Absolution (2015)

When a contract killer (Steven Seagal) encounters a girl on the run from a mob boss (Vinnie Jones) with powerful political ties, he is torn between protecting the girl, and remaining loyal to the government agency that hired him for the mission. Absolution is kind of a welcome call back to some of Seagal's better action movies and it's true this film is decent and has some good action sequences and fight scenes, the plot was interesting and the acting was ok. In the 90's Seagal made some great films but once 2000 hit he started making dumpstair fire after dumpstair fire so it's nice to see a movie with him that is actually decent and has an interesting story and good action. (6/10)

This is a fairly straight forward Seagal film which opens with his Marlon Brando godfather character giving us his standard "I am a bad man " speech. Even though he kills bad guys, he needs to kill one more bad guy for "absolution" for killing all those other bad guys. It isn't hard to figure out 5 minutes into the film (or if you look at the cast) who the bad guy he has to kill.Seagal revives his character Alexander (I think) from "A Good Man." There are flashback scenes to his wife who died, which were not part of any previous film. Seagal is joined by Chi played by Bryon Mann. To add to the confusion, he also plays Savon in the Seagal "True Justice" TV series, but there is no connection....I think. The most confusing thing about a Seagal film is keeping them separate in your mind.Filmed in Bucharest, Romania Seagal and Chi take out a rich westernized Afghan who was going to deal stealth technology to the Iran. The subplot consists of The Boss (Vinnie Jones not Springsteen) abusing women on film. One woman escapes (Adina Stetcu) and lands in Seagal's lap with the expected Seagal film results.Fighting consisted of slo-mo and speed up action to make Seagal look limber. It is comical to watch the lumbering Seagal go into stealth mode, moving around going "unseen". If you miss the Seagal, "I am a bad man" speech in the beginning, fear not, he loved it so much he gives it a second time. Plenty of bad acting.Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity. Woman dressed scantily and abused. Some blood splatter. Minor grindhouse effects.8 stars on the Seagal scale.

"There are some sick people in this world, but if they have enough money they'll get away with anything." Nadia (Stetcu) is an escort who has just escaped from a ruthless and violent mob boss and is looking for protection. When she meets John (Seagal), a contract killer she thinks she has found her savior. Now John and his partner must not only protect Nadia but also take out the mob boss before it's too late. This is another movie that is almost review proof. Either you like Seagal or you don't. Nothing I can say will influence you one way or the other. As for me, I am not a fan. Watching this movie really shows how he has lost a step. The fight scenes are almost laughable. Rather than the karate he was known for it is just him throwing people around, I wondered why he was always wearing sunglasses when he fought and I think it's because it's easier for a stunt man to cover his identity that way. The dialog and acting is very, very…well Seagal like. There really isn't a whole lot more I can say about this. Overall, Seagal fans will enjoy this, others probable won't. I will admit that it wasn't horrible, but the end really drug on. I give this a C.

Review: This is another one of those low budget action movies, with terrible acting and a silly storyline. Steven Seagal is hired to take out a drug dealer and uncovers a drug ring that involves trafficking and prostitution. One of the girls escapes a torturer and just happens to run into Seagal who, against his morals, uses his skills to save her. She then gives him information to take-down the drug and prostitution lords with the help of his trusted friend, Chi. Seagal, actually wasn't to bad in the movie and I liked the relationship between him and Chi, his sidekick, but the film looked cheap and some of the acting and one liners were awful. The action scenes weren't bad that bad, especially from Seagal & Chi, but it's predictable from the beginning to end. I wasn't expecting that much from the film, so I wasn't overly disappointed. It's basically what it says on the tin! Round-Up: It's a shame that Steven Seagal only gets the chance to star in straight to DVD movies because his cool demeanor and great fighting skills were great in movies like Under Siege and Marked For Death. After he started to put on weight, his movies became terrible and he wasn't taken that seriously in Hollywood so he must be starring in these low budget movies to pays the bills. Vinnie Jones has also become a straight to DVD actor who plays the same type of roles all of the time. Since his move to Hollywood from football, he has only started in a handful of big budget movies and his career hasn't really blown up like Jason Statham. It seems like he is also just starring in these movies to pay the bills! I did like Seagals sidekick, played by Byron Mann who starred in the terrible Streetfighter movie and had small parts in Red Corner, The Corrupter and Catwoman but the rest of the cast wasn't that great.I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/crime movies about Steven Seagal taking down a drug ring. 3/10