Urban Justice

Since 2001 life has not been too kind for Steven Seagal fans who watched him come back to the number 1 charts with the box office hit exit wounds nearly 7 years ago only to stumble with the less than stellar half past dead,and from there it was dtv jail without passing go. And if that was not bad enough the majority of his dtv films have been howlers aside from a few. Urban Justice had a lot riding against its success as most fans are jaded,but let me say that Urban Justice turned out to be his best and most violent film since exit wounds. Seagal is Simon Ballister who is attending his policeman son's funeral that was premeditated by crooked cops or local gangsters and Simon is here to simply find out who killed his son and take them to hell. We don't get much exposition on his character other than he is a man with a "dark past",and for the most part it works just fine. Eddie Griffin and Danny Trejo show up for as rival gang leaders with danny's role running about 5 minutes at best. Both men come off well.Yes.Even Eddie Griffin this time. The real surprise is the lack of stunt doubles and the fact that Seagal is doing all his own fight scenes here.Bones are broke,necks snapped,ball shot upon ball shot,maiming,and gratuitous violence for all as only Steven Seagal can deliver.There are also some nice gunfights that recall Under Siege and a really good car chase.Director Don E. FauntLeRoy does a really good job of directing this time out. As for Seagal? he is just fine here aside from a Brooklyn accent that pops into an urban drawl and back again. It kind of gets on this viewers nerves.Other than that he is totally hellbent and has that scrappy charm that we remember from the good old days is back. 8/10

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source: Urban Justice

You must be possibly bored with Steven Seagal taking on international mercenaries well so am I? In this fourth and final installment in Seagal Month, our favorite portly martial artist tries to take on L.A. street gangs with "Urban Justice"! "Urban Justice" has an interesting behind-the-scenes story when during the beginning of production; Screen Gems was considering a theatrical release for this film. Unsurprisingly, this is another one for the straight-to-DVD bin. This film is also notable for the fact Seagal isn't the only famous person in it and it's filmed in Los Angeles and Albuquerque instead of Romania and Bulgaria. So, is Seagal back? You wish. A rookie cop gets killed in a drive-by shooting, and the LAPD dismisses it off as a random act of violence. I guess they haven't learned anything since the Rodney King incident. To make this film already mind-boggling, the slain officer has a father who happens to be an ex-Special Forces operative named Simon Bannister or Simon Ballister whatever I don't care. That's right; Seagal is playing this character just like every role for the past 56 years of his career. Moving into the worst part of L.A., Seagal enlists the help of a liquor store owner (Carmen Sarrano, in a thankless role) and an unlimited supply of guns to take on two rival gangs. Will Seagal avenge the death of a son that we've already forgotten about? Then prepare to be bored in the next 96 minutes. The concept of Seagal facing off against street gangs may sound like mindless fun but it's eminently forgettable and clichéd. It appears that 90% of the film takes place in absolute darkness possibly to cover up Seagal's sweaty skin and multiple chins. The fight scenes are both under directed and over directed to the point of inconsistency. And I'm sorry Don E. Fauntleroy, but you are not Michael Mann. However, there are some positives as Seagal is doubled much, much less and appears in the film more than usual doing his own fights. While Eddie Griffin is insufferable as the main thug, sadly there is not enough Danny Trejo. I guess the real reason "Urban Justice" never got a theatrical release is because moviegoers aren't going to waste their hard-earned money on this formulaic, standard and generic tripe. Three stars for Trejo's all-to-brief appearance, Seagal's hard-to-make-out mumbling and most of all, not filming it in Eastern Europe. Thank god I don't have to review any more of Seagal.

