Shadow Man Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Either you're with him... or you're dead.
You're either on his side... or you're dead!
An intelligence operative discovers that no one is what they seem in the shadowy world of espionage.
| Steven Seagal | Jack Foster |
| Eva Pope | Anya |
| Imelda Staunton | Ambassador Cochran |
| Vincent Riotta | Harry |
| Michael Elwyn | George |
| Skye Bennett | Amanda Foster |
| Garrick Hagon | Waters |
| Alex Ferns | Schmitt |
| Michael Fitzpatrick | Chambers |
| Elias Ferkin | Velos |
| Levan Uchaneishvili | Jensen |
| Zoltan Butuc | Seaka |
| Emanuel Parvu | Urick |
| Vince Leigh | Roger |
| Werner Daehn | Cyrell |
| Michael Keusch |
4.10 out of 10 (1168 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Best Seagal film in a while, but still pritty bad.
posted on 05 Jul 2009Steven Seagal is getting old. Luckily he had found some extra energy when compared to his "movie" Black Dawn. Still - Steven seems to be so fat and tired of all this action junk, that he only has the energy to whisper his lines and barely keeps his eyes open. Anyways Shadow Man is definitely an above average film in Steven's latest production thanks to good production quality, director and a better script than on average in these films.The plot is simple: Steven's character Jack is carrying micro cell containing a virus without knowing about it. Bad guys and the good guys want it. Ka-Boom. The end.The film is pretty good in the beginning but it kinda loses it's intensity on the way. In the end of the film you just wish for the film to end. It's a horrible movie but if you have absolutely nothing better to do and you're a Steven Seagal fan - then you might check this one out. Otherwise - get something else. I'm not a demanding critic when it comes down to guys like Steven Seagal: The problem's just that I gotta keep it real - I didn't feel myself entertained during the film. Steven's losing his grip on this.Some people say Steven Seagal has only one face. They couldn't be more wrong; Stevie has at least two faces. Cool and extra-cool. In the film for a second I thought Steven was trying to act but neh.. I was wrong.
Bad. Really very bad.
posted on 26 May 2009OK, Steven Segal appears ill in this movie. His face is puffy. He is slow. His fight scenes are not up to his older work. His character is just not "alive". Wooden seems appropriate.The lines are bad. The acting is strictly "b-movie". The lighting is just OK. The camera-work is AWFUL! Too low a frame-rate, WAY too much camera jitter. It doesn't look amateurish hand-held, it looks like the cameraman was fighting with a dog while trying to film!We left quite early, so it is possible this disaster got better later on. But I don't believe it.I would not give this a 'D'. I would give it an 'F'. Proof that there really is a time one should just start saying NO to martial arts films.Not much more I can say without spoilers.
Very good!!!Best Steven's picture in years!!
posted on 22 May 2009Steven Seagal:since he has made films,he was making films with a lot of surceases.But in the mean time,Steven is getting older,fatter,and even worst.When I first saw this movie,I thought it was not very good.But then I realized that wasn't very bad,in mather of fact,it was very good.The plot is better than many others of his movies.For example:in this movie all of fight scenes were not doubled(except the first one in the very beginning).Many films had these things(stunt doubles in most of his fights,stunts and action sequences.Just like Black Dawn,Submerged and so one.But in this one he looked more like the old steve that we have met years ago.But the age comes and it is inevitable.
Bad plot, bad actors, bad director and Seagal out of shape
posted on 16 Apr 2009OK, this is really a bad movie, Steven it's really out of shape like he's going to explode. The dialogs are terrible and so the actors, most of the scenes in the movie are incredible hilarious and ridiculous. The audio is like a Chinese movie from the 70 dubbed to English. The car chase... lol, they were shaking the camera and driving really slow!! Ahhh... the explosion of the helicopter you have to see this. The voice of Seagal, i don't know if his talking or whispering. The point it's that i'm comparing this movie with the older ones of Seagal and if he wants to keep the image he has to have a better director, better actors, better plot and better shape... the other way is to stop acting.Conclusion: if you want to laugh you have to see this, but if you want to see Seagal you have to watch the old ones.
