Alright guys, I'm gonna be straight with you. In this review, I'm gonna be praising "Out for Justice" and will be recommending it to anyone, but the truth is, Steven Seagal's best movie to me is always gonna be "Under Siege", period. "Out for Justice" to me is more like his second best, even though you might think that saying that might not be saying much at all, the truth is "Out for Justice" is an a great martial arts film that is worth your time.
During Steven Seagal's ponytail years and before "Under Siege" came out, Seagal was basically putting out a few martial arts films that were considered to be something new at the time. And because of that, they were box-office successes and other actors such as Jean Claude Van Damme and Wesley Snipes started doing what Seagal was doing and the three of them rose to stardom. But during the course of the 1990's and the 2000's, the mainstream culture started to look to other martial artists (like Jason Statham in his ridiculous Transporter films) and Seagal, Van Damme and Snipes started doing their thing in the straight-to-DVD way and things will never be the same again.
But thank god we still have the movies to watch forever, and "Out for Justice" does Seagal's career a whole lot of true justice. In this, he plays a Gino Felino, a tough as nails cop who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn and with Mafia ties. But one day, his best friend Bobby is ruthlessly shot and killed in daylight and in front of his wife and kids by a wannabe wise-guy named Richie (William Forsythe). And Gino happens to know him since those two were kids, and he's willing to do anything to get to Richie, such as arresting his sister to get information and even being rough with his parents. Also, even the mob guys are after Richie since he's making them look bad, but they keep screwing up and Richie keeps killing whoever they send to get him.
And Seagal isn't too shabby as an actor when he gives that depressing monologue about his character's father, but I'll admit that there were some areas that he could've improved on to make it better. And his slick fighting skills make his character really stand out. And also the part when he saves a harmless pup from being run-over by a car after its owner threw it out in a garbage bag on the road, is what is another defining point of him. And then in the end he finds that owner and kicks that guy in his family jewels. Pretty funny stuff there.
Also, William Forsythe's portrayal as the psychotic Richie is another one of the movies best parts. He's completely believable in his role as a guy who was always breaking the law since the start and then finally loses his mind when he starts taking crack and dope. And Forsythe displays his character's emotions of insanity and fury with sheer skill, and also I laugh every time the line "Shut up about the f**king mouse!" is said.
And as always, the action is what's best, the aikido/ martial arts is completely realistic and doesn't seem too fake or stiff that some karate-esquire movies do. The action is absolutely and positively brutal, bloody and violent. And this is clear proof why Steven Seagal is the best at what he does, the scene in the bar in which Gino takes a billiard ball wrapped in a towel and whacks Richies men and knocks a guy's teeth out is one of Seagal's best ever fight scenes. And who could forget the end when Gino storms that house with a shotgun and totally trashes the hell out of Richie?
I actually just rented this movie last night from Blockbuster and I was amazed at how wrong I was about Seagal before. He doesn't deserve all the criticism he gets for not giving any depth to his characters, but in "Out for Justice" I was seeing some of that. And next thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna buy this on DVD and add it to my collection. Who knows? Maybe I'll even start making a collection of Seagal movies and this is along with "Under Siege" is a start.....
During Steven Seagal's ponytail years and before "Under Siege" came out, Seagal was basically putting out a few martial arts films that were considered to be something new at the time. And because of that, they were box-office successes and other actors such as Jean Claude Van Damme and Wesley Snipes started doing what Seagal was doing and the three of them rose to stardom. But during the course of the 1990's and the 2000's, the mainstream culture started to look to other martial artists (like Jason Statham in his ridiculous Transporter films) and Seagal, Van Damme and Snipes started doing their thing in the straight-to-DVD way and things will never be the same again.
But thank god we still have the movies to watch forever, and "Out for Justice" does Seagal's career a whole lot of true justice. In this, he plays a Gino Felino, a tough as nails cop who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn and with Mafia ties. But one day, his best friend Bobby is ruthlessly shot and killed in daylight and in front of his wife and kids by a wannabe wise-guy named Richie (William Forsythe). And Gino happens to know him since those two were kids, and he's willing to do anything to get to Richie, such as arresting his sister to get information and even being rough with his parents. Also, even the mob guys are after Richie since he's making them look bad, but they keep screwing up and Richie keeps killing whoever they send to get him.
And Seagal isn't too shabby as an actor when he gives that depressing monologue about his character's father, but I'll admit that there were some areas that he could've improved on to make it better. And his slick fighting skills make his character really stand out. And also the part when he saves a harmless pup from being run-over by a car after its owner threw it out in a garbage bag on the road, is what is another defining point of him. And then in the end he finds that owner and kicks that guy in his family jewels. Pretty funny stuff there.
Also, William Forsythe's portrayal as the psychotic Richie is another one of the movies best parts. He's completely believable in his role as a guy who was always breaking the law since the start and then finally loses his mind when he starts taking crack and dope. And Forsythe displays his character's emotions of insanity and fury with sheer skill, and also I laugh every time the line "Shut up about the f**king mouse!" is said.
And as always, the action is what's best, the aikido/ martial arts is completely realistic and doesn't seem too fake or stiff that some karate-esquire movies do. The action is absolutely and positively brutal, bloody and violent. And this is clear proof why Steven Seagal is the best at what he does, the scene in the bar in which Gino takes a billiard ball wrapped in a towel and whacks Richies men and knocks a guy's teeth out is one of Seagal's best ever fight scenes. And who could forget the end when Gino storms that house with a shotgun and totally trashes the hell out of Richie?
I actually just rented this movie last night from Blockbuster and I was amazed at how wrong I was about Seagal before. He doesn't deserve all the criticism he gets for not giving any depth to his characters, but in "Out for Justice" I was seeing some of that. And next thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna buy this on DVD and add it to my collection. Who knows? Maybe I'll even start making a collection of Seagal movies and this is along with "Under Siege" is a start.....