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    Under Siege

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    I remember when I was working at the video rental store one of the clerks there was a big enough Steven Seagal fan that he would put all of the man’s films together and that regularly, his pictures would get rented out. I never understood what the appeal was, knowing him mostly for films like “On Deadly Ground” and direct-to-video trash. 1992's "Under Siege" proves that with the right script and director, the man can indeed be awesome. The premise of “Under Siege” may be familiar to fans of action films, but it's directed with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

    Seagal plays Casey Ryback, a cook on a nuclear battleship that's about to be retired. There's a surprise party planned for the captain but there's more to the party than just music and a hot lady busting out of the cake. Enter Tommy Lee Jones as William Strannix who, along with his crew, is masquerading as entertainers so that they can commandeer the ship, steal it's nuclear arsenal and sell it to the highest bidder. All of the sailors are either killed or captured and it's up to Ryback, along with "Miss July", the playboy playmate brought on board (Erika Eleniak as Jordan Tate) to save the day.

    From the set-up, there are a couple of things you can predict. 1) A conclusion featuring a man-to-man combat sequence with Tommy Lee Jones and Steven Seagal. 2) A love plot as Ryback and Tate bond between the battle sequences 3) a lot of bad guys who can't aim very well. You could say that the film is predictable to an extent, but you'd be missing the point. A significant portion of the entertainment you'll get out of "Under Siege" is from seeing the elements that you want to see in a good action movie play out. Rising the film above the basic formula on which it was written are a couple of memorable elements. First of all, the villains are really terrific. The big mastermind is Tommy Lee Jones who plays an intelligent, greedy and totally off-the-wall ex-CIA agent. There's a sequence where he convinces everyone that isn't on the ship that he's just a mad dog, looking to blow up the world with his new-found arsenal and you realize that this guy is a brilliant strategist, setting up his crew to contain the threats instead of just killing them all (possible hostages for later), concocting an elaborate plan that's pretty ingenious and would easily succeed if it wasn't for that one rogue element wandering through the ship picking off his men one by one. Also notable is Gary Busey, who plays a terrific creep. He's always getting under your skin, making you fantasize about this guy getting a bullet in the head for every time he talks down to our hero and for all of the aggravating things he does. There’s good writing in the way that his character alternates from being funny one moment to being genuinely cruel and sadistic the next, giving you those emotional ups and downs to keep the action and the thrills feeling fresh.

    What about the heroes? We’ve got the previously mentioned Seagal, who has the chops to pull off the demanding stunts and combat sequences in the film. His character is decently fleshed out and here, the man displays genuine charisma. Ryback is always setting up booby traps, ambushing the goons after him and using his brain to get out of a jam. Making his character intelligent reduces the number of seemingly blind goons who can’t aim because most never even have the chance to pull the trigger. Now we come to Jordan Tate. She's the only woman in the movie and she is smokin' hot. There's more to her than her than eye-candy, her character actually grows throughout the film to become a competent fighter herself. At first, she's just following Ryback because she doesn't want to be alone but eventually she starts carrying her own weight and turns out to be a critical asset for the good guys. This is not a character that becomes strong and is later reduced to a useless damsel in distress during the climax; she's a strong, sexy woman.

    The hand-to-hand combat is well choreographed and edited. You can always tell who's fighting who, and what the killing blow looked like. The movie's production is first-rate. As far as I can tell, they actually placed the actors on a real battleship (or if they had sets they definitely fooled me) It helps the whole movie feel that much more authentic. Like all great action films, there are some funny moments, one of the best being an exchange between Ryback and Tate, where she complains that she has to carry all the gear, to which Ryback replies "Tell you what, I'll carry everything, you kill anyone we run into". Funny stuff.

    What "Under Siege" is lacking in originality it makes up for in excelling at what it does. The villains are strong, the female lead is a real delight to follow and although Seagal isn't a great actor he makes for a hero you're excited to see. There are some sequences that will genuinely surprise you. J. F. Lawton's script knows what your expectations of these types of films are and plays with them."Under Siege" is an explosive, exciting action film, Seagal’s best. (On DVD, June 23, 2013)

    8
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    adamwatchesmovies@  30.7.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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