I can understand why Stevo fans have given this a good rating because it is an easily digestible film unlike his normal messily edited attempt at action classics like Shadow Man and Submerged... I have seen all the stevo's and this is definitely just under average (subjective to Stevo films). He is trying, but there is a total lack of imagination in this film. The fight scenes are pretty unimaginative with Stevo doing a lot of donkey kicks that aren't really used in Aikido, He's to fat to do all these kicks!!! And there is a really boring car chase and an even more boring shootout at the end where he just stands still while bad guy's walk through the same door one at a time getting shot! What happened to his unique style that got everyone hooked like in Marked for Death and Out For Justice. The music is awful and detracts from what is happening in the story which is hard because there isn't much of a story at all! No no no! Even though Stevo films aren't amazing at least they usually have imagination!! I thought Submerged was better than this film its got a lot of potential in the story and some great supporting actors and action although ruined by lousy editing... Urban Justice stands out as a Stevo film because it is well edited even thought the Story and the Screenplay are really dull, it is just a breath of fresh air for Stevo fans because his films are so formulaic and this film is slightly different to his usual offering.

Having reverted to re-watching the Seagal classics after his recent down-turn, I bought this film on the strength of reviews. To any one doing the same- rent it first. I have a high tolerence when it comes to Seagal films of late, but this is pushing it. Painfully slow and drawn-out, particularly given the simplicity of the plot, I couldn't wait for this film to end. The dialogue, as mentioned many times on here is abysmal, and Steven continuously using the 'mother f**ker' just doesn't sit right, and is quite embarrassing. The car chase is dull and uninteresting to watch, not helped by the complete absence of background music giving it a total lack of pace. I actually found Eddie Griffin's time on screen some of the best parts of the film, offering up some comedy lines to relieve the pain somewhat! This film is definitely not a return to form, although top marks for effort in the respect that he's doing his own fights again. Maybe its finally time for Steve to accept that Don E Fauntleroy is hapless and doing his career more harm than good. And in comparison to recent films? I've watched Flight of Fury three times (recycled stock flight photography aside, its not terrible)- I can't see me watching this one again anytime soon.

I went to work this week and had a chance to take home the preview DVD of urban justice and also be the first one in the store to see it. I have to tell everybody this. This is the best Steven seagal film he has done in ages and i mean ages. The fight scenes were at the same quality as in the glimmer man and there were no voice dubs at all and heres the best bit..... there are no stunt doubles in this film i was amazed that being a recent Steven seagal film there was nothing critical wrong with urban justice. The overall plot of the movie was typical Steven seagal material but overall if you are a fan of Steven seagal you will love this action flick. Forget attack force and flight of fury.... Steven seagal is back.

Where do I start... We all know the formula. Steven plays a guy who's out to revenge his Son murder (orignal stuff this)He tracks down bad people dishes out justice blah blah. I'm all for action and really wanting to see Steven kick all types of bad guys ass but the plot is terrible. The acting is wooden as hell and did I mention the script. Just because you have a bunch of gang bangers as your bad guys doesn't give you a reason to use the Mother F**ker word in every action scene. Thats just lazy writing. Did the actors get to ad lib...please say no. If any of his Fans read this, please just save your money and go Rent "Exit Wounds" it's the way we should remember him until he gets a great cast,writer and Director.

