Steven Seagal`s recent films are all a much of a muchness. To say he is typecasted would be the understatement of a lifetime! "Force of Execution" is yet another straight to DVD/Blu-Ray b-movie which conforms, in the main, to the conventions Seagal`s films have become known for. It involves violence, criminals, drugs and `exotic dancers` (apparently it is compulsory for every gangster to either run or frequent `exotic dance` clubs). Steven Seagal`s characters have become slightly edgier over the last 6-8 years or so, possibly as life has made him more cynical. But by and large he plays the same archetypal character: a highly trained ex-government/black ops/cop who has a mysterious past and is the best in the world at what he does. To my knowledge, Force of Execution sees Seagal play for the first time a Gangster, called Mr Alexander.
I applaud Seagal for desiring (in his own limited way) to stretch himself and portray a character from the other side of the tracks; after all it is understandable that he might have developed a perverse curiosity into the criminal underworld, as he has spent the majority of his adult life as a deputy sheriff in New Orleans/Arizona dealing with real criminals on a regular basis. Nevertheless Seagal never truly seems comfortable in the role. The antagonist of the film, played by Ving Rhames and Mr Alexander`s counter-part Ice-Man, throws himself into the sordid and debauched world of the life of crime and comes across very naturally as the street thug and wannabe gangster set on overthrowing Mr Alexander`s criminal empire. Yet Seagal`s character is a gentleman gangster. The film opens with a supposed torture scene where Seagal`s right hand man Roman Hurst, played by Bren Foster, has a `snitch` tied up awaiting the wrath of Mr Alexander. Instead, Seagal commands for the man to be untied and throws a knife down at his feet telling the man to commit suicide to regain his honour (a form of seppuku, the ritualised suicide of disgraced Samurai in Feudal Japan). The man predictably has no intention of committing suicide and seizing his opportunity attacks Mr Alexander with the knife given to him, setting up the first Seagal action sequence of the film. Even more predictably, Seagal dispatches with the man using his martial arts prowess as is his trademark.
Throughout the film, Seagal doesn`t seem to do one truly evil thing. Drugs are a big part of the criminal underworld that Ice-Man is hellbent on taking over, threatening and using violent means of intimidation to force the local Latino gangsters to give him a cut of their profits, but Mr Alexander never dirties his hands with drugs in the film personally. Rather Seagal plays a disillusioned Gangster who admits through the course of the film that he wants to retire from his life of crime and leave it all behind him, even confessing in the last scene that he regrets many of the things he`s done. Seagal is never truly at home in that world and his reluctance and reticence to truly be the villain causes him to play a very grey character indeed. Considering a lot of Seagal`s films portray characters in very black and white terms. This film struggles to find its identity.
Arguably the main character in the film, and certainly the unsung hero, is Bren Foster`s henchman Roman Hurst. Foster, a martial artist himself, infiltrates a prison where Mr Alexander has ordered a hit on a prisoner. Hurst kills the wrong man after being deceived by Ice-Man and is therefore punished and exiled by Mr Alexander (who once again shows mercy in refusing to have him killed). Hurst`s hands are broken and he is left crippled. However, as the film progresses, Hurst finds himself at the heart of the action once again and slowly, regaining his strength and use of his hands, joins the war with Mr Alexander against Ice-Man. In fact, Seagal is conspicuous by his absence for large parts of the film. I`m not sure whether it is his age, or time constraints on filming due to his many other side projects but Seagal certainly isn`t at the centre of every scene and it is hard to argue he is the main character.
Foster`s character juxtaposes Seagal`s with his own martial arts style. Foster is a Taekwondo champion and his fight scenes are far more dynamic compared and contrasted to the efficient and brutal style Seagal is known for with his Aikido background. This definitely adds a much needed layer to the film that is typically one dimensional.
But perhaps the most odd and disappointing thing about the film is the surprise inclusion into the cast of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Mir plays one of Seagal`s henchmen but is given no speaking parts and no fight scenes of his own, resulting it what is little more than him being a glorified extra, rather than a real cameo performance. You would think with Mir being a professional and extremely talented mixed martial artist that he would have been given at least one fight scene, but instead Mir just stands there in his scenes looking rather out of place and not really sure what he is meant to be doing. If Mir had serious intentions of transitioning into acting after his MMA career was over, you would have thought a Steven Seagal film the perfect environment to cut his teeth. Sadly, this is not the case.
Overall this film is one of Seagal`s weakest to date, which considering the rate of decline in his film projects over the last decade or so is really saying something! The problem the film has is the fact that the characters are not well defined or written, Seagal reverts to type and ends up playing more of a black ops guy than a Gangster. Ice-Man for all his indulgance in vice and depravity as a gangster, is not the kind of physical threat to Seagal that the antagonist needs to be in a martial arts film. Foster is really the star of the film but is not really given the credit he deserves at the resolution of the film and in general the film`s scope and budget seem very small.
There has been a very distinct transition in Seagal`s career from hollywood action hero to TV star. Seagal`s films now just go straight to DVD/Blu-Ray and he has made several TV programs including his reality show Lawman. For me, Seagal should give up the b-movies and focus on his TV projects. His Lawman show is one of the most entertaining things he has created in years, giving fans a glimpse into the real Steven Seagal. Seagal is a talented man and definitely has the kind of interesting personality, TV is made for. His True Justice series is also a feather in his cap. The series sees him playing the same character, Elijah Kane, and allows him to actually explore a character and their backstory, fleshing out his character, which have largely been one dimensional in his film projects. Not to mention the fact that the quality of True Justice is on a par, if not better than some of his more recent films. I respect Seagal for continuing to do what he loves, but the gulf in quality between his early films of the late 80s through to the late 90s and his recent films of the noughties up to the present day is now so wide that they are really incomparible. Long gone are the days when Seagal`s films actually made important and relevant statements about modern society such as Above the Law and On Deadly Ground. Also gone are the days when it was realistic (within film land) that Seagal was a one man army such as in his highly enjoyable and entertaining Under Seige films.
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