Steven Seagal is good at being bad in this stylish but ludicrous actioner…
by Nav Qateel
For the fight-fan or action junkie, Force of Execution contains no shortage of either, as one would expect from a Seven Seagal, produced and starred movie about a crime-lord, who just happens to be a world-class martial artist, including his assistants, and most of the people he or they are forced to fight, AND a lot of prison guards and inmates. (Funny how that works in movies like these?!). Seagal has gained a couple of pounds here and there but he can still throw his enemies around like rag dolls without breaking a sweat, and is still never hit by anyone.
His character, Mr. Alexander, was a bit of a conundrum, as he basically throws a family member, Roman (Bren Foster), to the wolves for making a mistake (that he didn’t actually make, I hasten to add), and also punishes another worker for making a mistake, by breaking his neck, then remains a tough but generally fair guy for the remainder of the film. That is until the very end, when he gives a quick and pointless speech about having regrets.
- Force of Execution
- Directed by
Keoni Waxman - Cast
Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Ving Rhames - Blu-ray/DVD Release Date
17 December 2013 - Nav’s Grade: B-
Force of Execution, tells the story of the feared but respected Mr. Alexander, who has agreed to a contract kill that involves sending his top man Roman, into a prison to kill an informant. Roman does exactly as instructed but is then told he killed the wrong man. Roman is “retired” by Alexander, who gives him up to be punished by the apparently wronged party, but told not to kill him. Because Roman is a martial arts expert they work him over badly and break his hands so they don’t work anymore.
The person who ordered the hit, Mr. Ice (Ving Rhames) is now out of prison but he intends on taking over Alexander’s empire after killing him. Meanwhile, Roman is living like a bum in a dilapidated apartment next to a small eating joint owned by Jimmy Peanuts (Danny Trejo). Roman drinks booze all day long, drowning his sorrows, and while he manages to open bottles of whisky easily enough, he can’t seem to hold a gun in order to kill himself. Eventually trouble comes to Jimmy’s diner and Roman steps in and kicks ass like the good old days. He has to help Alexander stop Ice from taking over and this is when Jimmy gets out his scorpions to fix Roman’s hands, in order that he can do some real damage again.
*****
Force of Execution was a most enjoyable film but was a bit scrappy as far as the way the story was told. Ice was about the only character I knew where I stood with but Alexander and Roman could never quite decide if they were good guys or bad guys, leaving me at a quandary on who to root for. The only other thing that had me groaning (extremely loudly) was the thing Jimmy does with the scorpions to fix Roman’s hands. (And why did he wait until the film was practically over to even do this?!)
That aside, this was an action packed film that began well; slowed down a little during the middle act, then came back with a strong finish. The way Roman sneaks into the prison and easily takes out all the prison guards and the prisoners who got in his way was pretty damn good. Total nonsense, of course, but Bren Foster certainly knows how to do his thing when it comes to action. His character Roman, was the strong and brooding silent type, that suited the actor well.
As long as you remember this is a fun action movie that shouldn’t be taken too seriously (unless you’re a teenage boy, in which case you will, as did Mr. Seagal, methinks), then it’s most certainly a fun ride, filled with plenty gangsta and martial arts action, where bullets do run out, just in time for some hand to hand combat.
