★ 7 / 10
**_A serial killer of serial killers_** A sleuth
Wuchak
**_A serial killer of serial killers_** A sleuth in Memphis (Steven Seagal) eschews Liberal leniency as he goes after two separate murderers (Mark Collie and…
**_A serial killer of serial killers_**
A sleuth in Memphis (Steven Seagal) eschews Liberal leniency as he goes after two separate murderers (Mark Collie and Michael Filipowich). His methods and character are defended by his partner in the war on crime (Chris Thomas King) while a snooping FBI agent seriously questions both (Holly Dignard).
“Kill Switch” (2008) was made at the start of Seagal’s third decade of filmmaking. Long gone are the days of mega budgets and theatrical releases. This was a $5 million direct-to-video action flick and people generally lambaste it as “the worst move ever made,” etc. The question is, does it work for what it is, a detective thriller? It did for me.
The action sequences are drawn-out and feature snazzy quick-editing accompanied by a kick-axx soundtrack. Some critics decry the use of a body double, but such cannot be discerned unless you slow the speed down and look at the sequence frame-by-frame (and, even then, I could hardly tell it was a stuntman). As for the repeat edits, it struck me as dynamic cinematic artistry.
Thankfully, the energetic thrills are counterbalanced by fleshed-out characters and quality drama in a script exclusively written by Seagal. Detective Jacob King (Seagal) is a likable protagonist and his friendship with his partner is developed. You WANT to see them apprehend the thug scum while the FBI agent creates further interest (for reasons you’ll see).
On top of this, there are several creative bits thrown in, like the arcane clues left by the key serial killer, the ‘hip’ librarian, the edgy bar band, the inexplicable girl in the apartment, the amusing clown story, and the revelational close, which creates an almost ‘wow’ moment if you reflect and realize what’s really going on.
Seagal’s “The Glimmer Man” had a similar story and ten-times the budget, but this is the more entertaining film. Unfortunately, armchair critics nitpick it to damnation.
It runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in British Columbia (Vancouver, Coquitlam and Langley).
GRADE: B
★ 3 / 10
A Mess.
JoeytheBrit
The name 'Steven Seagal' may not put the fear of God into many people these days, but when it is preceded by the two little words 'written by' it is something…
The name 'Steven Seagal' may not put the fear of God into many people these days, but when it is preceded by the two little words 'written by' it is something to strike fear in the hearts of stronger men than me. Summoning that peculiar kind of bravery possessed by a masochist equipped with a dozen clothes pegs and a wet shoelace I girded my loins and pressed the 'forward' button on my remote. There was no going back now, like one of Seagal's on screen sparring partners I was to be exposed to every sweaty punch and chop the big (big) man chose to throw in my direction.I can get back the precious 8% of available recording time KillSwitch occupied on my Sky box, and the 90 minutes I lost watching the film are, in the grand scheme of things, only a minimal fraction of my intended lifespan, but my faith in the movie-making business may never be the same after watching this unholy mess.The story is rubbish – that was to be expected after we learned who the screenwriter was – but the direction and editing in this film are surely something to be amazed by. The direction varies from pedestrian to excruciatingly bad – we see one bad guy crashing through a window half-a-dozen times, another bad guy collapse onto a table three times, etc. The editor keeps cutting away from the fights to the same headshot of Seagal in which he looks like a mildly interested bystander. In one fight scene, his opponent's bloody scars keeping appearing and disappearing. Another fight seems to go on forever, with all participants seeming to possess super-heroic stamina levels, and you end up watching in stupefaction, not quite able to believe that a movie fight scene is actually boring you.Seagal plays a Southern cop with issues. It seems he witnessed the murder of his brother when he was a kid. What bearing this has on his present-day pursuit of a serial killer is never really explained. Neither is the identity or motive of the murderer. In fact the incident just seems to have been added to fill out the running time, give the director (whoever he is – I really can't be bothered to check) a chance to show off all the flashy tricks he learned while balancing on top of a dustbin to peer through the window of the local film studies classroom, and to give Seagal the opportunity to come over all broody every now and then.Seagal was never sylph-like but, judging by the way we are treated to a lot of head-and-shoulder shots but hardly any full-lengths shots of him, his girth has expanded considerably since the 90s. In fact, he doesn't even move when he fights: he just parries his opponents' blow and waits for them to stray close enough for him to fell them with his meaty paw.
16%
AUDIENCE
· 1K ratings
3.8/10
5.5K
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Remember when we thought SS was actually cool? That was a looooong time ago.