I had a feeling, as with many of his films, that this direct-to-DVD release would another waste of my time, and that Under Siege would still remain the only good film he has ever done, and I was right. Basically, following 9/11, and the connection and involvement of narcotics during the crisis, the United States government created the International Drug Task Force (IDTF). The IDTF task forces have top narcotics officers and teams throughout Asia and Eastern Europe. Robert "Bobby" Samuels (Steven Seagal, also writing and producing) heads an IDTF team in Bucharest, Romania. Bobby's partner was killed six months ago, so headquarters have sent an officer named Steve (D. Neil Mark) to become his new partner. Steve's wife is eight months pregnant, and he really wants to return home in time to see the birth of his child. Recently, Russian drug kingpin Dmitri (Dan Badarau) has formed a drug dealing partnership with Romanian criminal Costel (Darren Shahlavi), who runs the Roma Ace, one of the most popular clubs in Bucharest. Dmitri has a wife (Silvia Stanciu) and a young son (Stefan Iancu), who are unaware of his drug business. Costel and his men specialise in home invasions, invading wealthy people's homes to steal valuable loot, and killing the family after doing so. During each invasion, Costel himself rapes and kills the wife. Costel owes Dimitri money, and he threatens to kill him if he does not pay soon. Bobby and Steve are on the trail of the criminals. Dimitri is arrested in an effort for Bobby and Steve to find Costel. But Dimitri is released after setting the officers up for police brutality, butting his head through the SUV window. Bobby and Steve continue to hunt for Costel without him. One night while Dimitri is away from his mansion, Costel and his men break into it, and Costel's right-hand man Dada (Zoltán Butuc) fatally shoots Dimitri's wife. Before Costel can kill Dimitri's son, Dimitri's men intervene, killing some of Costel's men as Costel and Dada escape. Dimitri arrives at the mansion, learns what happened, and vows to make Costel and Dada pay. Dimitri's traumatized son describes his wife's shooter to him. Dimitri contacts Bobby and offers to help him find Costel if Bobby will let Dimitri handle Dada himself. Bobby agrees, and he, Steve, and Dimitri set out to bring Costel and Dada down. Also starring Claudiu Bleont as Sorin, Cosmina Pasarin as Nina, George Remes as Ronnie, and Madalina Mariescu as Tami. All Seagal does is mumble his dialogue, have unconvincing fights and point his gun, the film is just overloaded with clichés we have seen hundreds of times, and to be honest, I could not concentrate as it was so boring, a dull and pointless action thriller. Poor!
Review of Born to Raise Hell