This is a tough one for me. I saw UJ on my already small computer screen with bad sound and a YouTube sized window so I think I got far from the whole experience. I had a great time watching it on this small screen format and bet the experience watching it on DVD on my my 32" TV, and a lot better sound will certainly enhance the experience. UJ definitely had better fights. Real hard gritty, old school style Seagal Aikido fights. Better than the fights in Exit Wounds and I haven't seen Seagal fight this much and with such style since Fire Down Below. BOTB had very entertaining Fu-Whire work and a bit better pacing. but then again I watched UJ on a tiny, tiny window. Perhaps the camera work should have shocked less during the actions scenes and a few less close ups, but it's Seagal alright, doing all his own old school kind of fighting with bone crunching, Aikido throws and wristlocks. There are a few wide shots of the fighting so one can see that he still is very fast, and the fights were done for real. Mostly it was medium sized shots so no editing tricks here. Not just the magic of editing. He even pushes people around like in his old days before punching them out. Now the story in BOTO was a slightly better end more emotionally involving. The story here were the simplest possible, but then again it only worked in favor of the movie. The plot is very brave for daring to be this simplistic. But it's professionally told. One doesn't really care this time who Seagal beets up to a bloody pulp. Seagal just wants to kill anyone who comes his way. I don't think I have ever seen Seagal this mean spirited before. Not even in Out For Justice, because in that movie he had more of a reason to be brutal. In UJ the audience doesn't hate the bad guys with a vengeance, as they do in many of the classic Steven Seagal revenge flicks. But Seagal does. It is good to see Seagal skip the self righteous preachiness of his older movies. In this one he's just a bad mother... Who cleans up the neighborhood for no higher cause than to get his revenge. And he's not to particular with who gets hurt in the proses. As he says, he has no care for if he lives or dies. BOTB had a lot of doubles for Seagal even if he also did a lot of his own fighting, and he was voice dubbed for a lot of scenes. The Fu-Whire work were very entertaining and the action scenes over the top fun. BOTB had more humor than UJ, but UJ had Seagals own old school gritty style. The acting in both movies were pretty much OK. UJ had better acting overall. The cinematography was slightly better in BOBT and more style too burn with the camera work. UJ also had good cinematography. Better than in Mercenary where some of the indoor scenes were to dark. There is a lot of that kind of photography in UJ also but this time it's better done. UJ is gritty and almost documentary like in its style. Very laid back and it only capture its action straight on, without a lot of stylized camera angels or camera movements. The editing is a bit sloppy in UJ though as it was in Mercenary. Perhaps Faunt need to plan his shots in advance a bit more careful. But then again they had a crazy shooting schedule, only 20 days including the shooting of the action. It takes some craftsmanship to make something like this fairly high quality looking production. BOTB had top notch production qualities and craftsmanship in the technical department. A bit to wild in its style but made for great mindless entertainment. OK, this is a tough decision. Both BOTB and UJ are for me Seagals best movies since Fire Down Below, and definitely better than his other STVs. I'm no big fan of Exit Wounds. For me both BOTB and UJ are way better. Into The Sun is slightly behind these two STV productions. There's no obvious winner between these two. But I have to declare UJ the winner of these two late Seagal flicks.

After what seems like a thousand sub-standard euro-lensed obscure dub-fests of STV's, Steven Seagal finally goes back to basics as an unstoppable foul mouthed short-fused killing machine. And URBAN JUSTICE goes a long way to help restore this action icons credibility in the action arena, he once dominated. Seagal plays Simon Ballister, a guy with a shadowy past (but doesn't he always) out to avenge the killer(s) of his son (who happened to be a cop)....but unlike recent Seagal stv movies, this movie, rarely wastes any time with filler plots, and unwanted characters...this gets straight down to the brutal action, that his fans have been craving for. Urban Justice is an extremely brutal movie, with some really good hand to hand and kick combos from the 'Stout Sensei', as he takes on everyone, with (an almost) sadistic relish. Seagal seems interested in this one as well, and attempts a performance, but whenever the script threatens to get TOO serious, there's always a scene of carnage round the corner. The profanity in this one is ripe (and i mean CASINO/GOODFELLAS ripe) but suitably apt, given it's theme of 'frustrating revenge of a loved one') I'd love to hear how TV stations will try to dub over this one, for a more 'friendlier' version? Eddie Griffin is good in this one, as a would-be Tony Montana, whereas Danny Trejo gives another great performance, albeit, in one scene with Seagal (reunited 17 years after MARKED FOR DEATH) As for the fights, it's safe to say that Seagal is just as fast as ever, and appears to be doing all the fighting (allthough quick cuts, do nothing to prove or disprove this) it's good to see Seagal getting back on track, and giving the fans what they want, and also regaining the credibility he needs. As it is, URBAN JUSTICE is finally a movie i can show off to my mates again (haven't done that since INTO THE SUN) and hopefully MARKER can help stretch Seagal's acting chops, as much as his judo chops. All in all, a great movie, and a welcome return for the baddest man on planet action....what took you so long Steven? Big Lee gives this simplistic, violent revenge thriller 10 out of 10