Shadow Man (2006)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Another excursion into the increasingly weird direct-to-video life of action star Steven Seagal. SHADOW MAN follows the declining trend of the actor's efforts in the 21st century, a cheaply made and intensely derivative offering shot in Romania with a mixed cast and nary an ounce of originality in the script. Once again we have Seagal shambling back into action in an attempt to rescue his kidnapped daughter in a plot already used in two or three of his other recent movies.With the current crop of the actor's DTV efforts, the movies themselves are pretty interchangeable, marked by poor, MTV-wannabe direction and a blatant disregard for logic or credibility. Seagal is literally the "shadow" man here, spending much of the film lurking in the shadows, perhaps to disguise his double chin or increasing bulk. Occasionally he gets out of his chair to do a little fighting or shooting, but the action is in short supply here. When Seagal performs his 'martial arts', it's typically a punch, a kick or a wrist-throw, a single move that kills or disables the enemy; don't expect any fine show of Aikido as the star just hasn't got it anymore. His stand-in is also lurking around, perhaps not as much as in some other films he's made but he's obviously doubled in other places (is getting out of a car simply too much for him?).The rest of the cast is a real mixed bag – made up of Romanian nationals, once almost-famous US actors (Garrick Hagon, a pilot in the original STAR WARS) and Brits. Two of the Brits are instantly recognisable from their roles in soaps (Eva Pope and Alex Ferns, the latter better known as EASTENDERS' Trevor) while another, Imelda Staunton, is noticeable from the incongruity of her appearance here: this stalwart British actress is better known for her roles in 'proper' films like VERA DRAKE.Still, there is some fun to be had here, especially in the film's more ludicrous moments. An early car chase blatantly rips off THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, with edgy camera-work that directly resembles the cinematography of that film; in addition, there's a bit of 'theme' music that pops up which is Jason Bourne's theme, minus two notes so the composer doesn't get sued for breach of copyright. I also loved an early set-piece in which Seagal finds himself trapped in a room and uses a number of household items to craft himself weapons; don't expect any of the cool bomb-making in the UNDER SIEGE flicks though. Here, he uses a gramophone (!), some random pipes from behind a wall, food, and kitchen knives to attack the enemies.Perhaps realising that action fans are turning away from these films in their droves, the producers amp up the sex and violence to try and attract them back. So we get bloody gun-shots and a surprising amount of nudity and sexual situations, probably the most seen in a Seagal flick; watch out for the hilarious 'hug' moment between Seagal and a pretty, bra-clad Pope and lots of gratuitous bits in pole-dancing clubs. Yet for the most part, SHADOW MAN is trash, one only for those people, like me, who find themselves inexplicably drawn to the actor's poorly-made films.

The film has nothing to do with the title. The plot is simple. His daughter is abducted and he is running around, beating the crap out of people to find his daughter. Seagal is slow, monotone, emotionless... he uses Tai Chi in fight scenes, extremely boring. Other actors are also bad, nothing special... just there for being paid. It's very interesting to see actress Imelda Staunton here... what a hell is she doing here?! In this straight do DVD crap? She is a good actress that deserves more better films. Seeing her and Seagal in scene... it was a pretty large fail... that was so unbearable... I bet she was disgusted by Seagal's "performance"... There's nothing special to say about this film... it's incredibly boring and impossible to watch. Do something better... for example go beat the crap out of your dog... much more fun.

I'll repeat this again: I like Seagal. But he's not trying anymore. You got the photoshopped head on the covers, retitles every two seconds, and the big man once again shows he's not going to World Gym. I have a Steven Seagal DTV addiction. I need to go to S.S.A. {Steven Seagal Anonymous} This time around: Jack Foster (You know the guy I'm talking about) is an ex-cop on a mission to save his daughter from terrorists. Same old, same old.When Steve was making films with Warner Bros. in the mid 80's-90's, all of his films were professionally made. Now since 2001- and present day, his films look terrible. They are shot in Romania or Bucharest or some foreign country with tax breaks. The green screen during the chase scene is horrendous. On the plus side, it looks like Seagal lay low on the stunt doubles this time around, and the climax is unintentionally funny.It's better than "Attack Force" but not as good as his DTV peak "Belly Of The Beast".One more thing: You can make some lame jokes at his expense with the title: He's a "Shadow" of his former self, or he casts a big "Shadow". Your choice.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Steven Seagal made some good movies earlier back in his career such as UNDER SIEGE (1992) ABOVE THE LAW (1988) & MARKED FOR DEATH (1990) but that was a very long time ago.Since his last Theatrical Flop, The Rapper's in Alcatraz nonsense that was HALF PAST DEAD (2002) - Seagal's career as been in the Straight- to-DVD doldrums and has starred in 19 Movies in 8 years to date, but it's a case of quantity rather than quality I'm afraid.SHADOW MAN has Seagal playing an Intelligence Operative whose Daughter gets kidnapped and spends the rest of the movie trying to get her back, that's pretty much it, but SHADOW MAN has a needlessly confusing and overly complicated screenplay - There's far too many different sets of baddies (Cops,Americans,Romanian Mafia) and too many pointless scenes by half which add nothing to the story, it does become quite a chore to sit through.The Film is poorly directed by Michael Keusch - who went on to direct another couple of Seagal starred stinkers in FLIGHT OF FURY & ATTACK FORCE.It's very disjointed,The Screenplay is woeful - Seagal co-wrote and co-produced it himself so has to take a lot of the blame here.There's plenty of action, none of it very interesting and most of it poorly edited.The Acting is pretty awful, but I've come to expect that in a Seagal Flick - What Oscar Nominated British Actress Imelda Staunton in doing appearing in such mindless trash I really don't know.Filmed in Romania on the cheap - Not the worst Film I've ever seen,but Seagal DTV releases have become interchangeable, none are better or worse than the one before, but ALL are pretty dire - there hasn't been a really decent one since UNDER SIEGE 2, 15 years and 30 odd Films ago.I used to be a sucker for his Flicks, buying every release, but this is the last one I paid my hard earned money to buy - Make of that what you will.I was surprised to notice the Film is only 95 Minutes long, because it felt far far longer.