I go into this review admittedly having not watched a lot of Seagal's DTV stuff, which there are hundreds of, but I have watched a few as well as all his theatrical releases so I think I'm pretty clued up on what to expect by now.
And for the most part, Born to Raise Hell fulfills the expectations you have of a Seagal movie - Seagal plays his usual role as a cop or some other sort of government/military official, some bad guys pop up, Seagal chases them down and deals with them. Usually, this combination of factors leads to a good watch where you can just sit and enjoy without thinking too much, but there are a few things that pull this film down from the usual Seagal standards.
Firstly, the cinematography and camera work is pretty terrible - unnecessary shaky camera and slow motion effects, freeze frames on really ridiculous moments (such as one on the main villain's face in the middle of raping a woman), the lot. It reminded me of that "you wouldn't steal a car" anti-piracy advert, except imagine that for whole action/dramatic sequences.
Another issue is that there is pretty extensive dubbing over of Seagal's voice - it's there from the very start and happens every so often throughout, always reminding you that it's there, that ol' Steven just can't deliver his hard-hitting lines anymore (if he ever could). One fairly hilarious example is near the end when Seagal says a line "I'll be out in 10, 15 minutes" with the word "minutes" dubbed over. Did they really need to dub over the word "minutes" to give it that extra authority it needed? There usually is always a little bit of dubbing in Seagal DTV flicks and it's fine but there's just way too much here.
The other main criticism is the other characters - one of whom, a Russian drug lord living in Romania, is originally pursued by Seagal and his team but then Seagal sees fit to make a deal with this drug lord who has killed or ordered the killing of multiple people throughout the film, in order to pursue the main drug lord villain. There is a scene at the end where Seagal is talking to this morally reprehensible guy like they're friends. According to the film's logic it's OK because the other drug lord does home invasions where he murders people and rapes the women while the other one isn't as bad.
There is also one of the most cringeworthy scenes I've seen in a Seagal movie yet, where the overweight, ageing Seagal "makes love" with his young Romanian girlfriend. The shoddy camera-work with Seagal wearing clothes while his girlfriend is basically naked and quick cuts to make it look like they're having sex but not really just makes this scene unintentionally hilarious.
Overall, Born to Raise Hell is a less than passable Seagal DTV flick. Don't get me wrong, it's still enjoyable to watch, and Seagal's usual action sequences with martial arts are as good as what you'd expect from the guy's DTV movies. But poor directing, dubbing and some choice plot scenarios let this one down.
And for the most part, Born to Raise Hell fulfills the expectations you have of a Seagal movie - Seagal plays his usual role as a cop or some other sort of government/military official, some bad guys pop up, Seagal chases them down and deals with them. Usually, this combination of factors leads to a good watch where you can just sit and enjoy without thinking too much, but there are a few things that pull this film down from the usual Seagal standards.
Firstly, the cinematography and camera work is pretty terrible - unnecessary shaky camera and slow motion effects, freeze frames on really ridiculous moments (such as one on the main villain's face in the middle of raping a woman), the lot. It reminded me of that "you wouldn't steal a car" anti-piracy advert, except imagine that for whole action/dramatic sequences.
Another issue is that there is pretty extensive dubbing over of Seagal's voice - it's there from the very start and happens every so often throughout, always reminding you that it's there, that ol' Steven just can't deliver his hard-hitting lines anymore (if he ever could). One fairly hilarious example is near the end when Seagal says a line "I'll be out in 10, 15 minutes" with the word "minutes" dubbed over. Did they really need to dub over the word "minutes" to give it that extra authority it needed? There usually is always a little bit of dubbing in Seagal DTV flicks and it's fine but there's just way too much here.
The other main criticism is the other characters - one of whom, a Russian drug lord living in Romania, is originally pursued by Seagal and his team but then Seagal sees fit to make a deal with this drug lord who has killed or ordered the killing of multiple people throughout the film, in order to pursue the main drug lord villain. There is a scene at the end where Seagal is talking to this morally reprehensible guy like they're friends. According to the film's logic it's OK because the other drug lord does home invasions where he murders people and rapes the women while the other one isn't as bad.
There is also one of the most cringeworthy scenes I've seen in a Seagal movie yet, where the overweight, ageing Seagal "makes love" with his young Romanian girlfriend. The shoddy camera-work with Seagal wearing clothes while his girlfriend is basically naked and quick cuts to make it look like they're having sex but not really just makes this scene unintentionally hilarious.
Overall, Born to Raise Hell is a less than passable Seagal DTV flick. Don't get me wrong, it's still enjoyable to watch, and Seagal's usual action sequences with martial arts are as good as what you'd expect from the guy's DTV movies. But poor directing, dubbing and some choice plot scenarios let this one down.