Big man Seagal takes another step into oblivion with this dull and derivative thriller shot in Poland. The biggest problem with this one is the plot, which is so caught up in its own conspiracy/murky characters/lack of explanation that you won't know what the hell is going on most of the time. Characters pop up to die, people who die come back to life, people disappear and are shot, people fight each other. It's a lot like Lundgren's HIDDEN AGENDA in this respect, in that you have no inkling what's happening and don't really care either. On the plus side, the film is well shot, with some admirable effects at style (which don't always pay off). There's a lot of violence, people being shot, and 99% of it involves guns and gunfire.

As for Seagal – well, unfortunately he's growing his hair long again, and he's hiding beneath a big coat throughout the movie. You get the impression at this stage in his career that he's no longer trying; that he's just in it for the money, nothing else. Watching him mumble and stagger his portly frame through the film is a little tragic for those of us reared up on the likes of UNDER SIEGE and its sequel. The martial arts sequences are few and far between, and you never see his face during these, which implies that a stuntman was used for every scene of action. Sometimes, like in TICKER, you get the impression somebody is pretending to be him, mimicking his voice, or when you see the back of his head you get the idea that it isn't really him. Even a stuntman is used when he climbs over a steel fence, which shows how far he has fallen from his glory days.

The rest of the cast is made up of Polish people in bit parts and a few imported British actors, nobody that famous. The best performance in the film has to come from Max Ryan as crazed assassin Dunoir; he's having a field day here as the chain-smoking, grey-haired bad guy who keeps getting "killed" and coming back to life; he's the best thing in the movie and adds another star to the rating alone. Otherwise, it's typical straight-to-video fare, lacking in interest and impact. Come on Seagal, don't you have another good film in you?

I liked the leading actor in Under Siege, and then a couple more film made me like him a little bit more, I only decided to watch this one because I was interested to know why the critics give it such a low rating. Basically freelance agent and "foreigner" Jonathan Cold (Steven Seagal) is hired to deliver a mysterious package which he cannot know the contents of, Alexander Marquee (Philip Dunbar) wants him to take from France to Germany. The contents of the package may not seem to be known by the one delivering it, or even the man wanting it delivered, but many political corruption is seeing murders and assassins trying to stop it arriving at its destination. When the package is opened it turns out to be a "black box" flight recorder from an aircraft that was suspiciously taken down, and Jerome Van Aken (Harry Van Gorkum) is the one who wants to get his hands on it, but of course Cold is one step ahead of the villains. Also starring Anna-Louise Plowman as Meredith Van Aken, Max Ryan as Dunoir, Jeffrey Pierce as Sean Cold and Sherman Augustus as Mr. Mimms. Seagal is not as cool looking as he used to and he is almost completely blank throughout this film, but it is not just him that is the problem, the action sequences aren't exciting, the chase sequences are almost pointless, and the story is far to patchy and stupid to really care about, overall it is a dreadful action adventure. Poor!

Can they possibly get any worse than this? Probably. But after all Steven Seagal gets to do what he does. Well kind of; this time instead of mortally wounding the bad guys he just wounds them. By reputation of being a bad ass agent Seagal is hired to deliver a special package from France to America. But it is not an easy task with so many people trying to intercept and foul up the mission. The fights just don't have enough bite and the big bangs are just big and that's all. Anna-Louis Plowman seems to be the only cast member not to appear wooden. Also in the cast are: Jeffery Pierce, Max Ryan and Harry Van Gorkum. Don't put all the blame on Seagal for this clunker.