'Hard To Kill' - The Only Good "True" Seagal Movie

Hello, and welcome back to Second Chances where the maligned, forgotten, and ignored come back swinging.

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I spent a lot of my life watching action icons. My favorite movies lists that I put up last year have plenty of representation from the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. However, one action icon from the era that has become a punchline since that period ended is Steven Seagal.

I can understand some of the issues people have with Seagal. Now, I'm not talking about his political positions like his support for Joe Arpaio or his palling around with Putin; I already wrote a piece about separating an entertainer from his work. I'm talking about the issues people have with his movies. His films can be very formulaic, especially his direct-to-video stuff. He has taken to using body and voice doubles WAY too much while still expecting the audience to believe he can still do the stuff he did in the 90s. The fact that his ego wouldn't allow his characters to be fallible or injured can get very grating. The only great Seagal movie is Under Siege; however, that's not a true Seagal movie. Since he didn't write or produce it, his ego was kept largely in check. Think... would he have written that his character gets injured and has to be saved by Miss July '89? Of course not. As far as I'm concerned, there is only one true Seagal movie worth watching, and that's 1990's Hard To Kill.

In the movie, Seagal plays a cop (what else?) named Mason Storm. After catching footage of a politician making a deal with the mob to take out a political opponent, Storm and his family are attacked in a home invasion. His wife Felicia (Bonnie Burroughs) is killed, and he is heavily wounded and assumed dead. His best friend O'Malley (Frederick Coffin, who was also in V.I. Warshawski) learns Storm's pulse had returned but he was comatose. Storm is hidden under a "John Doe" identity until he regains consciousness seven years later. As the corrupt politician Vernon Trent (Bill Sadler) has dirty cops in his pocket and control of the LA media, Storm has to trust O'Malley and his nurse at the hospital Andrea, played by Seagal's then-wife Kelly LeBrock.

There are plenty of problems with this movie, many of which are typical for a Seagal film. Even though he has to be helped by Andrea after he awakens from his coma, he still does things that coma patients wouldn't be able to like pushing his own gurney and talking. Things can be comically too convenient like how fast the corrupt cops find Storm after he woke up (keeping in mind he had been assumed dead for seven years). The fact that the main villain was revealed in the first scene does eliminate any mystery for the audience; it takes Seagal an hour to learn what the audience already knew. Aside from the the wounding at the beginning, Seagal spends the rest of the movie in God Mode, winning fights way too easily.

Like I said, many of those problems are present in Seagal's other films. Fortunately, in Hard To Kill, the pros outweigh the cons. While Seagal does get through almost every action scene without a scratch, there is a wide variety of them. Everything from car chases to shoot-outs to melee fights shows up with no two setpieces looking alike. The variety of action keeps things exciting. The cast is largely very solid. I said before that Bill Sadler is underappreciated, and that's proven here. He is delectable as the slimy Vernon Trent. (Also keep an eye out for an early appearance by Breaking Bad's Dean Norris.) Kelly LeBrock is as likeable here as she is in Weird Science. The cinematography is gorgeous for the establishing shots; moments from the movie can be perfect promo pics for Southern California. Finally, even though the story is very predictable and formulaic, it has great moments of humor and a satisfying resolution, things that are rare for Seagal's work.

I'm not a Seagal fan. I've watched almost all of his movies from the 80s and 90s, and the by-the-numbers nature of them tended to rub me the wrong way. Hard To Kill is one of the only exceptions. It's predictable but engaging. The characters are flat but enjoyable. It and Under Siege are the two movies that prove Seagal doesn't deserve critical bashing all the time, and you can take that to the bank. Give it another shot.

What do you think? Any more Seagal films deserve another look? Let me know, and take care.