MY REVIEW OF 'URBAN JUSTICE'
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URBAN JUSTICE(2007)
(Directed by Don E. FauntLeRoy)
Plot: A man who is trained to kill hunts for his sons murderer in the hood.
Review:
I remember when I saw "Half Past Dead" in the theater, I was disappointed. It wasn't a terrible movie, as far as these types of movies go, but it wasn't a very good one. That was Seagal's last theatrical film credit. Five years later, he's become notorious for his bad direct-to-DVD films. I'd say "Half Past Dead" is a 2/4 star movie, but since Seagal has fallen so badly, I gave his most watchable recent effort, "Pistol Whipped", a 2/4. It's terribly generic, but it deserves some credit for being better than most of his recent flicks. Yet "Half Past Dead" is superior to that. So does that mean I have to give "Half Past Dead" a superior rating? Damn it! Well, this review is for "Urban Justice", another movie that gives Steven Seagal an excuse to act black. Joy.
Seagal plays Simon Ballister, but the movie doesn't start off with him. It starts off with Max, a cop who has a strong relationship with his girlfriend/wife. We see them so happy together, we know one of them is going to die. As it turns out, Max is the victim when he is killed by a drive-by while waiting for his informant. Cut to his funeral, and we learn that Simon is Max's father, and is asked by his ex-wife to hunt down the killer. Obviously, Simon takes the case.
Now, it's never directly stated what Simon is. He's basically the typical Seagal character, having limitless resources, mad driving skills, shooting skills and hand-to-hand combat skills. He calls himself a bad man, so I guess he was an assassin of some sort. I actually liked the ambiguity of his career and think they could've made a decent story out of it. On the other hand, this just creates an opportunity to feed Seagal's ego with lines like "He's badass" and "He's one cool *beep* That's gangster". At least this doesn't make any reference to the size of Seagal's penis(just thinking about it causes bile to rise). In fact, there is no romance here! Sure, he is friendly with a young girl, but we never get the impression there is any romantic chemistry between the two. Yay!
Anyway, there is apparently a gang war going on. I won't get into it, but most of the movie has Seagal going to one gang, beating some members up, going into another gang and beating more members up. We notice that the budget must be decent, as some noticeable faces appear in the cast(although they still can't afford proper lighting!). The movie never becomes that convoluted, although there are plenty of scenes that feel like filler. Like what was with the scene involving those racist guys? Just to watch Seagal beat them up? Well, I wouldn't mind this if the choreography was good...Then there are some predictable twists, like corruption in the LAPD..I'd actually like to see a movie that omits corruption in the LAPD.
Apparently the studio behind this considered releasing it in theaters. I'm sure it was a passing thought, lasting for a few seconds or so before slapping themselves for even contemplating that. I will say this though, the budget is bigger(by 2 million) than his usual cast. There is one scene early on I like(just some of the scenes showing the hood) in terms of photography. There is a plot, which while not strong, isn't really a mess. So why am I rating this negatively?
I COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING! Seriously, natural lighting mixed in with low budgets and no talent is going to be hell on DVD. What's the point of watching Seagal beat up people when you can't actually see him beating up people? The interior scenes suffer the most, to the point where you can't really even tell who is who at times and what is going on. The exterior scenes are mostly bearable, but come on! Hire a proper lighting crew please!
The script also has some issues. For once, I got tired of all the profanity. Damn, Kevin Smith doesn't even use this much. Every sentence has a cuss word. It feels like the writers are trying too hard to be authentic with the result being it's too over-the-top to be authentic. Finally, where are all the cops? You'd think since Seagal is killing people, there would be some attempt to arrest him....
The director mostly fumbles in everything. There is no suspense, no memorable cinematography, no lighting(ugh) and the fight scenes feel like Seagal's usual stuff(bland). I will say this. He got me during the car chase sequence. The camera angles and the locations made me feel like I was playing "Grand Theft Auto". Now if only the rest of the movie was like this! I could see what was happening and enjoyed it!
Steven Seagal(Simon) does his thing, tries to stretch during one emotional moment and fails. Eddie Griffin(Armand) over-acts, but occasionally is menacing and he's generally amusing. Carmen Serano(Alice) does okay. Danny Trejo(Chivo) has a solid cameo. I love that guy! Jade Yorker(Gary) gives a vulnerable show and I think he has a chance at making it big.
"Urban Justice" is the bland type of Steven Seagal movie that is completely forgettable. It's not as infuriating as "Kill Switch"(which is still worth watching more than this), and it's leagues above "Flight of Fury", but it still sucks. If the lighting was better, this could've been a decent movie. Hell, if you could see what's going on, it may have even been worth trying to release theatrically. Unfortunately, you can't and it's just more Seagal garbage that I keep renting for some masochistic reason.
Violence: Rated R. Some brutality and boy do the blood packs sure spurt blood when they go off!
Nudity: None...although I think some women are scantily clad at times.
Overall: "Urban Justice" isn't completely unbearable, but it's still a waist of time. All it is is watching Steven Seagal drag Danny Trejo and Eddie Griffin down to his DTV level. I guess a bad Seagal movie with a bigger budget is still a bad Seagal movie. Avoid.
1.5/4 Stars
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