'The Keeper' review by MartialHorror

Source: http://freewebs.com/mhkeeper

Please check out the site!

THE KEEPER(2009)
(Directed by Keoni Waxman)

"Who's keeping who now?"- Signed by MartialHorror

Plot: A retired cop is hired to protect the daughter of an old friend, who has been targeted by an unknown villain.

Review:

I’m beginning to worry that slowly, all these Steven Seagal movies are corroding my tastes. I mean, seriously, I gave a passable rating to “The Last Airbender”, “Jonah Hex” and “Dragonball Evolution”. The fact is, Steven Seagal movies can no longer be rated in comparison to other action movies, like his earlier films were. “Above the Law” wasn’t necessarily a good movie, but it was a cool action movie mainly due to Seagal’s charisma and presence. But now, Seagal’s post-direct-to-video movies can only be compared to Seagal’s post-direct-to-video movies. “The Keeper” is a bad movie that I would’ve condemned if it came out during Seagal’s prime. But compared to most DTV Seagal movies, it’s not unwatchable. Therefore, I give it a passing rating because it’s one of the better DTV Seagal movies, which makes the whole rating system confusing! Arg!

“The Keeper” -I have no idea what he’s keeping either- has Seagal playing Roland, a dangerous cop with a last name that changes around half way through the movie(seriously!). After his partner betrays him, he becomes an alcoholic who is no longer wanted on the force. None of this really has any bearing on the plot, so I presume that it was an attempt at character development. The movie fumbles at it, as Roland always feels like a static character, but I admire the movie for trying. He is contacted by an old friend, Conner(Steph DuVall). Apparently Conner’s daughter, Nikita(Liezl Carstens), was almost kidnapped by a group of masked thugs. Roland is hired to protect her and eventually teach her the ways of life.

So there isn’t really much originality within the plot. It has all the usual clichés, from the douchebag boyfriend who we know will turn out to be bad, to the grudging cop who utters the “this is my town” line. Although on that line, I do love how Roland responds to it(with nothing but sheer kindness). We’ve seen it all before, and “The Keeper” offers nothing new. But the only notable issue is the love story between Roland and Nikita. Ugh, is it even a love story? Their relationship is the key focus of the movie and that’s what throws me off. We don’t watch Steven Seagal for this *beep* and I can’t even tell what “this *beep* is! It’s as if the writers weren’t sure if they wanted to push for a love story or a more paternal relationship between them. Obviously, I hate love stories which has old, out-of-shape and boring Seagal with some hot dame. But the whole paternal thing is just as polarizing because it ends up coming around as a little….creepy. Whatever the intent was, it doesn’t work and the relationship drags the movie down.

Action wise….it’s typical. I’m glad that it seems that Seagal is doing the action himself(as far as I can tell), but it’s not like Seagal has always been known as a martial arts star. Like Chuck Norris, Seagal was always an action star who happened to do martial arts in his movies, in contrast to a martial arts star like Jet Li or Bruce Lee. But in his older movies, Seagal’s intensity made the fight scenes intense. That is gone, and the fight scenes are generally boring. Although I have to admit, Seagal’s intensity occasionally sparked to life once more. I always enjoy watching him beat the *beep* out of bad people. The movie also has a bit of a mean streak with its violence, which is nice, and there are a few decent stunts. But the camera is pretty shaky and the editing is over-the-top. Not much can be said about the direction, but at least we could see everything. Most of the movie takes place during the day, so there wasn’t any notable lighting problems. Also, the upbeat score gave the film a playful tone, which contrasted to the events on-screen. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

So why am I giving it a passable rating? Besides my waning tastes and that it’s not bad compared to most of Seagal’s later efforts, I felt that there was an attempt to be something more here. Seagal has found himself partially in the limelight again, with that TV show where he’s a cop as well as a role in “Machete”, his first theatrical film in years. His previous few movies, like “Driven to Kill”, aren’t all that awful. Or maybe they are and I'm just getting used to them. But it feels like Seagal is trying. He gets to be a little more cheery and dynamic than usual. He’s still not as good as he used to be, but he’s not bad either. The rest of the cast is competent as well, although Carsten’s struggles with the dialogue. So I admire the movie for its effort and will say it’s one of the better DTV Seagal action films. But that only means you should watch it if you’re a fan because otherwise, this is still a pretty lame movie.

Violence: Rated R. It’s pretty violent.

Nudity: There are a few pairs of breasts.

Overall: “The Keeper” is only for people who like me, continue to trek through Seagal’s garbage, looking for a hidden gem. It’s not a gem, but it’s not repulsive either.

2/4 Stars