Shadow Man (2006)

Steven Seagal (Black Dawn, Under Siege), Garrick Hagon (Second in Command, Spy Game), Skye Bennett (Shadows of the Past) and Eva Pope (Splinter, TV's 'Bad Girls,' 'Coronation Street') star in this hard-hitting, action film about an Intelligence Operative who discovers that no one is what they seem in the shadowy world of espionage. Seagal stars as Jack Foster, a former covert agent with MacGyver-like skills, who is in search of his kidnapped 8-year-old daughter while being pursued by Russian officials who believe he holds a virus formula that could kill millions. Sony

Shadow Man

My husband and I loved it. Yes he looks a little rough and has gained some weight, but that's what happens when we get older. Especially if your not into lypo and tucks and all that crap. He is still a good actor, still fast and a good actor. I love to watch his moves, we even tried looking at some of them scene by scene, and they were still to fast to really figure out what he did. I challenge the guy who was bitching about his looks. Wonder what he looks like?? October 17, 2008

one of seagal's better recent flicks

I really enjoyed this movie its one of seagal's better films, he looks alot fitter in this movie which is good to see. yes i must admit that The movie was good but not great, there are many flaws that were quite obvious, The first car chase scene after the explosion was not shot very well, the camera shakes quite alot in that scene and in a few other scenes too and seagal? well, he looks almost too invincible in almost all of the fights/gunfights which were extremely short too and seagal's voice is so soft that you can barely hear what he says in some parts(i think he needs to improve on that).

There was alot of good things i enjoyed though especially the supporting actors they were great, the story was good and the movie is fast paced, so i'm sure most seagal fans will enjoy this movie. June 30, 2008

Can't Step Out Of His Own Shadow

As much as I like Steven Seagal and his movies, I must admit that I found very little to like about "Shadow Man" - Seagal's 25th action feature, directed by Michael Keusch (who would go on to direct the equally poor Seagal flicks "Attack Force" and "Flight of Fury"). Everything from the storyline, production, acting, and action falls completely flat, to the point that I began wondering where the more approving reviews on Amazon came from.

The storyline basically goes like so: Seagal is Jack Foster - a "Fortune 500" business owner, a grandmaster of martial arts, a father of an 8-year-old, and an ex-CIA operative. When travelling to Romania for the 5th anniversary of the death of Jack's wife, his daughter Amanda (Skye Bennett) is kidnapped and Jack is targeted by Romanian officials and mobsters who believe him to be in possession of a devastating new biological weapon.
That sounds straight-forward enough, but fact is, this is one of the most convoluted Seagal films that I have ever seen. As an action hero, Seagal has never really needed brainiac storylines to get over, but the script of "SM" calls for the plot to take at least two disorienting twists, feature a supporting cast the size of China (only about a third of which are actually of relevance to the picture), and require the viewer to juggle the intentions of several characters amidst the general chaos.

That last aspect might be fine...if there was a single interesting character in the whole movie. Seagal is kept distant not only from everybody in the film, but also from the audience - not displaying any hint of emotion, which ends up making Steven look like a big, deadly jerk. Eva Pope ("Coronation Street") is easily the best performer, but that's not saying much. And after seeing how well he got along with Camilla Belle in "The Patriot", one would think Steven could squeeze out a smile or a convincing hug for Skye Bennett as his daughter, but the ever-cold Seagal even keeps her from shining.

Even the production is sub-standard: the film utilizes the "shaky camera" technique to maddening effect, and action scenes (especially the first car chase) are cut so swiftly and irregularly that you'll hardly have time to register what's going on in half of the shots.
Oh, and speaking of action scenes, there aren't enough of them; Seagal busts out an aikido move every half hour, but besides some gunfights, that's about it (he does, however, manage to shoot down a combat helicopter with a .45 pistol - that should count for something).

In conclusion, I would only recommend this film if you particularly enjoy Seagal's direct-to-video efforts, because it'll take some commitment to get to like this one. May 7, 2008

Action thriler

A great Segal movie where he takes care of a problem that needs to be done. October 30, 2007

Good action movie

I'm a Seagal fan and this is a must have for all Seagal fans. This is one of his better action movies. I'm giving this movie 5 stars based on the action alone. There is an explosion at the start of the movie which was done very well. This is not the type of special effects I expect in a direct-to-video release. This was more of a big budget movie explosion. A bomb in a car explodes causing a huge fire ball, and the shock of the explosion shatters windows. The second reason this movie gets 5 stars is the action was great. The car chase was excellent. There were many gun fights. The martial arts fights were good. The third reason for 5 stars is the supporting cast was very good. The person who plays the CIA officer and the person who plays the local police chief were exceptionally well acted parts. This movie gets a R for lots of violence and nudity.
September 28, 2007

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