Review of Above the Law (1988) by Tom J — 11 May 2005

This and Under Siege are Seagal's best easily. The rest of his movies are strictly average or below, and he has been responsible for some real crapsters, like Ticker and On Deadly Ground.

This may not have a great story, but, this film, better than his rest, really showcase Stevens Aikido skills. The fights in this a great, and theres a lot of them. In his first few films, which all felt remarkebly similar, this, Hard to Kill and Out for Justice, he had lots of fights, simply filmed. Under Siege was a fun movie and great but had very little in the way of fights, since then his films have been poor and he hasn't worked with as good directors in terms of action.

Add to that fact that this is Seagal in the best shape of his career. He's not the muscleman, oily chested, cheese grator ab's, hardman like Lundgren, Van Damme and Ah-nuld. He seems more of an everyman with a real toughness to him. He had a real "don't mess with me" aura in his old films, now it is sad to see him looking as old and out of shape as he does.

He seems to have got worse over the years as an actor. This is the best performance I have seen from Seagal, he actually seems human and plays his character with some personality. Andrew Davis seems to get the best out of him, in this and in Under Siege.

This film boasts a good cast, including sexy ladies like Pam Grier and Sharon Stone. There is a good pace to it all and a message, as with most Seagal films, but the message is actually given subtlety, not ramned in your face like in his horrible eco-warrior films. Overall this is a good fun movie.