Black Dawn (2005)

Well it seems that the once big name action star Steven Seagal has made a sequel to one of his films. So what is it? ‘Out For Justice 2′? ‘Hard To Kill 4′? Nope, nothing like that. More like reprising his role of Jonathan “Don’t Catch” Cold from ‘The Foreigner’ from a few years ago. This is also one of those rare instances where a not bad DTV sequel was made from not just a DTV flick, but a horrible DTV flick. Yes, there’s a different director this time out (Alexander Gruszynsi) and even a better B film action producer (former actor Andrew Stevens who has a small cameo) and while there are nice explosions here and there, and one nicely done car chase with our heroes in the back of a truck, Seagal has less hands on action than he did in his recent DTV films, ‘Into The Sun’ or ‘Today You Die’. There was also a brief flashback to the slo-mo shootout from “Foreigner”- which I think wasn’t really needed. If you were to take the flashbacks out, you might not know it’s a sequel to ‘Foreigner’, that’s true. But do we need to be reminded? The low budgeted flick, which gets decent production value, could have easily stood on its own.

The plot is more easy to follow, as Cold busts a arms/nuke dealer named Donovan out of a Federal hospital and joins up with the dealer’s gang. Donovan’s brother distrusts Cold, and things get more tense when the dealers set up a deal with these punk Chechnyain terrorists who go around the globe and steal jewelry to finance thier operations. They want L.A. to glow in the dark, see, with a small nuke device hidden inside a suitcase. As it turns out, a renegade fraction of the CIA is spying on other CIA agents who act less like CIA agents and more like papparazzi. I’ve always wondered: for as much rolls of film these characters go through, who develps the photos? Do they take them to the nearest One Hour Photo or something?

Anyway, one of the CIA agents watching the Donovans and Cold, is Angela Stuart (Tamara Davies) who happens to be Cold’s former protege/student. Eagle eyes may spot Don Franklin (from TV’s ‘SeaQuest DSV’ and ‘Young Riders’) as her partner who gets bumped off by the renegade CIA. This entire CIA in house cloak and dagger spying-knocking off each other weighs down the film. Yes, Steven Seagal is in it- so that really should explain it. Except that there’s another fraction of the CIA which had Cold work undercover. What? Huh? Whatever.

There is a scene in this film which gets a big silly laugh. Not as drop dead funny as Seagal’s DVD interview extra, but after a bomb is dumped in the Ocean and goes off, a small cloud of fire lights up the sky, Cold quips “”We could be glowin in the dark for a while”. Well, considering all the mayhem that has ensued to this point, Cold and Angela should be extra crispy fritters at this time.

While the DTV film is slightly one of Seagal’s better recent efforts, I still wish he stop looking like a steroided buddha and lose his hairpiece. On the good side, he’s back to wearing suits. Not as dapper in his ‘Hard To Kill’ or ‘Above The Law’ days, but it’s a step in the right direction. With all the steps Seagal takes, one back, one foward, one back, right foot forward…you’d think his next film is ‘Dead Mambo’ or something. Actually, one of his rumored upcoming flicks is another sequel; the third ‘Under Siege’ film. If all his fanbase is no longer around, it may not matter.

Speaking of something that doesn’t matter: don’t go looking for Seagal or anyone else to do a Bruce Lee style dragon kick that you see on the DVD cover. Nobody does one. It reminded me of some of Seagal’s recent DVD efforts- where there he is, and in the background is something that has zero to do with the film. Sometimes, like this movie, Seagal himself has zero to do in the film.

*****
Black Dawn

Starring: Steven Seagal, Tamara Davies and Tim Carhart
Directed by: Alexander Gruszynsi

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