this is the best comedy of 2006
posted on 15 Feb 2009i like under siege , but i think that was like the best movie he ever made ? since then , i don't think he had once made any cool movie . . . i just got to say i LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie's action , fighting , acting , and plot . . Steven kills his own father like nothing, w/ the coolest 1 hand punch to the chest and the father bleed all over the wall right behind it . . than the ultimated unlimited bullets ? sounds like a Chinese movie where everyone has unlimited bullets ? and you noticed how fat Steven has became ? wow for a fat guy w/ those fat cheeks he sure moves pretty quick without running to kick his next victim's. finally we have his 1 man army tactics, 1 vs what was that ? 3 - 4 guys with guns aiming at him ? well i guess his like Boris the bullet dodger . . well there you have it ladies and gents. . we should have this movie as part of America's hall of fame for comedy , though i think he should really start his career toward comedy more than action ? cause all of the things he does is just pure hilarious . . .
Yes
posted on 08 Jan 2009First off....I am Steven Seagal fan. I have seen all his movies and I have seen the decline in his work. His voice gets dubbed. His fights are done by stunt doubles, and a lot of his new direct to DVD films are just boring. A lot of Seagal fans raved about Mercenary for Justice as his comeback film but the reality was that that was a boring movie. Shadow Man is not a boring movie. Is Seagal's voice dubbed? In spots. Is there a Seagal double? Yes he is doubled a lot, but not in his fights scenes this time. This movie brings one thing to the table that truly matters....ACTION!!!! Let me just list some of the hardcore things Seagal does in this movie.1. Pokes a man's eyes out. 2. shoots an old women in the head. 3.Slaps a bartender. 4.Kills a man with one punch to the chest. 5. Builds a gun out of old plumbing. 6. Blows up a helicopter using only a hand gun....and more. This movie does have a terribly stupid car chase scene and a plot that is tough to follow, but its never boring and that is what matters most. Is this the return of Seagal? Who knows, but he is doing his own fight scenes again and he did them rather well.
too much Seagal garbage!!! BAD BAD BAD
posted on 05 Dec 2008Seagal use to be good Now he's producing the films himself Now they are VERY VERY BADWhy doesn't he retire and play some golf or whatever The movie flips from here to there and the music goes up and down A guy get shot in the first he have a hole in his jacket next time the jacket are as new and no blood on his shirt And so on And on Don't BUY THIS MOVIE ----------------- ----------------------- ----------- ---------------------------- ---------- -------------- ------------ ------------------------- ------- ----------- ---- ------------- ------ ------- ------------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------------
Steven Seagal's Back With Avengence!
posted on 29 Nov 2008Steven Seagal's back with avengence in 'Shadow MAn'! Steven not only has listened to his fans and done all his won stunts, but he also co-wrote the story for the movie adding in even more of a good plot and good dialog! In Shadow man Steven follows a formula that transformed him in the early 1990s! He somehow gets or receives trouble in one form or another, he uses his martial arts skills to punish all who done wrong and give back or get back what they took from him! This movie is a giant step up from his Mercenary For Justice movie released earlier this year, Shadow Man shows Steven in good physical shape and a good interest in the movie. Steven Seagal is gaining ground that he lost after his 'Exit Wound' days. The last couple of years has been a hit-and-miss with fans, but the last two films have been complete hits! If he keeps it up maybe "Prince of Pistals' will be released in theaters! A return to the stardom that has laid dormant since his last U.S. theater release of 'Exit Wounds'.
it ain't over til the wolf howls....
