Belly of the Beast 2003

I went into this expecting the worst, and was actually surprised that it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Maybe I'm in the minority on this one, but it definitely wasn't as bad as the previous Seagal film Out For a Kill or even the one before that, The Foreigner. After those two, I had expected this one to be a real stinker and granted, it did have its eyeroll-worthy moments but I felt that the good outweighed the bad in this one. The one thing (and of course it's far too late now; it appears Seagal's acting days - even the dreaded direct-to-DVD days - are behind him now, at 70+ years old) that I really wish Seagal would "wave the white flag" on is the awkward romances in these movies. The dude is a great action hero; his aikido skills are incredible AND fun to watch, and his bland, passive, cold stares work great for him when he's just running around kicking tail left and right. It's those awkward, embarrassing romance scenes that are just too much. Additionally, in this particular film, the whole "spirituality" thing was not just "a bit too much": it was just flat out ridiculous. It's like these professional boxers that punch their opponents into oblivion for 6, 8, 10, even 15 rounds and then in the post-fight interview, they "want to thank God for giving me the ability..." The ability to cripple other human beings? Please. Similarly, in Belly of the Beast it was just ludicrous to make this whole thing into a "black magic vs. Buddhism" issue. Hopper (Seagal's character) was just a badass who was out to get the people who had kidnapped his daughter...plain and simple. As an action flick, I thought this was pretty decent. You have to "roll with the punches" (pardon the expression) in this one, though, because it's got some pretty bad moments as well. Plus side: it has a LOT of fight scenes in it, but in all honesty, the gunfights here were almost laughable. If you're a Seagal fan....meh, I don't know... I'd say take a chance: like me, you might be surprised at this one. Very predictable, but still a decent action flick.