Today You Die (DVD)

...his feature film debut with Today You Die. For the type of movie it is the direction isn't too bad. Obviously FauntLeRoy won't be making a big splash in the directorial world but he will probably make a number of straight to video releases. The lighting at times is far too dark and the angles work quite well but again there could be massive improvements on both fronts. I didn't however think he did too bad a job and the film is certainly watch able. ...
...bad either but Danny Lerner seems to have stuck to the standard formula of the buddy crime solving movie. It is a bit like script writing by numbers, take a man who's been crossed, pair him up with a young partner, throw in a blond and just let it all flow from there. While the script writing is quite simple it is still effective and the combination has seen Lerner write a huge number of straight to video release and I'm sure this certainly won't ... more

We all have those guilty little pleasures, those things we know we shouldn't like but just can't help it. For me one of my weaknesses is Steven Seagal movies. I know he's the dictionary definition for type cast but there is something so simplistic about his movies that makes them work. Ok they aren't mass Hollywood Blockbusters and they certainly won't change the world but you can always rely on his latest straight to the Supermarket shelf movie to be a decent enough hour and a half's viewing.

In a dramatic turnaround Seagal is Harlan Banks, not a former Government agent but a thief. Having promised his girlfriend that he'll put an end to his live of crime they move to Vegas to start a new, legitimate life. He is hired to drive a security truck but once they make their first pickup it turns out the while things a set up. After a long chase through the streets of Vegas he's arrested but won't give up the men who doubled crossed him. Instead he wants to get revenge himself and sets about trying to escape from prison and go after those who betrayed him.

I have to say when I started to watch this film I was caught a little off guard by Seagal not playing one of his archetypal roles. Although at one point in the movie he collaborates with the police this time he really is on the wrong side of the law. That however doesn't seem to stop him from going around and beating up the bad guys, it just means for once he has a different back story. It is a reasonable action film and that's all I ask from my 3 times a year fix of Seagal films. He's become a real creature of habit but it still works as a concept and they are still reasonably enjoyable.

This film sees Seagal team up with a relatively new director, Don E. FauntLeRoy, who makes his feature film debut with Today You Die. For the type of movie it is the direction isn't too bad. Obviously FauntLeRoy won't be making a big splash in the directorial world but he will probably make a number of straight to video releases. The lighting at times is far too dark and the angles work quite well but again there could be massive improvements on both fronts. I didn't however think he did too bad a job and the film is certainly watch able.

I felt the script wasn't too bad either but Danny Lerner seems to have stuck to the standard formula of the buddy crime solving movie. It is a bit like script writing by numbers, take a man who's been crossed, pair him up with a young partner, throw in a blond and just let it all flow from there. While the script writing is quite simple it is still effective and the combination has seen Lerner write a huge number of straight to video release and I'm sure this certainly won't be the last.

The cast seem to be quite suited to the type of film. Of course Seagal is the perfect B movie star these days. He always fits the lead roles in these sorts of films well and although he doesn't actually excel he does enough to make the film entertaining, While many will be fed up with Seagal in this type of role I do feel he does it so well and that's why he keeps popping up in films like this. Along side Seagal seems to be the latest in a long line of Rappers to appear in his straight to video releases.

He's accompanied this time by Naughty By Nature rapper Anthony 'Treach' Criss who seems to be making the cross over from music into movies. He puts in quite a reasonable performance alongside Seagal but like the director I don't think his career will move on too much further beyond these straight to video release. In fact the same can be said for the whole cast, they do their jobs well but it's a bit like the soap opera actor syndrome. They are good enough for what they are doing but in something a bit more testing they would probably struggle.

Overall it's a pretty reasonable movie. Ok the script isn't fantastic and the direction is average at best but for an hour and a half to waste on a rainy day it works well. Of course there is a reason for these films going straight to video but I'm sure I'm not the only one who enjoys the guilty pleasure of watching Seagal films. For his fans this is another film we've all seen before in other formats, even with the twist in his character, but I'd still say it's worth renting or picking up on the cheap.

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