Leofwine_draca Steven Seagal's direct-to-video movies have been on something of a downward spiral as of late, so it's nice to see a film that finally takes a step in the right direction. MERCENARY FOR JUSTICE is no masterpiece by anybody's reckoning, but it's nevertheless a slick, action-packed thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously, while at the same time offering up a number of humorous supporting characters, a little welcome comedy and plenty of bangs for your bucks. Seagal himself presides over things, looking surprisingly distinguished in a suit, but bloated and aged elsewhere. At least fans can be thankful that he doesn't have somebody else dubbing his voice this time around (as in the likes of TICKER) and we do get to see him take part in some fun fight scenes, displaying his trademark aikido moves. Elsewhere a body double steps in as Seagal's character runs across some rocks, but we can forgive that.The plot is typically convoluted, but then you wouldn't expect anything else from this kind of movie. There are double and triple crosses, lots of nefarious bad guys, and some MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE style intrigues in bank vaults. One thing the film has in its favour is some great, stylish camera-work, done well on the low budget – if you can call a multi-million dollar budget a low budget – and strong, inspired direction. The script is mundane but there are some great supporting characters who steal Seagal's limelight; newcomer Jacqueline Lord is devilishly attractive as the heroine of the piece, while BLADE II's Luke Goss plays a corrupt government agent with typical aplomb. Roger Guenveur Smith's performance is less assured as another villain – I can't decide whether he's good or bad – and South African Adrian Galley steals all his scenes as a beefy bodyguard with a nice line in humour.The action is fun and varied, ranging from war action at the beginning (great) to a house-under-siege at the end, reminiscent of THE KILLER. Between then there are some cool fights, including a battle between Seagal and a goon in a bathroom that is really painful to watch. Necks and arms are broken with relish and blood spatters everywhere once the shooting starts. The title is somewhat amusing, seeing as Seagal goes about gunning down policemen and SWAT team members without blinking an eyelid; yet we're still supposed to identify 100% with this 'hero'. All in all, MERCENARY FOR JUSTICE is a film more entertaining than it has any right to be, and a real treat for Seagal fans who thought the actor had lost his way.

RogerBorg ...he wouldn't have to keep grinding out quota dross like this.Look, we all know the plot by now. Bad People with Foreign Accents plan to do Bad Things to Good People with Domestic Accents. Seagal is the only man standing between blah and blah and blah de blah blah. OK, we know. We know. Let's just enjoy the ride.The problem is that the "plot" of this movie jumps around so much that it's impossible to keep track of who is doing what to who and why. Really, I couldn't keep track of Good People and the Bad People, or when they switches sides or why, or which side Black Tech Guy is on from minute to minute.On the plus sides, Seagal does his own "fight" scenes, but they're just sad now. His leathery skin clearly makes him invulnerable to conventional weapons, and while he does his usual twist/lock work, he's also forced to do some strikes that are simply pathetic. The guy can barely punch past his own belly these days.The highlights are the supporting cast. Jacqueline Lord is surprisingly competent, and looks like she should have been in a lot more productions than her resume suggests. She clearly missed out on her big break a decade or so ago, but does well as mature totty.Matt... uh, sorry, Luke Goss owns the few scenes that he's in, but there's just not enough of them to save this movie, and they're irrelevant anyway since Seagal is playing his usual immortal Myrmidon Let's give Goss the last word though: "This is unbelievable," he opines, and there's not much to disabuse that notion here.

unbrokenmetal "Mercenary For Justice": a confused mixture of a bit of warfare in the "Black Hawk Down" vein, a bank robbery, a prison break and a mission to save an abducted mother and her little son. In between all the bullets flying around, you hardly get to know the characters, and thus you don't really care about any of them. I liked most of Seagal's recent movies such as "The Foreigner" or "Out For A Kill" (and many who watched those don't agree with me). However, "Mercenary of Justice" was the weakest among those I've watched. Seagal defeats bad guys without wasting any blood, sweat or tears. It's all coming too easy to be exciting. The two only good points were some camera work (many shots were hand-held, looks more realistic than nice crane moves) and beautiful Jacqueline Lord who bears a strong resemblance with Catherine Zeta-Jones and plays her role convincingly no matter if she is at a dinner party or a battle.

dscottcobb I was confused when I ran across this on the hotel TV (with no guide screen on the cable). Steven was looking a little older, so it had to be recent, but the cars belonging to these allegedly super-rich villains were all 10-20 years old, so what the heck was it? This came out in 2006? No way. Big budget there -- just scan the local classifieds for $2500 cars. Even TV shows don't stoop that low.I guess that doesn't have much to do with the movie, except this level of quality and attention to detail carries over to the script, acting, everything. You notice things like this when there are no interesting characters to follow, no coherent plot, and the dialog hurts your ears.There is nothing of merit in this movie. Seagal should cut his losses and go do commercials -- they would offer him more dignity. I hope they let him keep one of those 1988 Benzes.