On M List of Movie Reviews
(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)
Marked for Death (1990)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
12/04, 4/09, 1/20
4/09:
Marked for Death is the worst of the first four Steven Seagal films.
This one lacks energy, and the direction is bland, causing me to fall asleep several times. The plot isn't interesting.
Worse, Steven Seagal isn't as exciting or motivated as he was in
Hard to Kill which was released during the same year.
By the way, did Tracey survive the brain surgery that resulted from the drive-by shooting? I never found out. Let's face it:
the movie is all about Steven Seagal expressing his manhood to everybody. When a house is riddled with tons of bullets,
you don't attempt to go back there and resume living. But that's what John Hatcher's sister did, and twice at that!
All in all, Marked for Death is disappointing when compared to other Steven Seagal's classics:
Above the Law,
Hard to Kill, and Out for Justice.
1/20:
I still consider Marked for Death to be the worst of the first four Steven Seagal films.
What makes the picture different from the other three is that it was produced by 20th Century Fox. The feel isn't the
same. Notice in the beginning how John Hatcher (Seagal) uses his hands on people as they're constantly pushed around. Oddly, he
sports an earring on the left side. Once at home, John is back to his normal self sans the earring.
Screwface is the most formidable adversary Steven Seagal has ever faced. Yet he dispatched him and his twin brother just like
that. It's the buildup that made things tough for his character. Really, John should've died when Screwface's henchman
had him pinned in his nice-looking '73 Ford Mustang between the two heavy machinery. All they needed to do was toss the Molotov
cocktail into the car, shoot him to death, and fucking stick around to make sure he didn't escape.
Steven Seagal isn't bad, but I notice he recycled the same Aikido stuff from
Above the Law and Hard to Kill.
Yet it's hard to complain when he did his bone-breaking moves for good measure. On the other hand, Keith David is a throwaway.
Equipped with super piercing evil blue eyes, Basil Wallace is memorable as Screwface. Kevin Dunn shows up for a minute and
then disappears along with the FBI, making me question the legality of what John was doing.
Going back to the beginning when John was home, he listened to his friend's problems: how he lost his best football
player and his 13-year-old nephew to drug overdoses. Then, John was telling him crap like how there were many little holes in
the dam while the water kept gushing out and there was nothing anyone could do about it. As soon as his niece was shot and
sent to the hospital, John decided to wipe out the entire Jamaican posse. Mucho hypocrisy, huh?
All in all, although it provides lots of Steven Seagal action, I'm not a fan of Marked for Death.