Signature Entertainment presents Mercenary For Justice on Digital Platforms 5th April and on Amazon Prime Video 16th April.
Synopsis
Steven Seagal plays tough mercenary John Seeger in this high-octane actioner. When Seeger is blackmailed into leading a highly dangerous rescue attempt to free a billionaire’s kidnapped son in South Africa, he goes along with the mission. But when Seeger finds out that he’s been double-crossed the gloves come off – and now there’s going to be hell to pay.
Review
When you think of action films if you’re not thinking of Seagal then you must be doing it wrong. growing up for me Steven Seagal was THE MAN, such a cool and charismatic character with the ability to take down an army single handedly, for me embodied the “action hero.” Now I get the chance to watch a re-release of one of his films in HD. Let’s see if Mercenary For Justice really does stand the test of time or something that’s better left as a distant memory.
The film itself starts off in a predictable fashion when we see John Seeger (Seagal) and his team of mercenaries sent on a suicide mission that puts them in danger. It’s a solid opening to the film with lots going on and plenty of action to set the tone.
When one of Seeger’s closest friends is killed in the firefight he vows to take care of his widowed wife and son. This is where the film takes an interesting, if not darker, turn as events unfold that see the widow and her son kidnapped by the villainous Anthony Chapel (Roger Guenveur Smith) and John Dresham (Luke Goss). Used as blackmail to get Seeger to do one more job for them, he rejoins the team once again to rescue a billionaire weapons dealer / drug lord’s son from a high security Eastern European prison.
This intense backstory gives the film a fierce mix of blackmail, betrayal and revenge. Mixed with Seagal at his finest, it all makes for a high octane visual ride. For me director Don E. FauntLeRoy gets it right in many ways, allowing Seagal to shine in his own ice cool way as the lead hero using all his moves to get the job done.
Mercenary For Justice plays out like any good action movie should, with a storyline full of betrayal and revenge that has you glued to the screen, mix that with plenty of guns and explosions and you have the perfect mix for an action film.
The film doesn’t let off throughout with it all building to one epic fire fight finale making Mercenary For Justice the ultimate beer and pizza movie in a fantastically over the top way. Moral of the story don’t double cross Seagal, it won’t end well.
Verdict
I really enjoyed the film and although it was a bit dated in terms of some of the fight scenes looked a bit sloppy, it all felt right and I enjoyed the film for what it was, a Saturday night beer and pizza switch off your brain and enjoy type of film.
8/10
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