John Seeger (Steven Seagal) is the most decorated first gulf war soldier, now turned Mercenary. John and his men, are given an assignment to protect the French Ambassador and his Family, during a coup in Galmoral Island in Southern Africa. The mission goes wrong, and Seeger`s best friend Radio Jones is killed. When he returns home Seeger visits Jones`s wife Shondra and his son Eddie, saying that he is going to take care of them. The mission was set up by CIA dirty deeds man John Dresham (Luke Goss) and Black Ops Producer Anthony Chapel (Roger Guenveur Smith). Not long after Seegar`s visit to Jones`s family, they are kidnapped and Seeger is forced to help breakout the son of the world`s most powerful arms dealer, form a maximum, security prison. An John keep his promise to Shondra and Eddie?
This is the first Steven Segal film, I have watched since either Half Past Dead or Belly of the Beast. Which one, I cannot quite remember. Surprisingly for me, Mercenary of Justice has a very good story and a decent enough plot running through it. It`s a ninety one minute action film. So what you see is what you get mainly. The cast are solid enough. Luke Goss plays the CIA dirty deeds man very well, on the right side of sleaze (in the opening, his title it does come up as CIA dirty deeds man). Not really a lot of on screen time for him, but when he is on screen he has great presence. Roger Guenveur Smith as the Black Ops Producer is somewhat over the top, but it`s needed for the part. Another great addition to the cast is Michael Kenneth Williams. He is always top draw and if you haven’t seen him in anything before, he is just an outstanding actor. Seagal himself is just his usual; he has not grown much as an actor over the years. He just plays himself with the same expressionless face. There are quite a few decent hand to hand exchanges. The one that takes place in a toilet is just brutal and goes on for some time. The film is produced by Millenniun Pictures, so has a bit more of a finish to it, than some off the other Seagal films, I have caught a glimpse off over recent years.
It seems to be a winning formula of film making for Seagal, to still be making the same types of films and playing the same character for over 30 years, hats off to him, and why change when you don’t have too. All in all it's a solid action film and was surprisingly intriguing and enjoyable. Seagal is never going to reach the height s off his first five films, for me. I can see why Mercenary of Justice is getting reissued for release on all home formats. It is worth checking out and ticks all the boxes for us action fans…
Signature Entertainment presents Mercenary For Justice on Digital Platforms 5th April and on Amazon Prime Video 16th April.
