Force of Execution (2013)

Mr. Alexander (Steven Seagal) is an ex-government agent who learned "things" in the mountains of Thailand. He is now the crime boss over the city of Albuquerque. Iceman (Ving Rhames) has recently got out of prison and is challenging Alexander, who simply wants to be bought out honorably. In what passes for a Seagal subplot, Roman Hurst (Bren Foster)who works for Alexander, gets double crossed by Iceman and is forced to retire, losing the use of his hands- somewhat, but he can still slow motion kickbox. He now lives in a room off a diner owned by Alexander and run by Jimmy Peanuts (Danny Trejo). The waitress (Jenny Gabrielle) becomes a focal point, because that is where the crime boss likes his girlfriend to work.The plot, like Seagal is straight forward. Trejo supplies us with a surprise, but the plot is not twisty. The tough guy dialog is cliche, using lines like, "You broke the code." Seagal is a bad guy who kills people, but commands with over doses of corny respect speeches. At one point Seagal sits down and describes his gun collection, giving us the advantage points of each piece, topping it off with "Isn't that amazing."I found this to be a better quality Seagal film, as he is not in every scene and shares with Rhames and Trejo.

'Force of Execution' is A Brutal Gang-War Flick, that delivers a punch. Its flawed, no doubt, but at most parts, I was engaged.'Force of Execution' Synopsis: A crime lord is torn between his legacy and his desire to get out of the life of crime that has built his empire, when a new player to the scene tries to use the town anti-hero's network to climb to power. Havoc Ensures..'Force of Execution' has an awesome first-hour, where the brutality & the intensity arrests you. But, sadly, the second-hour doesn't engross as much. There is just too much going on in this hour & the twists & turns, wear you out. The climax brings back the energy & leaves an impact. How I wish the second-hour remained as powerful as the first-hour!Richard Beattie & Michael Black's Screenplay is fast-paced, but needed to be stronger in the latter hour. Keoni Waxman's Direction is good. Action-Sequences are awesome. Performance-Wise: Steven Seagal is in top-from here. Its so good to see the Action Icon cast in a Grey Shaded role, that gives the actor in him some scope to perform. Ving Rhames is perfectly menacing. Danny Trejo does his bit well. Bren Foster is the Star of the show. This guy has all the tapping's to become a major action hero in the coming time. He's got the stuff!On the whole, 'Force of Execution' weights higher on pluses & hence, it works.

Seagal's best days are now far behind him, but he's made a niche for himself in the DTV market. FORCE OF EXECUTION, while not one of the better movies he's made, is at least watchable and has some good action to boot. This time around, Seagal is Alexander, a crime boss with a past in government special ops. He runs a southwestern town with an iron fist, to be sure, but backed up with a code of honor. Martial artist Bren Foster plays Hurst, Alexander's chief hit-man and a protégé of sorts. They are joined in the cast by Ving Rhames, an up-and-coming gangster and Danny Trejo as a bar owner with a few tricks up his sleeve. The event that sets the plot in motion is a hit that goes bad, resulting in Hurst's "retirement," and the severe injury of his hands. Meanwhile, Iceman (Rhames) maneuvers around Alexander in order to take control of his territory, climaxing in a showdown between the two gangs. First, the good parts. Seagal is playing a type of character that he doesn't usually play, an antihero of sorts in a movie populated solely with lowlifes. There is also some decent martial arts on display, but mostly from Bren Foster. Seagal is relegated to doing his usual chops and take-downs when he isn't just using firearms. Finally, Ving Rhames gives the best performance in the movie as Iceman, lending credibility to his role as a gangster and delivering some great improvised dialogue. The rest is mediocre at best. The basic plot is paper thin, and not enough time is spent developing the three main characters. Most of the dialogue scenes are corny discussions about honor and respect, tough talking without any purpose other than to make the characters seem tougher. As far as the technical aspects go, director Keoni Waxman opts for the currently in-vogue shaky-cam, and some of the editing choices obscure the action. While this was most likely to conceal stunt doubles in some shots, it makes the action hard to follow in places, especially with Seagal. Fortunately for Bren Foster, they pulled back the camera a little bit so you can see him work. Overall this should be enough to placate Seagal fans, but everyone else should just stay away.

I've looked at a lot of reviews for 'Force of Execution' and they would have you believe that it's an absolute classic. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting Shakespeare. I knew I'd be letting myself in for a B-movie with stars from yesteryear, however, all I got was a pretty sub-standard affair.The story is all over the place with one scene after the next depicting one gangland hit after the next. Steven Segal phones in his performance and Ving Rhames just grunts all the way through it (and don't get me started on his 'fighting abilities'!).In short, this story is a mess. The settings chop and change from one location to another, never really linking together the overall tale, let alone leaving any space for the audience to care about any of the one-dimensional characters.Yes, I know it's a B-movie, but I was hoping for it to be entertaining. Sadly, this one's better left off everyone concerned's C.V.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/