Review of Urban Justice (2007) by Sean B — 02 Jul 2008

When I was a young teenager and Seagal's movies first came out I really didn't know anything about aikido, later when I came to study it everybody I met would make Steven Seagal jokes and I thought it'd be interesting to watch a Seagal film and try and see if I could identify any of what Seagal does to bad guys as aikido moves I have been taught and I can say almost nothing of what Seagal does in this film resembles any of the aikido I've been taught, I mean unless they wait until you get to hgiher levels before the teach you the kicks to the groin and use of automatic weapons.

I understand in recent years Seagal has pursued a music career and from what I've heard he's at least as good as Coldplay, funny that he is a middle aged musician because he really does look like fat Evis in this movie.

The film is called Urban Justice which is really codeword for Seagal beating up/killing Latinos/Blacks for 90 minutes. I missed the first 15 minutes of this film on TMN so I don't fully understand what Segal's character used to do I presume he was CIA or FBI or LAPD or Parking enforcement, needless to say he's badass and he's pissed off and underestimated at first by the badguys, gangbanging drug dealers led by not so funny man Eddie Griffin (that's right Eddie Griffin).

Of course there's always some evil white man really running things behind the scenes and of course he's a dirty cop. The only time I actually noticed any aikido in this film is when Seagal uses a wrist turn in technique to disarm people pointing guns to his head a pretty risky technique and in the final boss fight, after dirty white cop mocks Seagal's martial arts background he takes some basic aikido techniques and puts a mean spirited ending onto them not really what O Sensei intended I'm sure.

This film is pretty strange, what I didn't understand at all was at one point there was a skinhead gang running around Compton, I mean that's like Lions in Scotland, just completely out of place.

I suspect adding the Skinheads and Dirty white cops was a marketing ploy to get "urban" people to pay to go see this movie and so the filmmakers can claim to not be racist or exploitive. The dialogue in this film is terrible which I suppose is fitting, if this film is intended to be directed at an urban audience, for once I'd appreciate hearing the audience commentary rather than the actual movie.

Seagal's memorable one liner in the film when it is suggested that by taking vengeance he is worse than the people he is going to kill he responds: "No, I'm worse!". Yes Steven you are!