posted on 14 Oct 2008second Seagal film for me today, and i think after Flight of Fury, i have hit a double whammy with this, another (almost) solid movie from Seagal, with amiable support (trevor from east enders, and Eva pope who was in coronation street) and for once there is plenty of action to keep Seagal fans happy.Jack is a man who wears tight suits, and loves his daughter, when meeting his father-in-law, he slips some sort of blood toxin into Jacks hand-held Pc, so he can carry it safely. meeting him later, old daddy gets blown up in a car, and Jacks daughter gets kidnapped by a taxi driver, now it's up to Seagal, his suede jacket, and numerous stunt doubles to save the day, whilst avoiding corrupt cops, the Russian mob and Vera Drakes men.the same old complaints are here for Seagal, using a voice over, though to be fair, it's to a minimum in this movie, but alas stunt doubles are used a lot in this movie (what actor needs a stunt double for getting in and out of a car, and using stairs. plus the back projector during the car chases is as bad as the ones, used in 'north by northwest.but still Seagal uses a lot of martial arts in this movies, and for once the action is pretty slick, as is the story. lighting is bad though, although i must imagine that this is to cover Seagals chin(s).but if you want to see Seagal in a good movie for once and with good support from the rest of the cast, this is one of the better movies he has made.
His best movie on a long time!
posted on 22 Sep 2008This is Seagal's best movie in a long time. The plot was actually more enjoyable than Exit Wounds (although I would not say the production values were better). Obviously this movie is no Under Siege, but it had the qualities of a great action movie: hot women (and lots of them - in fact I can't really recall a Seagal movie with this much nudity), great fight scenes, explosions, etc. It looked like Seagal did all of the fight scenes (and there were a fair amount!) as well as speaking. Seagal looked like he was having fun in this movie. As mentioned, I think this one rivaled Exit Wounds and is his best work in a long time. Someone said this could be the start of a comeback, and I agree. Hopefully the next ones are at least this good and actually supersede it. A definite watch for Seagal fans as well as action movie fans.
The Best Of All His Low Budget Flicks!!
posted on 19 Aug 2008Sometimes when i read the reviews on here i cant believe the bullshit people come up with..(Seagal is fat,Seagal is half asleep,Seagal is past is prime etc)..Wake up people!! Our LEGENDARY CULT hero is 50+ and still making kick ARS action flicks when the rest(Stallone,Arnie,Willis etc etc)have fallen by the wayside..Im sick to death of reading reviews which state..Seagals voice is dubbed, He's not doing his fight scenes etc..A movie is as good as its story,screenplay,director so forth.You put Tom Cruise in any of Seagals low budget flicks and the movies would be just the same!Remember he is no longer with the big Movie studio's of the 90's such as WARNER BROTHERS&FOX!SEAGALS first 10 films were with Warners and all ten are kick ARS movies..Nearly all of his low budget films are COLOMBIA TRI STAR..Just remember Colombia Tristar in the early 90's had the B-Grade action stars/Movies such as Lorenso Lamas,Brain Bosworth,Oliver Gruner,Dolph Lungren the list goes on..Whilst Seagal was with the big spending Warner Brothers so that should tell you why Seagals films today are not as huge as they once were,and to mention our hero is on the other side of 50 i think he is an ABOSLUTE LEGEND and we will not fully appreciate how superb his films are until the great man passes away.A perfect example is Exit Wounds..Hire the DVD and play the making of it.You will see how Seagal was made to do actions scenes that he struggled with..You can see him gasping for breath and in even one scene he has a leg brace on,i gather from pushing to hard in a particular scene.This proves that if you have a great team of filmmakers guiding you the movie will turn out brilliant as Exit Wound definitely was,i think Steven last No-1 Cinema Release!!Tell me what other actor before Seagal would hold his gun an inch away from his face when he shoots a gun(and might i say NO-1 AND I MEAN NO-1 SHOOTS A GUN LIKE SEAGAL) drop the magazine from head level when empty and reload with another one,Snap body parts,Gouge out eyes,And has the BEST on and off screen demena of any tuff guy actors ever seen..Quielty spoken yet with such a quick witt,then man is Brilliant with his one liners..We all judge to quickly on the movies he is making these days yet there are massive circumstances,,Any true Seagal fan would realise this!!I have followed his career since Nico-1988..I have every Poster and every Cardboard cut out of the great mans films until they all stopped with his straight to video releases..I wont hear a bad word about Seagal!He his is a Bloody icon a National Treasure and