Above the Law (1988)

Memorable, crazy movie

Fresh and Exciting

Admirable film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Seagal's strength as a movie star is that he is strong and has screen presence. There is credibility in that he does his own stunts, and some of the fight sequences are very impressive and entertaining in their sheer simplicity. He brings a sensitivity to the role of Nico, the cop who has a CIA background who pursues criminals who are being defended by the police and higher authorities. The story covers a lot of ground - not just individual crimes, and makes references, subversively, that any authority acting above the law needs to be brought to justice. The film makes use of the Chicago skyline and streets very well and there plenty of interesting set pieces of action well composed. There is also a level of realism in the acting of those who oppose Nico. Some of the early scenes in the film suffer from enough voice projection of dialogue to explain what is going on and it makes a leap in the timelines from 1973 to 1988 without much linkage and substance. The film lacks taste too, with villains appearing extremely objectionable, mostly without explanation for their need for torture. All in all entertaining, but the political intrigue proves to be too much for one action drama, and slightly preachy at the end, but visually it is a treat.

Having given a couple of Steven Seagal film a right good kicking recently, I felt kinda bad for him and sought out this, his debut feature film. My reasons? Well, I figured that he would be in the prime of his youthful exuberance and not the overweight has-been he is today. He also has a respected action director in Andrew Davis (who would later helm "The Fugitive" and Seagal's best film "Under Siege") and Blaxploitation legend Pam Grier as co-star. The signs were good that this might not be a total bust along the lines of "Hard To Kill" or "Half Past Dead". Sure enough, it's a refreshing change to see Seagal do what he was meant to do as he looks and sounds every inch the legitimate tough guy. Sadly, the film's overly complicated plot tends to get in the way of the action and makes the film strangely dull. This is the first time in ages I've seen a film to fail my patented Nokia test (ending up playing games on my phone halfway through) which isn't a good sign for any action film.I'm gonna have to refer to other sources for this synopsis because I simply couldn't follow the film well enough but Seagal plays Nico Toscani, a Sicilian living in Chicago with his wife Sara (Sharon Stone) and infant daughter. Nico was recruited into the CIA by agent Nelson Fox (Chelcie Ross) during Vietnam but quit upon witnessing a torturer named Kurt Zagon (Henry Silva). Fifteen years later in Chicago, Nico works as a cop alongside his partner Delores Jackson (Grier) and arrest local drug pusher Tony Salvano (Daniel Faraldo). To Nico's disgust, the Feds get involved and release Salvano, citing an existing investigation and warn them both to stay away. But Nico doesn't take no for an answer and soon begins his own independent pursuit of Salvano and those involved, especially when his family are threatened by dark forces...There is also something else about immigrants living below a church and Nico's friend and pastor Father Gennaro (Joe V. Greco) being blown up during Mass. In truth, "Above The Law" crams in far too much story for a film of this type that I reckon if they stretched it out a bit, you could have had enough for a trilogy. Thankfully, they kept it to just the one. It's not that the film is a bad one as action movies go. Seagal moves much faster and smoother than he does in his later work and for once, he is impressive in the film. His acting style and delivery aren't so much of a distraction here as they usually are and he works well along with Grier and Stone (who are both criminally underused). But for a movie about a go-it-along cop taking the baddies down, it loses its focus by introducing more and more elements into the story. For example, is it not a huge coincidence that the very man who made Nico distrust the CIA is the same man who is behind the numerous schemes happening around Chicago? And when some two-bit hoodlums are thrown in with the CIA, the FBI and the Mafia were probably in there as well (he's Sicilian, remember?) then what you end up with is a series of shoot-outs and fist fights that don't really seem to have any connection or cohesion with the plot. At some point, I completely lost track of whether Fox was a good guy or a baddie. To be honest, I still don't know and I have the film's Wikipedia page open as I write."Above The Law" might not change the world but like most of Seagal's back catalogue, it is a macho and meaty action flick that satisfies the undemanding fan but leaves most viewers wanting something more. In his debut picture, Seagal acquits himself far better than he normally does - he even throws in a nod to the story about how he broke Sean Connery's arm on the set of "Never Say Never Again" as a stuntman. But "Above The Law" is a largely unmoving experience, devoid of any real charm or substance but at least it has some ambition behind it instead. It isn't as dumb as many of Seagal's later films ("Half Past Dead" is a prime example) which seem to specialise in rounding up anonymous thugs so Seagal can do his martial arts on them or shoot them dramatically. Sadly, it simply isn't as engaging as an action film can be - take "Die Hard" where you cared about McClane's struggle against Hans Gruber or "Terminator 2" when the future of civilisation was at stake. You neither care about the story (even if you could follow it) or the characters who merely perform to genre stereotypes (the partner who needs protecting, the "Godfather" impersonator at the family gathering, the nun who doesn't say much, etc). "Above The Law" might be a faintly boring cop film and compared to his later films, one of Seagal's better efforts but it certainly isn't above the standards we have today.

In Japan, the Sicilian martial arts expert Nicolo "Nico" Toscani (Steven Seagal) is recruited by the CIA Special Agent Nelson Fox (Chelcie Ross) to join the Special Operations Forces in the border of the Vietnam and Cambodia. In 1973, Nico witnesses the torturer Kurt Zagon (Henry Silva) interrogating prisoners of war and he is disgusted and quits the CIA, returning.Fifteen years later, Nico is married with a baby with his wife Sarah (Sharon Stone) and they live in the same house of his mother. Nico is a tough and incorruptible narcotics detective of the Chicago Police Department very close to his partner and friend Delores 'Jacks' Jackson (Pam Grier) and his friend Detective Lukich (Ron Dean). When Nico and Jacks investigate a drug traffic operation, they arrest the gang of the drug dealer Tony Salvano (Daniel Faraldo) but they find that they are smuggling the plastic explosive C4 instead. However there is an interference of the FBI and Salvano and his partner are released by FBI Agent Neeley (Nicholas Kusenko) and the detectives are forbidden of proceed with the investigation. But Nico does not stop and is suspended from the police force. But when there is an explosion in the church of his neighborhood and his friend and parish priest Joseph Gennaro (Joe V. Greco) is murdered, Nico chases Salvano and discovers a corruption ring that is planning to kill the American Senator Ernest Harrison (Joe D. Lauck) that is investigating the involvement of the CIA with drug traffic."Above the Law" is the excellent debut of Steven Seagal in the cinema industry. When I saw this movie for the first time twenty-five years ago, I immediately became fan of this actor that used the style of Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood associated to great fight choreography and violence. Today I have seen it again on DVD and the story is still full of action and has not aged after all these years. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Nico Acima da Lei" ("Nico Above the Law")

This is by far the best movie Steven Seagal ever made. I think it was his first movie, and because of this, I surmise, he probably left the people alone that had the creative control. He was also younger then, and in better shape then he is now. His most recent movies appear to have action stunt doubles, whenever there is any jumping around required, and that's really a let down. In this movie the martial arts moves are crisp and believable. The writing in the movie was great and some of the lines, particularly by the bad guys like Zagon, I remember to this day. The actors that play the CIA "spooks" are good, as is Pam Grier, Seagal's partner in the movie. A great Martial Arts action movie, and definitely in my top 10 list.