I'm really not a fan of Steven Seagal, but I get a kick out of watching the movies he made prior to the year 2000 because it's fun to root for the opponents! Gary Busey in "Under Siege", Everett McGill in "Under Siege II: Dark Territory", Bill Forsyth in "Out for Justice", William Sadler in "Hard to Kill" and - last but not least - Henry Silva here in "Above the Law" ... For some reason, I always wish for the bad guys to prevail in Steven Seagal movies.
This is probably my own personal reaction to how irritatingly serious Seagal takes himself. Unlike other action heroes of his generation, like Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone, Seagal is completely humorless and unable to depict characters with weaknesses. Take Nico Toscani in "Above the Law", for instance. He's an Italian patriot, an honest cop, a devoted father and husband, a concerned uncle, a respectful martial-arts wizard, a noble 'Nam veteran, and a social community activist. Phew, Nico! Do you want a statue, or something? Or a Nobel Peace Price perhaps?
Nico walks out of his newborn son's baptism party to work his shift (my wife would kill me for that) and discovers that all FBI agents are dumb, and all CIA agents are utterly corrupt. The plot is uninteresting, and the action footage is unexciting because nobody stands a chance against Seagal and his aikido-shizzle. Henry Silva, on the other hand, is a glorious villain! He's mean, relentless, and megalomaniacal. He even makes the dreadfully old mistake of not killing his opponent when he has the chance. Toy around with your prey and you get eaten yourself, Henry!
This is probably my own personal reaction to how irritatingly serious Seagal takes himself. Unlike other action heroes of his generation, like Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone, Seagal is completely humorless and unable to depict characters with weaknesses. Take Nico Toscani in "Above the Law", for instance. He's an Italian patriot, an honest cop, a devoted father and husband, a concerned uncle, a respectful martial-arts wizard, a noble 'Nam veteran, and a social community activist. Phew, Nico! Do you want a statue, or something? Or a Nobel Peace Price perhaps?
Nico walks out of his newborn son's baptism party to work his shift (my wife would kill me for that) and discovers that all FBI agents are dumb, and all CIA agents are utterly corrupt. The plot is uninteresting, and the action footage is unexciting because nobody stands a chance against Seagal and his aikido-shizzle. Henry Silva, on the other hand, is a glorious villain! He's mean, relentless, and megalomaniacal. He even makes the dreadfully old mistake of not killing his opponent when he has the chance. Toy around with your prey and you get eaten yourself, Henry!