lifted the bar in action movies 2 fold when he arrived on the seen-1988..As for Shadowman...Brilliant!!Nothing more to be said with the low budget this movies has..The location this film was shot in is stunning and he is now working with people i gather he enjoys working with..He is looking happy and his fight scenes in this movie are really a throw back to the Big Studio days!!I could watch this movie time and time again and i'd reckon it would get better every time..The Granny with the Oozie going ballistic in the Whore House and a single shot by Seagal to the forehead is an Absolute classic, not to mention the Rick Flair fingers in the eyes to the Russian dude at end of the movie..FANTASTIC!Steven if you ever do happen to read any of these reviews i hope you read my one!Cause your true fans know what your all about and there is never a bad word to be said about you!Look forward to your up coming movies and how about coming Down Under and snapping some body parts down here?Cheers
A classic Seagal movie
posted on 19 Aug 2008Lets dissect a Seagal movie:Major Ingrediensts ------------------- 1. Steven Seagal on 90% of scenes. He is The Good, The Mind. The heart and Logic, fearless and powerful, A sex God who never gets old. 2. A dead wife (his recent movies) who has been a good house maid and it ends here. Everything is house is Steve's taste. 3. A Cute pre-school girl who talks like a teenager and doesn't know the meaning of fear and never stops to ask her dad to go to trips, troubles always come when he wants to give up a few seconds to his beloved daughter. Ah damn problems they never end. 4. A fortune company kicking ass under his nonexistent management and supervision, he just slaps and breaks hand and it works that way, the wealths keeps coming. 5. A girlfriend who is so young, so sexy and looses no time to get naked. She is She never has any idea, is semi Mute + Brainless + Idol and wants nothing more than life but sleeping with Steve which he is too tired of that due to overwhelming offers. 6. The rest of world, which is either Bad or Stupid. good ones fall under second category. 7. Car driving (no matter driving like turtles, it IS fast enough) 8. Couple explosions 9. Some kicking, braking hands and necks, 10. Pistol shots and some other cliché stuff of this genre.Minor Ingredients ------------------ 1. A bar with half naked girls and exotic dancers (essential) 2. A martial arts house, Japanese type and Steve talking about it's effect on body and mind, in couple minutes we see it's all worthless, the only thing that counts is slapping on face 3. A rotten friend or copRules ------ 1. Bullets out of Steve pistol find their way, say "intelligently". so don't bother if he shoots 45 degrees to the ground and brings down a chopper. 2. Bullets out of enemy guns are afraid of him and "change their way" before reaching him. So a gang of professionals are very unable to shoot him with machine guns and aiming perfectly 3. He is law, that's why he loves law and people see no problem with that.During recent years his movies lost most of their essential ingredients we are accustomed to, hopefully he is back once more with a bag of all good old tricks, a very Seagal movie. He is the mind of a 4 year old boy in a 300+ pound 6" body barely able to walk fast and his martial arts are nothing but slaps but he looks so confident, a self esteem we all enjoy watching his movies. I think he truly believes in what he does and the child inside him sees him the master of martial arts and that's why his acts look so real as if he really believes the bad guy has broken in half under his feast. Once again he is the first guy in charge and better say the only one in the movie! all Romania is against him and everyone is bad, the Romanian police, Russians, US government and his father in law are are mafia! The only (somehow) good girl in the movie is an ex-agent who has no idea how to protect herself.The plot is so cheesy I am not going to go into detail. Don't ask why he keeps on giving the Romanian Ex-Agent good compliments about her inside, he sees his beloved precious daughter that worths him everything getting attracted to her and he wisely chooses the sexy idol girlfriend over her. He is scientist, genius, understanding and very loyal lovely dad after all and women are the same, even this ex-agent looses control and starts getting naked for him on her first chance but her time is over. Special effects are awful and goofs are endless, don't be bothered when the cab has a single passenger on long shots and two in close ups. The car shots are among the worst I have seen in recent years. The car is in studio and a green background is moving behind the car nevertheless it's running in front of cars, fountain, traffic or anything and you feel like the car is turning round itself! The Seagal reactions are very funny compared to turbulence of the image behind. The scene he shots down the chopper is terrific fun, turning around with a camera on shoulders giving the idea of a chopper in turning motion! the explosion turns out so cheap. Overally the film is so short on budget even the cars collide carefully.The cast is mediocre but Eva Pope gives an acceptable performance. Seagal is old and slow but he does his tricks several times in this movie. It's a real Seagal movie, I have always liked his unique style and I enjoyed this movie very much, a wonderful choice for the weekend at home.Highly recommended for Seagal fans, overall 4/10
