Belly of the Beast (2003)

This has to be one of Seagals good movies. It's kick ass. Seagal plays a CIA Agent, works for the government of America. Until one day, his daughter gets kidnapped by an organization called the ABU KARAFon in Bangkok. One of her friends is the US senators daughter. The US senator sends a CIA agent named Jake(Seagal) to go to Bangkok and rescue his daughter and to rescue his. As he goes to Bangkok he meets up with one of his old buddies sante(Byron Mann) to help him fight the ABU KARAF and to save his daughter.The movie has a good story, alright acting, and some good action. There is a lot of wire work in the action sequences, but it doesn't make this a bad movie. Seagal has a stunt double in some of the fight scenes. Seagal also uses his Aikido skills and a bit of Kung Fu.All in all, this movie is worth a watch, it is worth the rent price. I bought it on DVD because I really loved this movie. But that's my opinion. Just watch it.

Belly of the Beast is the only Chin Siu Tung (Monkey Kung Fu,Chinese Ghost Story,Duel to the Death) Western movie so far starring Steven Seagal,Byron Mann (Street Fighter,Corrupter),Monica Lo(Naked Weapon),Tom Lu(Revolver).Steven Seagal plays Jake Hopper an ex CIA member whose daughter has been kidnapped in Thailand.He comes out of retirement to rescue her.Sort of like the B movie version of Taken with Liam Neeson.He recruits Sunti (Mann) to help him with his daughter.Sunti owes him his life for saving him 10 years ago.Sunti has then become a monk and leaves to go with Jake.There is a terrorist group known as the Abu Karaf,but Jake realizes that the kidnappers come from somewhere else in Thailand.General Jantapan (Tom Lu) is in charge of the military in Thailand and is working with the American government.Jake gets help at a night club in Thailand from waitress Lulu (Monica Lo).He has saved her from some locals so she returns the favor for Jake's search for his daughter.Not even the great Chin Siu Tung can make this a masterpiece.There are many flaws in this and lots of wire fu.In this movie Seagal is already overweight and he has a double.The double is half of his size and does flips and flying kicks.Seagal plays the cocky CIA officer like in every movie in his career so far.He does'nt even get a bruise or a hit.Half of the fighting scenes were edited with too many quick cuts so you can only see Seagal's ability half of the time.Trust me He's no Sammo Hung now that he gained so much weight.His fighting technique is his Aikido and looks like he was doing Tai Chi as well.The other fighters like Byron Mann and Tom Lu were edited greatly and they look good fighting on camera.Not enough action in hand to hand combat just more with shooting scenes.That's not why you go to see a Seagal movie.He is known for his quick hits and takedowns.There are a lot of exotic enemies that you don't see in your typical American action movie.Thai fighters with swords,a trannie,Thai monks and a witch doctor.Unless you are a hardcore Seagal fan and Chi Siu Tung fan then this one is for you.Worth a view first before you buy.Naked Weapon,Exit Wounds has better fighting IMO.

Seagal almost seems too mellow in this movie. Its as if he doesn't care at all, and if the movie flops ? GFY! loddy dah dah....dah. The scene when he grabs a bottle of water and another scene when the thai officer is hitting him with the nightstick/baton and seagal is just sitting there so casual looking at him like " what in the hell are you doing " ?? lol... I don't know,, maybe he actually has a sense of humor. Those scenes are so obviously out of sync they couldn't have been taken seriously in the script. But the fight scenes are good and there are plenty of them.. The acting overall seemed a bit forced, phony ,amateur maybe.. but steven seagal kicks a lot of ass. Overall a good movie .

Beer may have influenced my decision but "Belly of the Beast" went down pretty well. True, it's stupid in all things like storyline, acting and coherence but the action is plenty and semi-well done. Sure, the slow-mo bits are totally overused but the action is well handled by Steve (and one heck of a stunt double) and others.Despite the low budget the film looks beautiful and exteriors are very lovely - all that and the action make the film quite passable. But I must admit I've been quite slow in giving these Steven Seagal Direct-to-DVD flicks a chance. I'm a huge fan of his earlier work and having read mostly abysmal reviews for his recent output I've been hesitant at giving it a glance.But "Belly of the Beast" is not so bad. It's clear that Seagal doesn't strain himself with the acting too much but I still dig the guy. Why else would I (and many others) check out these undeniably inferior flicks in the first place? Well; "Into the Sun" and "Out of Reach" will get a spin in the near future...best get some beer handy.