Review of Above the Law (1988) by Alex S — 07 Mar 2016

What Bloodsport did for Jean Claude Van Damme, Above the Law did for Steven Seagal. Both films feature a form of introduction, as if it's not just an introduction of the characters in the film, but an introduction of the action star leading the film. You can picture the martial arts backgrounds explained in the films being the same as the backgrounds of the martial artists.

In his debut film, Steven Seagal plays his most familiar role, a cop with a mixed background of military and aikido, which is a theme for most Steven Seagal films.

But unlike the films he is known for in later years, this film is a nicely put together action thriller with a good plot and entertaining action sequences.

Directed by Andrew Davis, who previously made a similar cop film set in Chicago (like this film) with Chuck Norris called Code of Silence. In fact, if you watch both films, you'll notice that the soundtrack is exactly the same, but it doesn't ruin it. It even has the same actor playing the main villain, played brilliantly in both by Henry Silva.

Of course, this ain't an action classic like Die Hard or a classic martial arts film like Enter the Dragon, it's better than most action films of this kind, and it's one of the better Seagal films, especially compared to his later work, where you'll be most likely disappointed with if you watch one of them after watching this one.