Average Seagal vehicle with action,suspense and entertainment
posted on 08 Jul 2008The film concerns about a shadowy CIA ex-agent(Steven Seagal),he goes to Bucarest(Romania) and into airport his daughter is kidnapped after an explosion.A Romanian cabbie(Eva Pope) carries to the small girl and is pursued by Seagal.Later he contacts with the American Ambassador(Imelda Staunton: Vera Drake).The film expands an exciting suspense about world of espionage blending with a lethal virus intrigue and a kidnapping.The picture contains numerous gunshots,blown up,bloody killings and great lots of violence when the struggles and murders happen. Interesting scenes when Seagal is locked into room and he similarly to ¨McGiver¨uses items for creating weapons confronting against the nasties,besides some chase cars are quite thrilling.The film is produced by veteran French producer Pierre Spengler and Joe Halpin,usual financiers from Seagal films and shot at Castel Studios in Bucarest where have filmed his last movies.The picture belongs the last period of Seagal career when he's making middling and low budget films, directly to video and many are considered semi-turkeys stinkers.These film are directed by same directors Don E. Fauntleroy(Mercenary for Justice),Michael Oblowitz(Foreigner),Anthony Hickox(Submerged),Alexander Gruszynski(Black down) and this one Michael Keusch(Attack force,Flight of fury)who continuously directed him in three films .Following the tendency to oriental action cinema ,Seagal hired Asian directors as Mink(Into the sun),Leong(out the reach),Ching(Belly of the beast).These movies aren't on the level from previous successful and big budget Seagal films like Glimmer man,Under Siege I,II,Exit wounds,The patriot,Fire down below and others .
I can't complain too much with this one, I guess...
posted on 26 Jun 2008STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Ex CIA operative Jack Foster (Steven Seagal) travels with his daughter to Bucharest on the fifth anniversary of the death of his wife. However he has little idea that some terrorists are going to use him to courier a deadly chemical weapon and due to some crossed wires, his daughter ends up getting kidnapped. Realizing he is the only one who can bring his daughter out alive, Jack must once again immerse himself in the deadly game of international espionage and stay one step ahead of his faceless enemies at all times.Direct to DVD Steven Seagal movies all my life! Despite the seemingly never ending barrage of forgettable or downright awful DVD action flicks Seagal trots out, I've simply watched each new film the big guy makes for too long now seemingly to stop. The trouble is, I keep wondering...when he will actually make one that is any good? I guess I have found the film that will come closest to ever resembling this with Shadow Man, not a film that fills me with hope for any of his future releases (especially this Godawful looking new one he's about to appear in!) or one I'd particularly race out to see again, but for a European lensed action film, it's quite good.There's not a lot of it, thank goodness, but unfortunately in some of the earlier scenes, the dubbing that's marred some of his more recent films (including Submerged and Out of Reach) returns. Thankfully, it's not for very long though. And while the complicated plot does hold your attention, I'd like to have seen less of it and perhaps a bit more solid, hard-hitting action scenes. But what action there is though, including hand-to-hand fight scenes, explosions and a marvellous car chase at the beginning, certainly doesn't disappoint (with the exception of the awful, obviously computer generated helicopter explosion near the end!) The interminably wooden Seagal (that will all know and love!) remains the same (and will probably never change) but he has quite a perky supporting cast here, including Vera Drake star Imelda Staunton and a host of faces that fans of British soap operas will recognize, including Tanya from Coronation Street and Alex Ferns, evil Trevor from East Enders (thankfully only given minor dialogue as he struggles with an American accent.)I thought it would be another load of time and money thrown down the drain, but I knew what to expect and, considering the usual sort of crap Seagal puts out nowadays, Shadow Man is certainly one of his more watchable efforts. Great cover too. ***
Every new D.T.V has serious upside, serious flaws...
