Review of Above the Law (1988) by Matthew S — 16 Jul 2011

In this, Steven Seagal's first film, he proved to the world that he was good at martial arts but not so good at acting. Fortunately, a man can in fact build a successful career on just that first bit. I actually thought this film needed more of it. There were far too many scenes of talking heads for an action movie with a largely-uninteresting story. I wonder if he was given more lines to make use of the fact that he was the only action star of the era who would speak English without an accent. The way Seagal delivered his lines, though, made him seem almost as villainous as the villains themselves, and it didn't help that he was going above the law to stop them from doing the same. I guess rogue cops gotta do what rogue cops gotta do.

But the biggest mystery of the film: How did Steven Seagal's and Sharon Stone's characters produce such a Hispanic-looking baby?