Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Real Buddhist Bonebreaker Returns, June 17, 2006
Lord Steven releases lots of movies, so much so that its like having Christmas three or four times a year. Now, my past few little "Christmases" have been disappointing. So, I wasn't holding my breath for a masterpiece when I picked up "Shadow Man"(its lame cover not easing my mind in the least). Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.
The plot is ridiculously convoluted, but here is a vague outline of what happens: Lord Steven plays a billionaire businessman who was formerly a CIA agent. He's also a widower raising a young daughter. His father-in-law is still in the CIA and meets with the Lord and his daughter in Romania for a family trip. Pops secrectly slips the Lord some sort of high-tech nano-virus without Seagal's knowledge then gets promptly blown up by a car bomb. At the same time, the Lord's little girl gets kidnapped. The rest of the movie is doublecross upon doublecross and no one really has any motive save for Seagal, who is out to get his daughter back. Throw in some Russian gangsters(one of which who curiously looks like a mixture of Christopher Lloyd and Max Headroom)out to get the virus, shady government agents also looking for said virus, a femme fatale taxi driver, some excessive violence, and you get a quality Seagal feature.
Firstly, let me say that for the first time since 'Belly Of The Beast' that one of Seagal's movies has a director that actually seemed to give a crap. Michael Keusch, a former German TV director, crafts a fine film with nice camera work, good dialogue, lots of action(mostly hand-to-hand with some nice akido showcased)...but the thing I really liked were the little details: the bad guy with syphilis and his creepy mask, some eyeball ripping, a few brutal gunshots to the face, and a funny cab driver who shows up for a few moments. Its nice, for once, to see a Seagal director take the time to go all out in everything from fight scenes to extraneous details. This is the first time in a while that I've felt like the makers of a Seagal opus actually tried to make it be a good film.
Despite its silly opening scene(just watch for the watermelon and you'll know what I mean), 'Shadow Man' is easily Seagal's best film since 'Belly Of The Beast'. He looks decent, though still a bit pudgy, but better than he's looked in a while. There's some great fight scenes(the Lord's stuntdouble for once isn't quite so obvious), there's hardly any dubbing, and has quite a bit of excessive violence. All the actors are good(even a small role from Brit actress Imelda Staunton), the plot is interesting if overly ambitious, and Seagal seems into it for once. There's no cheese here, no filler at all. 'Shadow Man' is, by far, Seagal's leanest, meanest most action-filled flick in a while. Seagalogists won't be disappointed.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Better Than Most of His Recent DTV Films, But That Isn't Saying Much, February 5, 2007
"Shadow Man" is one of the better entries in a string of direct-to-video Steven Seagal films. The productions are decent and the supporting actors are better than usual. It is far from such films produced by major studios as `Under Siege' or `Exit Wounds,' but well, he seems doing most of his actions himself. But I believe most action film stars are supposed to do his stunts or at least make it look like that.
The story is, as usual, nothing special. Seagal is an ex-CIA operative whose daughter is kidnapped. And he is involved in some conspiracy about a bio-chemical weapon. As the story unfolds, you just start to follow the convoluted plot and anyway will decide to sit back and keep watching Seagal killing the typical villains mostly sporting English with Russian accent.
But what really matters is action, and the first 30 minutes are pretty good. The film opens with Seagal teaching his pupils in his dojo, flipping and throwing away them with his aikido, and that reminds me of his earlier films in the 80s. Then there are some OK car actions and shoot-outs, which are shoddily edited, but the stunt persons are doing good jobs. The film then loses steam, and actions get more and more insipid. Wait for one unintentionally funny scene in which Seagal's character fights back a helicopter only with a pistol. The results are laughably cheesy effects
As a mysterious taxi driver beautiful Eva Pope appears. Maybe she is too good for this film, but more surprising is the cameo appearance of Imelda Staunton, winner of Laurence Olivier Theater Awards and Oscar nominee for her amazing acting in `Vera Drake.' Watching her standing side by side with Seagal is a bit surreal experience for me.
"Shadow Man" is a better than average Seagal direct-to-video actions, but that isn't saying much given the efforts put to his recent films.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST SEAGAL DTV SINCE BELLY OF THE BEAST, June 10, 2006
The plot of Shadowman is a bit over-complicated...and it really doesn't break any new ground...BUT Seagal looks committed to this movie. Almost no fight doubles, he does his own over-dubbing, and acts like he is having a better time than he has in some of his past direct-to-video films. Movies seem to be an after thought. Check out his CD's to hear Seagal's totally passionate about what he is doing -- playing the blues.
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