posted on 16 Jun 2008I enjoyed this, or I tried to. I really did. Major improvements-better story, better script, more Seagal, the scene in which he makes a gun out of pipes in the wall was nostalgic. Downside, dubbing with body double again playing a major role here when Seagal is supposed to run,body double runs. When Seagal walks across street, its actually body double walking across street. The body double in Seagal's films should get listed on the acting credits, because he is in these movies as much as Seagal. The FX on the helicopter explosion was awful.007's Dr. NO had more state of the art car chase scenes in the 60's than this had. The problem I had with the film was it never grabbed me. In my opinion "Mercenary for Justice" was a better film. It was faster with better action sequences. This film dragged, the pacing was faster but the director failed to capture the action scenes to make his audience care about them. The ending of this film just came and went for me as I had started to fast forward 2x through a lot of the last 20 minutes or so. Unlike others who reviewed this film, I felt this was a step backwards after "MFJ" rather than forwards as it reminded me of "Out of Reach" or the "Foreigner" which were his worst of the "D.T.V" releases. 6 out of 10 or 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
Seagal is BACK...?
posted on 04 Jun 2008WEll another month or so has gone by and here we have another DTV Seagal movie. Will he keep up the cheesy charm of Mercenary for Justice? Will he re-establish himself a big screen hero with a good comeback flick? or will it sink like Submerged or Black Dawn? The cheese factor is high, as always, but we've got Seagal doing his own fight scene, minimal dubbing (it is present), and a good cast of villains added to the mix, meaning that he isn't moving up, but at least he's doing better then before.The Sensei portrays Jack Foster, a man desperate to reclaim his daughter after she is abducted for something he has unknowingly intercepted.When it comes to the lame DTV franchise, it's the Godfather, or at least Godfather part III.
Bad guys kidnap Seagal's daughter!...
posted on 16 Jan 2008Just saw the movie. I guess it is much better from the last DVD-movies he made. Main reason is that he does almost all his stunts and his talks!:) And his wearing the awesome black leather 3/4 jacket as seen in the DVD cover! The whole story of the movie takes place in Romania where you can see many fit girls.I can say the storyline is pretty straight forward with no big surprises! Seagal goes to Romania with his daughter for the 5 years of his wife's death (she was Romanian). Then he is found himself in a middle of a fight (American Embassy Dirty Agents - Some Eastern European Terrorists) which are trying to get a virus which is believed to be with Seagal; so they kidnap his daughter....and the party begins! This time film-direction looks much better than latest films and Seagal is cool and "untouched" as always. I am s Seagal fan, so I liked the movie! Just a note, the bad guy used to play in a soap opera in UK (Trevor from Eastedenrs!)
Another terrible straight-to-DVD Seagal action film set in Eastern Europe.
