Are you wondering why DVDnet seems to be looking more like a Steven Seagal discussion group than a DVD review site at the moment (early November 2002)? It's because Warners is about to re-release much of the ponytailed one's oeuvre in the form of two box sets (to be reviewed in their entirety soon), and thus we've been deluged with bone-snapping, tendon-tearing action flicks.
Before I continue, I'd like to offer special commiserations to fellow reviewer Nathan Clark, lumbered with the second of these chronologically-ordered box sets (covering Seagal's output from 1994-1997) (Editor's note - Hey! He asked for them!). With the likes of The Glimmer Man, Fire Down Below and On Deadly Ground to wade through, Nathan is in for a tough couple of weeks. As for me... I got the good stuff.
For as all action junkies know, Seagal wasn't always an overweight self-parody who spouted Zen-lite philosophy as he waddled into a bunch of slow-witted (and slower-moving) opponents. Nope, there was a time when he kicked ass quite effectively. Exhibit one - Nico: Above the Law.
Nico Toscani is a Chicago vice squad cop who, as the introductory scene explains, was once a CIA agent operating in Vietnam during the war (funnily enough, when the film flashes forward 15 years, he looks exactly the same!) Partnered with another cop-with-attitude, Delores Jackson (played by blaxploitation queen Pam Grier) and married to the lovely Sara (a pre-Basic Instinct Sharon Stone, in a very small and thankless part), Nico should be a fairly happy fellow. But as the film progresses, we see that his quick temper and macho posturing point to some serious psychological issues. More on that later...
After foiling what appeared to be a big drug deal (single-handedly, of course), Nico discovers that the recently deceased ruffians were actually selling huge quantities of C4. When his local priest is killed during a service by a C4 explosive, Nico is determined to uncover the conspiracy, that ends up involving political assassination, corrupt cops, crooked FBI agents, drugs and (surprise surprise) a few of Nico's ex-Vietnam buddies.
Thrown off the force for his excessive use of force, Nico slowly makes his way to the arch-villain (the ever-dependable Henry Silva, bad guy extraordinaire) in an orgy of wrist-snapping, neck-breaking, bone-jarring brawling.
This was Seagal's film debut. If you haven't seen any of his early films recently (like myself), Nico will be a revelation, as Seagal actually looks like he could whip the butts of the dozens of guys he takes on simultaneously. Lean and lethal, his brutal grappling moves are almost painful to witness, and cast more doubt on those ever-present rumours that he bought (rather than earned) his Aikido credentials.
As for the script, it's actually not as bad as you'd expect. There's some clunky dialogue, and much shameless appropriation of the likes of Dirty Harry and Lethal Weapon, but it passes the time between the fight scenes effectively enough.
It's interesting to note that the main theme of the film is that those who consider themselves "above the law" (in this case, the corrupt cops, FBI agents and politicians) are almost inevitably drawn to evil, and must subsequently be bought to justice... and yet Seagal breaks every rule in the book to take them on. In particular, a bar room brawl in which Seagal pulverises several drunken punters just because they don't want to talk to him springs to mind.
Director Andrew Davis, who would go on to helm The Fugitive (his biggest film) and Under Siege (Seagal's best... and there's a third on the way from the duo) does a creditable job, although the film's age and low budget give it a made-for-TV feel at times, especially during the non-action scenes.
Seagal is far less wooden in this than he would become in his later films, even going so far as to smile on occasion (and not just at his latest burst of socket-wrenching). He's still a sadistic fellow, make no mistake, but he's never been more human than in Nico.
