Born to Raise Hell

Directed by: Lauro Chartrand

Starring: Steven Seagal, Darren Shahlavi, Zoltan Butuc, D. Neil Mark

Synopsis:Bobby (Seagal) is the leader of an Interpol taskforce in the Balkans, assisting the local police in stopping the local drug trade from exporting throughout Europe. Bobby not only has to break in a new partner, Steve, but must deal with a growing feud between a gang of gypsies who like a bit of gang-rape and murder on the side of smuggling drugs, and their supplier, an old-school Russian gangster who’s trying to retain an element of respectability.

Review:

It has to be said, that Born to Raise Hell begins terribly. The opening sequences are flat, uninvolving, badly shot and edited. Then there is the credit sequence, which almost lulled me to sleep. However, please note that on the other side of those credits, is a rather decent Seagal outing, which includes the something that has been missing for ages – Seagal’s signature Aikido moves.

The story for Born to Raise Hell was written by Seagal himself, and you can tell that he’s put all those years as a Louisiana patrolman to good use, utilising his experience to put together authentic-feeling police procedural sequences. You can feel the authenticity in scenes such as when the task-force raid a house, or when Seagal and his partner pull over a suspect.

The story is pretty decent, too. Costel (Shahlavi) is trying to move up in the world, providing his beautiful European club dancers to act as mules, taking the drugs to England and elsewhere. He also likes to pounce on unsuspecting rich couples, killing them after raping the woman. Thanks to a snitch, Bobby is able to put Costel together with Dada, the Russian supplier. Dada is angry at the exposure Costel is costing him, and their partnership slides into deadly animosity.

There are a couple of dodgy moments along the way. Bobby’s new partner, Steve, is a rather thankless role. When the two first meet, it’s during a raid, and Bobby isn’t too pleased that a suspect hasn’t been cuffed, there’s another under the bed and the room hasn’t been searched. Later, Steve mentions that his wife is about to have a baby. This leads to a meta-conversation about people nearing retirement, photos of wife and kids etc. Of course this doesn’t stop the inevitable.

Late in the film, Seagal and Dada come to an “understanding”. All of a sudden Dada is being made out to be a gentleman gangster, a man of honour and integrity, and Seagal goes along with it, forgetting that this man sanctioned at least two murders earlier.

The cast is pretty standard for a Seagal movie, although it is bolstered by some very pretty ladies as the dancers and drug mules (and, erm, Seagal’s lover...). Shahlavi makes for an interesting villain. At first he appears very animalistic, driven by his desires, but he proves to be quite cunning as well. Zoltan Butuc’s Dada is another solid bad-guy. His operation is first rate: as he sits in a park playing chess, his men wander round, whistling when they spot anyone who feels a bit off. It’s not long before they spot Seagal’s surveillance. When Dada is arrested, he is able to do something unexpected which puts Seagal and his partner in a precarious position.

There are some decent gun-fights throughout the film – especially when the task-force raid one of Costel’s dealers. But the highlight of the film is seeing Seagal dust off the old wrist-locks and throwdowns of old, flinging heavies left and right. After the dreadful fight scenes in A Dangerous Man, this was a real breath of fresh air. What’s more, first-time director Lauro Chartrand, captures the action without too many distracting frills.

Verdict

Not Seagal’s best, but Born to Raise Hell is a solid outing with some of his best fight scenes for quite a while. Casual viewers might be put off by the bad start though.

6 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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