Belly of the Beast

Again, another piece of madness made by Steven Seagal. At first, it still looks quite cool, the Asian setting is beautiful and the shots of sunny metropolises look nice. But when it comes to action scenes, they are possibly the most tragic I’ve have ever seen in a Seagal film. Incredibly awkward slow-motion, Steven doesn't even showcase aikido anymore, it's essentially a mix of everything under the sun, just to make it look as good as possible, but the result, unfortunately, it’s exactly the opposite. The main culprit probably is the editor, whose inability to engage the viewer even a little bit in any fight is truly outrageous. But the choreography is tragic as well. There are plot holes and unnecessary amount of characters, half of whom remain unresolved, are only some of the many mistakes. Perhaps only the ending saved it from being garbage. The sidekick was better and more charismatic Seagal himself. (07/10/2006)

It reminded me of Game of Death, Bruce Lee's posthumous film where the fight scenes were performed by doubles and the actor only showed his face. This film is basically the same, but with the difference that Steven Seagal is still alive. (12/23/2013)