Kill Switch

The name 'Steven Seagal' may not put the fear of God into many people these days, but when it is preceded by the two little words 'written by' it is something to strike fear in the hearts of stronger men than me. Summoning that peculiar kind of bravery possessed by a masochist equipped with a dozen clothes pegs and a wet shoelace I girded my loins and pressed the 'forward' button on my remote. There was no going back now, like one of Seagal's on screen sparring partners I was to be exposed to every sweaty punch and chop the big (big) man chose to throw in my direction. I can get back the precious 8% of available recording time KillSwitch occupied on my Sky box, and the 90 minutes I lost watching the film are, in the grand scheme of things, only a minimal fraction of my intended lifespan, but my faith in the movie-making business may never be the same after watching this unholy mess. The story is rubbish – that was to be expected after we learned who the screenwriter was – but the direction and editing in this film are surely something to be amazed by. The direction varies from pedestrian to excruciatingly bad – we see one bad guy crashing through a window half-a-dozen times, another bad guy collapse onto a table three times, etc. The editor keeps cutting away from the fights to the same headshot of Seagal in which he looks like a mildly interested bystander. In one fight scene, his opponent's bloody scars keeping appearing and disappearing. Another fight seems to go on forever, with all participants seeming to possess super-heroic stamina levels, and you end up watching in stupefaction, not quite able to believe that a movie fight scene is actually boring you. Seagal plays a Southern cop with issues. It seems he witnessed the murder of his brother when he was a kid. What bearing this has on his present-day pursuit of a serial killer is never really explained. Neither is the identity or motive of the murderer. In fact the incident just seems to have been added to fill out the running time, give the director (whoever he is – I really can't be bothered to check) a chance to show off all the flashy tricks he learned while balancing on top of a dustbin to peer through the window of the local film studies classroom, and to give Seagal the opportunity to come over all broody every now and then. Seagal was never sylph-like but, judging by the way we are treated to a lot of head-and-shoulder shots but hardly any full-lengths shots of him, his girth has expanded considerably since the 90s. In fact, he doesn't even move when he fights: he just parries his opponents' blow and waits for them to stray close enough for him to fell them with his meaty paw.

I was very disappointed in this movie. Way to much time was spent on Seagal's fighting skills. Ten minutes of his fighting skills ( which he seams to have lost ) and the bad guy is still on his feet fighting back . His aim with a pistol has gotten a lot worst or maybe its his vision. He shoots a hundred rounds at a guy running down a four foot wide hallway and doesn't even hit him once. Even I could do a better job than that.I think he needs to go back to doing more believable scripts. He does way to much time reflecting on his past. And what is with the guy falling out of the window ten times.We got the idea that he went thru the window the first time. His movies of late have been not B but more like C movies.

Not the worst movie I've ever seen, but close! And compared to Under Siege 1 & 2, this was a real bomb. How can someone with martial arts talents stoop so low as to fabricate scenes with micro-editing? I was truly bewildered by the poor quality of the fight scenes. His enemies were beaten way beyond death and yet came up time after time without any injuries begging for more! And what's with that horrible southern accent? He didn't sound anything like a Memphis native. It was as if he was imitating some black dialect that represents the South in his mind. Steer clear of this, and I dare say, any future products from this shell of an actor.

KILL SWITCH deserves one minor commendation for attempting to do something that many Steven Seagal films don't: feature a semi-original storyline. Instead of having Seagal battling various gangsters, terrorists, thugs, kidnappers or whatever, this one sees him on the path of multiple serial killers as he attempts to stop them from killing again. Ultimately, it makes not one jot of difference because it all boils down to our hero beating seven shades out of various bad guys, but at least the thought was there. Sadly, as you might expect given the star's track record as of late, the execution sucks. At least there's none of that stupid inappropriate music from the last Seagal film I watched (DRIVEN TO KILL), but there are massive problems stemming from the ridiculous doubling in the fight sequences (and the voice double's back, to boot). The film obviously came in under the scheduled running time so one fight, early on, is extended to ludicrous lengths just to pad things out. It's also noticeable that the violence is among the most extreme of the star's career, as Seagal goes about literally torturing the villains. Expect plenty of that gloating sadism that our beloved censors here in the UK used to regularly cut out (but don't seem to mind these days). Still, violence does not make a good film, and this is definitely bottom of the barrel type stuff, featuring a storyline you'll struggle to make sense of and poor Isaac Hayes cameoing in what would be his penultimate role. In one respect the film's worth watching till the end, though: the out-of-left-field ending, featuring some gratuitous nudity and one of the cheesiest eyebrow-raising moments I've ever seen from Seagal. If that doesn't make you laugh out loud, nothing will.

