seagal is released by the US/Chinese police, using him as bait to lure the mafia into the open. As these things usually do, everything goes wrong for the police and Seagal's wife is killed in a fiery explosion, leaving him distraught, angry and (ahem) out for a kill. With a plot that resembles a convoluted DEATH WISH sequel crossed with a dozen Hong Kong actioners, this movie fails to involve the viewer at any point. Seagal himself seems bored out of his mind, as he casually walks around seedy areas of town tracking down the men who killed his wife, getting up to the odd rough and tumble with every kung fu villain around who manages to look at him the wrong way. A fight sequence in a gent's hairdressers manages to be not only boring, but also mildly embarrassing as Seagal's opponent is obviously on wires and his movements defy any gravity at all, and the scene comes across looking awkward and pointless. Director Michael Oblowitz (who collaborated on Seagal's last flick, a dreadful number called THE FOREIGNER) seems to have no flair for action whatsoever, insisting on long takes, dull characterisation, lazy pacing and making no effort to get the best out of his performers at all. His MTV-lite camera work is dull, and everyone in his movies seems to be acting as though they were in a Calvin Klein commercial. What with this, the aforementioned THE FOREIGNER and the awful vampire 'non' action flick THE BREED, Oblowitz needs to take an 'Action Movie 101' course. Quickly. Adding another dud to his CV, Seagal seems to be intent on destroying any chance of a movie career that he reclaimed with the fun actioner EXIT WOUNDS, by appearing in films like this. What with this, the headache inducing HALF PAST DEAD and TICKER (where I thought there was nowhere lower for him to go), its sad to see a former action giant running around in non-events such as these. I can only hope he goes back to Warner Bros, and makes some decent action output again. Even his last effort there, the tired FIRE DOWN BELOW looks like a DIE HARD movie compared to his latter efforts. Columbia-Tristars' disc is clean of any extras, except a trailer. The picture and audio quality are sharp, and the only picture problems arise from the film being shot in fake neon-lights and awful bare-bones locations. All-in-all, not a winner. If you have to put yourself through it, make sure you have a copy of EXIT WOUNDS or OUT FOR JUSTICE ready to jam into your DVD player once this one is over. Remember him for the gems he used to make, not the ones he's cranking out now . . .
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Obese Downward Spiral Continues from Steven "Panda Bear" Seagal, August 15, 2008
We'd have to say this effort from Seagal feels like it us below the belt. It's quite apparent that many years of chini buffet and boatloads of wild turkey chased with busch beer have not been good to the old boy Steve. Half the time when he's on the screen we can't tell if it's him or an equally obese stunt double until he begins to speak. The things that come out of his mouth are so muffled by his cheek fat that they're nearly inaudible and most likely not part of the english language, or any language for that matter. Once you do find a sentence or two you can understand you'll wish you didn't. In Out for a Kill this is just about all there is to find. The extreme lack of action is so overshadowed by the bizzare dialogue that you really aren't sure whether to turn it off or not. It's almost hypnotic but in a very very bad way.
Out for a Kill begins with Archeology Professor Robert Burns (Seagal), yeah he seriously plays an archaeologist, as he is heading up a dig in Eastern Chini. We suspect he was searching for prehistoric egg rolls but come to find he is there to discover someancient Chinese artifacts. In tubby's findings he sees that the Chinese mafia is smuggling drugs inside these artifacts which naturally he makes his business pissing off a bunch of chinese maniacs. They wind up killing Seagals assistant and planting the drugs on him while crossing the border sending him to prison where his only call will be spent dialing a 976 number or the overeaters anonymous hotline. While in jail nothing cool happens. There is not one prison fight, no escape attempt, or anything you expect from a typical action packed Seagal session. All you get to watch is a pathetic overweight archaeologist/washed up actor as he ponders better times where he didn't have to walk sideways to fit through a doorway. After a couple days the DEA decides Seagal will be a great value in bringing down the Chinese mafia and let him loose. Now that he is out the Chinise mob has a price out on his head and also has threatened the life of his wife. This sends Seagal into panic mode where he must unlease the inner beast. The only trouble is the inner beast put on 207 extra pounds which make it's fury a bit sluggish. The one scene that stands out is when Seagal busts into a barber shop where he unloads of a few Chinese guys until they send out their secret weapon. It's some little guy that moves really odd yet very similar to Tang from Journey to the West. This guy soars through the air, climbs up and down walls, and does all these obsurd things sending the film to new hieghts of martial arts B. As much a the human panda tries to catch him he just can't. Tang is way to quick and Seagal is just too damn fat. After minutes that feel like hours go by Seagal grabs a sheet and wraps the little guy up then snaps his neck. Following this we get a few more hilarious fight scenes as he climbs the ladder to get to the mob leader. Despite his chubby nature Seagal still single handedly takes down the Chinise Mafia making him yet again a great American hero.
After this one we just kind of looked at each other wondering what is happening to Seagal. The guy has always been laughable, even in his early really decent efforts, but now it's just getting sad. This one appears to be the start of the downfall where he starting pumping out film after film just to earn some extra dough to pay off his huge escort service bill. Now despite the extreme panning of this one in no way, shape, or form will we stay away from Seagals films. We still have about 130 to go and plan on watching and reviewing them all no matter how bad they get. We're professionals and will not back down from any B no matter what the cost.
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