posted on 21 Dec 2007Shadow Man starts as ex CIA agent Jack Foster (Steven Seagal) arrives at a Romanian airport with his 8 year old daughter Amanda (Skye Bennett) in readiness for a holiday, however the holiday doesn't last long as a car bomb goes off & Amanda is kidnapped by a woman in a taxi. At the airport Jack meets up with one of his former CIA colleagues Harry (Vincent Riotta) & gives chase to the taxi but they lose it, Jack is angry about someone kidnapping his daughter & Harry fills him in. It seems that Jack's father-in-law George (Michael Elwyn) has smuggled out the formula for a bio-warfare chemical that is wanted by the CIA, the Romanian mafia & the Romanian cops all for differing reasons & that everyone suspects that George has used either Jack or Amanda to smuggle it into the country. Jack is now angrier than ever & kills lots of people as he searches for his daughter...This American, English & Romanian was directed by Michael Keusch & is yet another pretty bad straight-to-DVD low budget action film shot in Eastern Europe with Steven Seagal as some sort of CIA agent, soldier or other military or crime fighting Government official, his career now consists solely of this sort of production & he is still too fat. Do you know the thing that really bothers me about these recent conveyor belt production line of poor straight-to-DVD Seagal action flicks? It's not so much that they are bad but the fact that despite Seagal not making a decent film in over a decade I will always be bone headed enough to sit down & watch them! The script by Steven Collins, Joe Halpin & Seagal himself takes itself very seriously & there really isn't much to it, certainly nothing we haven't seen before. There's the usual cheaply staged fights & shoot-outs along with the now obligatory twists which are far too predictable. The film actually lasts for quite a long time & I must admit I was getting really bored with it, your never quite sure who the main bad guy is meant to be as there are various people after Jack & the formula but none are that menacing, given much motivation or screen time. So basically it's a disjointed plot that stumbles from one fight to another until Seagal finally gets his daughter back, was there any doubt?Director Keusch uses the annoying modern style of quick cut editing & shaky camera moves which gives Shadow Man an irritating look about it. The action scenes are strictly average, there are some fights & a couple of shoot-outs but very little else of interest. The one time the makers try to do something vaguely exciting with a car chase it looks pretty poor & very stilted. As does the whole film generally speaking, it's just not very good although competent I suppose. Seagal again uses long baggy coats to try & hide his weight but he does look out of shape & that's a fact. Then there's the CGI computer effects, Shadow Man contains an awful looking exploding helicopter that would embarrass a Playstation game. I'm not happy about the end either, I mean after causing lots of damage including destroying a public library, shooting & killing lots of people including innocent Romanian police officers are we really expected to believe Jack & Anya would be allowed to simply leave scott free? I'm sorry but you can't be arrested, taken to a police station, beat the hell out of two officers & just walk out. The other cops in the station would have blown Jack away without even thinking about it.Technically the film is alright although I didn't like the look or feel of it with it's MTV style editing & cinematography. Shot in Bucharest in Romania. One other gripe I have with Shadow Man is that quite a lot of the dialogue is spoke in Romanian with English subtitles but the subtitles are very small & only stay on screen for a few seconds & would often disappear before I manged to read them. The acting isn't great, Seagal mumbles his way through his lines as usual while Eva Pope will probably be better known to UK viewers as barmaid Tanya Pooley from over 100 episodes of TV soap opera Coronation Street.Shadow Man is yet another generic, dull & somewhat forgettable Seagal straight-to-DVD action flick. I didn't think that much of it & doubt many will, there are better action films out there.