Well first let me get started on the storyline I found it to be pretty good but for the most part I found it to be a little uneven and at some points found it hard to understand what was going on. The special effects are well done they look pretty realistic some you can tell are fake but not much of them. The action and fight sequences are well done but I found that they ran a bit to long and that they should cut some of it out, they also do this thing where they replay a certain part of it five times over again and it gets really annoying and they should not have done that at all. The acting in this is actually really good and all of the actors do a killer performance but Steven Seagal's accent in this movie is pathetic I can't even tell what accent it is suppose to be. I found that were many plot holes in this movie and there were many scenes where nothing was happening and it took a while before anything happened again. So I am going to end off by saying it is not bad, not good, but simply OK and it is a take it or leave it movie. Overall Rating: ***** out of ********** **1/2 out of *****

The thirteenth entry in Steven Seagal's direct-to-video canon elaborates on his snuff-wish in ways only an incompetent filmmaker can, but the noteworthy frenetic execution propels it to cult status. I think it's safe to assume you will watch this in a state of disbelief. Consider an early scene where Billy Joe, one of Seagal's enemies, is kicked out of a window and the shot is repeated five times over. This is really just the tip of the iceberg. The layers of mistakes and deliberate editing choices are what steal the show from the get-go and it's a beautiful ballet of dissonance bathed in self-seriousness, making this the ultimate Steven Seagal movie. Every cinematic tool is abused, mysteries put aside to indulge in bar fights that reach an unthinkable climax of choreographed silliness, with editing that serves the absurd and experimentalism. The violence is extremely phony and the body double reveals, the abundance of cheap sound effects, and a misinterpreted use of the JUMP CUT technique only add to the delicious frenzy. Seagal with his trademark uninvolved voice (though the southern accent he adopts is hilarious) and his catchphrase "Lord Have Mercy" is on par with the screenplay's lack of emotional resonance, basic coherence and the senseless urge to kick the living __it out of generic antagonists. That urge is what makes Kill Switch his greatest film to date, that viewers affectionate of irony must absolutely see and see to believe. It wouldn't be a post-millennium Seagal flick if the stunt doubles didn't do the fighting and the music didn't do the acting but in Kill Switch this phenomenon seems almost celebrated.

Steven Seagal's best straight-to-video actioneers bristle with wall-to-wall gunfire. They seem almost surreal in their own warped way. Director Jeff King's crime thriller "Kill Switch" qualifies as one of Seagal's best epics since he went straight-to-video. Not only does this Seagal saga boast great action choreography and editing, but also it features two serial killer adversaries. Memphis Detective Jacob King has an iconoclastic attitude. He isn't afraid to dole out punishment when the situation dictates. He divides his time between trying to nab Lazarus, a scruffy-looking white serial killer who whittles astrological symbols into the corpses of his victims, and Billy Roy Hill, a maniac with a knife who loves to slash anybody in sight. Billy Roy is such a lunatic that he buries an explosive device into a hooker's chest and our hero must defuse the bomb. Although it looks like a gritty detective yarn, "Kill Switch" seems like it is far more. The surrealistic aspect of "Kill Switch" is what distinguishes it. The opening scenes about the murder of our hero's twin brother and the concluding scenes where our protagonist arrives at a home to pass out presents to his children and watch his Russian wife strip for him are surrealistic. The fights are brutal but fast moving. "Painkiller Jane" editor Jamie Alain ramps up the fight scenes with his own slashing style. Alain often pushes the scenes farther by repeating shots. One head smashing into a window is not quite as invigorating as the same head getting smashed repeatedly. The fights are so over-the-top that they look like homages to The Three Stooges. The good news is that Seagal penned this puppy. Some of the dialogue will catch your ear. Shrewdly, he pits himself against two serial killers and he has a female FBI agent gunning for his badge. Catching these two killers isn't a cake walk for Seagal. Despite his action packed script, Seagal adopts his funny, pseudo-regional dialect that sounds like he was amusing himself more than the audience.

