Steven Seagal went back to his roots with this action thriller, which harks back to his early work, much of which was city-bound and also dealt with conspiracies and violence on the 'mean' streets (his acting debut, NICO: ABOVE THE LAW, in particular). In fact, this film is quite surprising, as Seagal had apparently turned into an ex-military guy who killed hundreds of baddies and set traps to kill people, but not so in this film. Here he's a cop with a suspicious past, which even leads to him being blamed for a series of murders (a first, Seagal is usually the 100% clean good guy). Of course, we all know he's a goodie after all and he shows this by exposing police corruption all around, and beating up a healthy number of bad guys.
The film is refreshingly free of the environmental stuff that Seagal has insisted on dolloping in his 1990s actioners (ON DEADLY GROUND being the worst offender). However, he's cast as a Buddhist in this film, and someone who dislikes resorting to violence (although, as you might be able to guess, it's not long before he does). What makes this film different from Seagal's other work is the relatively complex plot, which twists everywhere so that you don't know who's killing who. Thankfully, everything sorts itself out after half-an-hour of this headache inducing stuff.
Another difference is that this time, Seagal has a partner (and it's not some woman who hides in the background either). Keenen Ivory Wayans is likable and friendly as a homicide cop, and he's not a bad fighter either. There's a brilliant fight in Wayans' apartment which ends with him being blown out of his window by a gas explosion! Seagal basically plays himself again (what else but the whispering hard man?), but he's even cooler and smarter this time around, always one step ahead of the enemy. The rest of the cast give solid support too, especially the believable killers (who turn out to be just doing their jobs). This time around, the killer is a sadistic serial killer too, something which brings back shades of OUT FOR JUSTICE.
A Seagal film wouldn't be a Seagal film without some violent fight scenes, and this film doesn't disappoint. While there aren't a great deal of enemies for Seagal to fight in this film, the ones there are always team up, so there are some fast moments with Seagal killing loads of people at once. Expect lots of smashing windows and tables too, as Seagal chucks people around and breaks the odd arm or two (what a surprise!). He even has a trick up his sleeve in the form of a credit card with a razor blade, which he uses to kill three men in one extremely cool scene.
Other show stoppers include Seagal rolling out of the back window of an upside down car, and the final fight between him and the main baddie, which is one of his best. There's quite a bit of blood in this fight, and even Seagal gets whacked on the nose and bleeds (a rare occasion, for someone to land a punch on Seagal). It's definitely a climax worth waiting for. With a higher humour content than before (mostly in the form of Wayans), a plot which actually requires you to think, and the expected action and fight scenes, THE GLIMMER MAN is nothing amazing but it's solid entertainment and a bit better than some other action films of today.
The film is refreshingly free of the environmental stuff that Seagal has insisted on dolloping in his 1990s actioners (ON DEADLY GROUND being the worst offender). However, he's cast as a Buddhist in this film, and someone who dislikes resorting to violence (although, as you might be able to guess, it's not long before he does). What makes this film different from Seagal's other work is the relatively complex plot, which twists everywhere so that you don't know who's killing who. Thankfully, everything sorts itself out after half-an-hour of this headache inducing stuff.
Another difference is that this time, Seagal has a partner (and it's not some woman who hides in the background either). Keenen Ivory Wayans is likable and friendly as a homicide cop, and he's not a bad fighter either. There's a brilliant fight in Wayans' apartment which ends with him being blown out of his window by a gas explosion! Seagal basically plays himself again (what else but the whispering hard man?), but he's even cooler and smarter this time around, always one step ahead of the enemy. The rest of the cast give solid support too, especially the believable killers (who turn out to be just doing their jobs). This time around, the killer is a sadistic serial killer too, something which brings back shades of OUT FOR JUSTICE.
A Seagal film wouldn't be a Seagal film without some violent fight scenes, and this film doesn't disappoint. While there aren't a great deal of enemies for Seagal to fight in this film, the ones there are always team up, so there are some fast moments with Seagal killing loads of people at once. Expect lots of smashing windows and tables too, as Seagal chucks people around and breaks the odd arm or two (what a surprise!). He even has a trick up his sleeve in the form of a credit card with a razor blade, which he uses to kill three men in one extremely cool scene.
Other show stoppers include Seagal rolling out of the back window of an upside down car, and the final fight between him and the main baddie, which is one of his best. There's quite a bit of blood in this fight, and even Seagal gets whacked on the nose and bleeds (a rare occasion, for someone to land a punch on Seagal). It's definitely a climax worth waiting for. With a higher humour content than before (mostly in the form of Wayans), a plot which actually requires you to think, and the expected action and fight scenes, THE GLIMMER MAN is nothing amazing but it's solid entertainment and a bit better than some other action films of today.