Force of Execution (15)
Directed by: Keoni Waxman
Starring: Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Bren Forster & Ving Rhames
Running time: 99mins
Force of Execution is the story about a crime lord torn between his legacy and his desire to get out of the life of crime that has built his empire, when a new player to the scene tries to use the town anti-hero’s network to climb to power. The only friend the crime lord has is his assassin protégé who has troubles of his own. An epic battle of under bosses and crime lords. Only one will come out alive.
Mr Alexander (Seagal), a former government agent and now a powerful crime boss, wants to retire from the life he has created. Prior to fulfilling his goals and tying up loose ends, Mr Alexander needs his number one henchman and protégé, Roman Hurst (Bren Forster), to carry out a hit. After things turn sour, Roman falls foul of Mr Alexander and becomes a broken man (literally).
With time passing fast, Mr Alexander finds that he needs his henchman once more as rival crime boss Iceman (Rhames) is making moves on his territory. However, Roman has moved on himself and befriended restaurant chef Jimmy Peanuts (Trejo). Will Mr Alexander survive the oncoming onslaught and retire, and will Roman return to take his place once more by his bosses side?
Force of Execution has a brilliant action film star set that is sadly let down by a below par script and fairly unbelievable plot lines, poor editing (especially in the sound department) and sadly the main action stars simply do not have enough of the screen time they should be allowed.
This is more of an action vehicle for Bren Forster, who clearly displays all of his own personal martial arts skills. Whilst his fight scenes are energetic and fast-paced and form the bulk of the movie’s action, it’s clear that Director Keoni Waxman is wanting to set him as the next martial arts action hero.
When compared to the more laboured efforts of Seagal, Rhames and Trejo, it’s clear that the film-makers have only included these actors’ fights scenes to appease their loyal fan base who, let’s face it, will most likely would still watch a Steven Seagal movie even if he only threw a single punch.
Whilst the film has some gun play, you can’t help but reminisce on all of the main stars’ previous action outings and realise that this ‘direct to DVD’ release is but a pale footnote on all of their careers. Indeed, one or two action scenes may only appease the most loyal of fans who will most likely skip a number of scenes on repeated viewings.
Mildly entertaining and sadly just as forgettable as the last nameless baddie that is blown away.
2 out of 5 Nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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