Watch Shadow Man to see Seagal at his best since Into the Sun (which
posted on 21 Nov 2007The first twenty to thirty minutes of this movie are better than anything Seagal has made since Exit Wounds. Really good stuff that with a little bit more polishing could have been just as good as anything in all of his pre-DTV days. The most annoying thing in these 20-30 minutes is the voice dubbing. This time, I can say, hand-on-heart that it most definitely is NOT Steven's fault, it just seems that getting a Seagal impersonator to "sound" like Seagal (at least to try to) is cheaper than getting Seagal himself to do ADR work in the sound studio. Other minor issues in this first part of the movie are all down to the director's ability to…direct. Everything on-screen oozes presence, fun and involvement. Seagal seems happy to be in this movie and actually looks like he cares about the movie, the music is not that bad, the acting overall is OK, the plot seems to start going in an interesting direction, etc. This is a huge step forward when compared to recent Seagal movies like Mercenary for Justice or Black Dawn. Steven Seagal's movies have not made the same step towards quality like the ones from Van Damme and Lundgren have. Since Half Past Dead his movies have been un-engaging, poorly directed, badly edited and badly acted. The action side of all of his DTV movies has been a HUGE letdown and disappointmentSeagal seems to just not care. He is out of shape and while that would not bother me since the martial arts that he specializes is are not about brute force, but about using the enemy's force and weight against themselves, I am bothered by the fact the producers AND Seagal himself are trying to hide this by only filming Seagal from certain angles or in a dark room to try to hide the extra weight. Seagal ends up looking ridiculous and is almost unseen in his movies. He also looks sweaty and dirty even if he is just having a conversation. The overweight factor is incompatible with the mean, bad tough guy persona Seagal has had in all of his movies. Also, he has been wearing the same ugly long leather coat in 90% of his DTV movies starting with The Foreigner. It looks bad on him and only serves the purpose of hiding his extra weight. Also, it looks silly when Seagal wears that type of coat during summer, winter, autumn, underwater, on a plane, during a fight, during a shootout, all that remains is to see him wearing that coat during a sex scene.That same coat makes a comeback in the second half of Shadow Man. Boy, does it look bad.Remember that I said that the first 20 to 30 minutes of Shadow Man are quite good? Well, that is the worst thing about this movie to be honest. See, because the movie starts out so well, you get high hopes about the rest of the movie, and the rest is normal below average stuff same as we have been getting from Seagal in his DTV days. The plot gets lost along the way in what seems to be an interminable cast of characters that the director and the movies itself have no idea what to do with. So many people are looking for the so-called THE ITEM that you get lost in who works for whom, who is double crossing whom, who is good, who is bad, why the characters are doing this or that… To solve this, they just have Seagal kill almost every bad guy in the movie in under 10 minutes that come at the end and which are a relief because with only 3-4 characters left, yow know the movie will make sense, too bad it's over.The good thing about this movie is that Seagal seems to want to be in this movie, seems to be having a good time, seems to be trying and I can honestly say that this time I liked the movie BECAUSE Seagal was in it NOT DESPITE that Seagal was in it. The cast is NOT bad, not great either, but they do their job properly and don't mess up the movie, BUT the really bad dialogue that is given to them and the messy plot makes them get lost-in-translation somehow. They are cardboard characters, slightly good ones, but just not good enough.The SFX are sometimes really bad and sometimes good (see the car chases for the bad and the car explosion at the airport for good). The costumes are OK, the locations are OK, but sometimes they work, sometimes they do not.See, if those first 20 to 30 minutes from the beginning of the movie had been put together just a little bit better and IF the rest of the movie had been just like that, this would have been a really good movie, but it just isn't. The worst thing about this movie is that it HAD the potential, the ingredients are there on the screen, but they just form a pile of ingredients instead of one simple to digest yet nourishing meal. This is not tasty or good, it's passable, AT BEST.Watch Shadow Man to see Seagal at his best since Into the Sun (which was his best since Exit Wounds) and for some nice hand-to-hand combat, but be warned that movie is below average and that the body double is back, only in scenes which have Seagal's character cross the street, get into a car or running. The fights are 99% done by the man himself. Be aware that very poor voice dubbing is present, but in small amounts and that the plot is messy. Seagal has fun in the movie and the girl playing the part of his daughter is a good actress.Overall, 4/10
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It's actually o.k!
posted on 29 Jul 2009I only gave this film six because the plot line gets rather messy, apart from that it really is o.k and deserves a seven when considering how awful some of his films have been (The Patriot, Ticker). It is very well filmed has a shaky Micheal mann style about it and a crisp look. There are a couple of good hand to hand fight scenes and some clever action its just all let down by the story which gets increasingly messy until you really feel lost, there is one twist at the end which I feel would have saved the whole film but it is crudely pulled off and barely relevant to the moment in the film. I really would like to give this film seven but looking at it objectively; if I hadn't seen all the Steven Seagal films so far I would think it was a slightly above average film.