Hard to Kill: Review By moviegeek

Aside from Under Siege, I have never been a fan of the work of Steven Seagal. Hearing numerous praises that this 1990 picture, Hard to Kill, was one of Seagal's best, I decided to give it a shot. It was one of Seagal's better efforts; though that says little of my opinion of his works.

Mason (Seagal) is a tough cop who rids the world of crime in his everyday life. His menacingly good deeds catch up to him one night when four intruders break into his house and him and his wife. His wife is killed, and Mason is sent to the hospital where he is expected to die. After seven years, Mason wakes up from a coma, subject to a violent series of flashbacks. He becomes vengeful. With the help of a nurse (Kelly LeBrock, Seagal's real-life wife at the time) he escapes from the hospital. He then trains himself back into shape to seek revenge.

Where do I begin? I think I'll start with the good so that I don't have to break rhythm later on. The stunt work, though rather unspectacular, is seamless. The punches and brawls all look genuine. Seagal shows some good action chops as does the choreographer of the scenes. Aside from that (which does play into a rather large chunk of the movie, mind you), there isn't much to compliment in this picture.

Firstly, the character of the nurse is unwatchably bad--so much so that I made up an adjective just for her performance. She follows Seagal around, reverberates the conversation back to him, and limply poses and smiles for the camera. Seagal is hardly any better. Though his stunt work is impressive, never for a second did I buy any of his motivations or attitude.

I can't wait any longer to make fun of the plot. Seven years after the incident, Mason magically wakes up and searches for these killers. SEVEN YEARS. They could be anywhere, even dead. Mason is determined. The ridiculous part comes when not only are they all "around", but they also all stick around each other. Also, why the nurse? Why does he have a partner? All we learn about Mason before the shooting is just how self-sufficient he is. And after he wakes up, he suddenly takes up a partner. He trained HIMSELF for crying out loud.

Unfortunately, this isn't a laughably bad film. It's just flat, dull, unamusing, unexciting, lame. Seagal tries his best, but this is a film that has been filmed one--scratch that--sixty-three too many times. This isn't a terrible film. I'm just annoyed that it didn't even try to be better. It was like watching the first draft of a picture.

One of my favorite moments in this picture came when he wakes up from a coma. His facial hair is uproariously hysterical. A six-inch long goatee strings from his chin and lip. BUT his cheeks are perfectly shaved. To have been entertained by facial hair is a testament to this film's ridiculousness.