Most people are going to laugh, but I enjoyed this latest Seagal film "Kill Switch". Sure, whoever edited this film was color blind as Seagals jacket and weight change mid fight scene. Sure, shots from earlier scenes with Seagal are inserted in the middle of a fight scene to make one think he is actually there doing the fighting (horrible when you notice it). However, the concept of a simple story (Memphis detective tracking 2 serial killers) was a great idea by Seagal. It sets up fight scene after fight scene which is what his fans want. The fight scenes are brutal, the flash, quick cut style can be great if used properly-here it is overused...most likely to compensate for Seagal's lack of involvement. The double, triple, quadruple takes on the punches with minimal blood and bruising is also a let down. However, there are some positives (the clown story "does this taste funny to you?") is terrific. I think the overall concept of what Seagal wanted to do with this film is what every Seagal fan wanted. The problem is the low budget, lack of re-shoots with Seagal hurt a lot of his "D.T.V" releases and I have to believe it has to do with his contract. The first 10 minutes of the film are good followed by a bad 15 minutes. The middle part of the film is decent with a terrific ending (I'm talking before the weird Russian family scene which looks like it might be a part of his upcoming release "Ruslan"). I think if he got a theatrical budget for a concept like this film fans would see different results.

Steven Seagal's previous film, "Pistol Whipped", was a pretty solid little low-budget action thriller, and it looked as if Seagal was finally starting to learn from his mistakes and improve upon them. "Kill Switch" makes "Pistol Whipped" look like a fluke. Does he honestly expect people to like this movie? For starters, the fight scenes are a joke. They're hardly even fight scenes - mostly just Seagal beating up people. Or should I say, his frequently obvious stunt double beating up people. They are edited very annoyingly, with lots of dropped frames, repeated shots, and close-ups of frantically waving arms. Seagal adopts a ridiculous (I think it was meant to be Southern - "Y'all", "Lord Have Mercy", "Sho Nuff", etc.) accent, has a love interest at least 20 years younger than him, whom he completely ignores, because that's what all supercool detectives like him do, and is joined in his latest investigation by a rookie female FBI agent, whom he's a complete jerk to, because, again, that's what all supercool detectives like him do. Did I mention that "he's a genius" and that "he doesn't follow protocol"? And what's with the film's fascination with torture, sadism, close-ups of corpses....blergh. Is Seagal making a play for the "SAW" market? And let's not even mention the completely nonsensical ending. The only semi-redeeming features of "Kill Switch" are some unintentional laughs, and the presence of Holly Dingard and Isaac Hayes (in one of his last roles). *1/2 out of 4.

If you want a accurate account of the flaws of this movie just read lee nicholson (dolemite72) review it really sums it all up It's a pity really as the film with better editing could have been quite decent the fights scenes in this movie are rubbish choppy and use a really unconvincing stunt double apart from the last fight which is all seagal and boy does the difference in quality prove it the earlier scenes seemed to have been put together by a five year old with a inserted image of a mean seagal intertwined with poor fighting from a stunt double just watching the last fight scene with seagal doing most of the fighting shows what could have been if he did the earlier stuff as for the character seagal plays they seem to over exaggerate the violence him been a cop and all the arrest of the serial killer is a prime example of this as he virtually breaks all his ribs with 2 cops watching then taking him away with no complaint of police brutality I know seagal is a maverick cop but that was just plain verging of stupidity if seagal had did more of the fighting apart from just the last one this would have been a half decent movie but he didn't and this isn't