[ryan]

I've not seen a lot of Segal films (in fact, I probably haven't seen one in 18 years0, but I've always considered myself sort of a fan of his work, so I picked up two cheap dvd multi-packs months ago, and finally started watching them.

Into the Sun (2005) - 6-7/10

I've heard people complain that Segal got fat, and while I wouldn't exactly say he's fat in this, he certainly looks more like somebody with a comfortable office job, than somebody who is supposedly some sort of CIA or FBI Special Forces.

The action was just okay. I remember really liking the way Segal's combat focuses so much on arm movements, but in this film it mostly ended up looking like slap fights. I don't know if it was the choreography, or the cinematography (too close up to see what's going on maybe).

Except for the opening scene, where Segal and some buddy (a black guy, guess what happens to him) are running from guys with AK-47s, trying to get to a choppa, just like their in a Vietnam movie, closeups of Segal and friend running are poor rear projection (or really cheap blue screen), they're clearly jogging in place, and poorly at that. And when the friend gets shot, Segal looks at the camera with an i don't know what kind of expression on his face, but if it was supposed to be grief, it wasn't. I think he'd look more up set if somebody kicked his dog. Overall, his acting wasn't very strong in this film.

Anyway. I liked the local, it takes place almost entirely in Tokyo, most of the actors spoke in Japanese and Chinese, using English subtitles - although both main villains also spoke pretty good English, the spoke in their native tongues quite frequently, which I appreciate. Segal himself spoke Japanese frequently (his character was raised in Japan), and possibly Chinese, I don't remember now, enough that I felt he actually has a decent grasp on the language.

I thought the story was okay, except for a few random leaps of logic - like the bad guys just out of the blue suddenly knew which chick was Segal's fiance, so they could kill her, though I don't remember seeing anything ever that indicated how they learned that. I also didn't like that his girlfriend (Kanako Yamaguchi) was an absolutely stunning looking woman, in her early-mid 20s, while Segal is looks like he's in his mid-late 40s (he was 53 in 2005). The two main villains, a Yakuza and a Tong who teamed up, were enjoyable enough.

In all, it was an average action film, but nothing special, other than the commitment to the location and culture.

Black Dawn (also 2005) - 8/10
The second film of this set was a much stronger film, as far as Segal goes. In fact, I'm surprised to learn they were released the same year. Although, in retrospect, I think Segal does less fighting in this film than Into The Sun, he does take out one guy with like two or three arm movements, and considering he was one of the primary villains, he is dropped with little effort and no fanfare. Segal does shoot a lot though. But he was more convincing as a deep cover black ops guy.

The lead actress (Tamara Davies) was really hot, and she had all the action sequences, she got in a fight with a guy 8-10" taller than her that was quite physical, though I suppose it might have been a stunt double, I didn't notice. I bought her as an FBI agent. Although, she hasn't acted since this film, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

There was a fun action scene where Davies and Segal were on the back of a garbage truck speeding though the city, but all the tight shots were again, poor rear projection/blue screen, and when Segal's character climbs to the front of the truck and enters the driver door, the stunt double was really obvious.

But I enjoyed this film a little more than Into the Sun, because Segal's performance was better.

More cheap action flick reviews to come.