Driven to Kill (2009)

the audience applauded

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fresh and Exciting

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

As you would expect from a straight-to-DVD effort, there is little in Driven to Kill to lift it from the cesspit. There are however two factors that make this movie unintentionally hilarious:1. Segal does a Russian accent. It's terrible. And very, very funny. 2. Segal's character Ruslan is supposed to be a novelist. It's hard enough believing this meat-fisted lunk can read, let alone write, but Segal has been detached from reality for some time now.As pointed out by one of the previous reviewers, Segal's computer keyboard control is astonishing - and even more impressive than the death-by-gun-barrel-in-the-eye sequence.Is this enough to make the movie good? Hell no, it has Steven Segal in it for a start. But if you've got nothing (and I mean *nothing*) better to do for 90 minutes, this may just about fit the bill.

The problem is, why this movie has so low grade, is that 90% of voters are "damaged goods" type of people, people who had rough life and are the worst example for human kind. They judge too harsh in wrong way, like they are producers who made 50 movies and have experience in that job. You can't let amateurs to judge, this movie has interesting story and Steven is great actor for this role, has unique personality and voice, and is well known for using his hand-to-hand combat skills to beat enemies. I didn't saw an Steven Seagal movie that has grade over 8 on IMDb so that could only mean that voters are same type of people for every movie of his, cranky people who tasted bad side of a life too many times due to their failure. This is amateur page if amateurs are allowed to vote, it should be done only by skilled people who have years of experience in movie industry.

Just saw a little gem titled Driven to Kill. Steven Seagal, Russian accent and all is Ruslan Drachev, a former member of the Russian mob, who is now making an honest living writing crime novels.But, you see all this changes when his daughter Lanie (Laura Mennell) is brutally attacked on her wedding day. As it turns out, Lanie was engaged to Stephan (Dmitry Chepovetsky), the son of ruthless Russian crime boss, Mikhail (Igor Jijikine).Ruslan you see is not very happy at what has just unfolded and he pledges to find the people responsible for the crime. He even says that they will " cry tears of blood.." Driven to Kill is not just your typical vengeance flick, it is also a flick that returns Ruslan to the sinister underbelly of his past. In a way that only Steven Seagal+Russian accent could deliver: " Everybody want to be a tough guy-but nobody want to pay the price." He also delves into the philosophy of killing someone: "Well, there's two kinds of people. Those without a heart, maybe even enjoy it, they don't feel nothing... People like you and me-for us it never gets any easier. But well always have our reasons." Simply put, this is Lord Seagal's best feature in years. Perhaps the best scene of the year in the film, is the sequence in which Ruslan & Stephan end up at a pawn shop, and the scene pretty much ends with Seagal beating the pawn shop owner into a pulp, and him moaning and crying " Oh, god!" Beyond brilliant.Other scenes of course find our dynamic duo (Ruslan & Stephan) engaging such Euro-trash in places like a strip club. Highlight=one long ass knife fight. "I've never been someone who could, uh, run from a knife fight." Power to the truth, Seagal! Ruslan mentions something about it being a place with a lot of shifty "bad guys" and such. A strip club full of shifty creepy guys? Who would've thought? One hilarious scene finds our duo being entertained by a naked dancer in a back room and such and Stephan says something along the likes of " Am I supposed to be feeling like this?..." I'm not sure what that whole purpose for that was....Perhaps the strangest thing about the film is the fact of the type of music played in such scenes. For instance, I don't know about you, but upbeat Russian folk music during dramatic and violent beat downs? Awesome.Another problem? Putting an old lady wig & makeup on a young actress and hoping no-one would notice. You see, it turns out Ruslan's ex-wife Catherine (Inna Korobkina) is a year younger than the actress that plays his daughter (Laura Mennell). Brilliant! Also what in the heck is going on, in the beginning of the film? There is a scene in which Ruslan is having lunch or something with his book agent (?) (Crystal Lowe), it involves a magic trick and it pretty much ends up with her saying something along the likes of "If you do it for me, I will do anything you want." Next thing you know, she's talking about some sort of threesome. ??? Also, what kind of moronic Det. just leaves their badge lying around, and then starts bitching about how Ruslan isn't Detective Norden...?? Well, Det. Nording you mam, are a moron!

First off- I am a shameless Seagal fan who owns a high percentage of his videos. Having said that, I know that he has made his share of clunkers lately, so my expectations weren't very high when I brought this home. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this, and was impressed with the way the director shot most of the action sequences. I don't have a terribly wordy review for this DVD, but I will say this: the action is engaging throughout, and the knife fight is a must see! The ending scenes in the hospital/war zone were also well done, and Seagal finishes the bad guy in his trademark early '90s style. Better than a lot of his recent flicks, in my opinion, so check it out if you like Seagal and hard-action flicks.