Contract to Kill (2016)

Just so...so bad

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Steven Seagal has done some good, or at least watchable, films. Particularly 'Under Siege'. He has also done a lot of mediocre and less films, indicative of laziness and that Seagal was well past his sell by date, and a good deal of them are even very bad.'Contract to Kill' is one of the very bad ones. Awful even, and for me if ranking Seagal's filmography from best to worst it would be towards the bottom. Did not expect much, but watched it because Seagal has shown signs that he can be halfway decent and as said not all his films are bad. Also do appreciate the action genre and there are good films out there in the genre, classics even. 'Contract to Kill' is far from that, more closer to a waste of time that shows little signs of trying.Seagal himself gives another lazy and wooden performance that shows that he was not interested and wanted to be somewhere else. His reading-from-an-autocue-like and robotic line delivery in particular betrays that. The rest of the cast are just as poor though in all fairness have little to work with.The characters are ones we know very little about and don't care what happens to happen, so unengaging and one-dimensional they are. The dialogue is risible, with a lot of cheesiness, awkwardness and far too much talk delivered with little emotion or momentum and bordering on the near-incomprehensible.Its excessively talky nature affects severely the pacing, which never comes to life. There is no urgency, let alone tension, intrigue or suspense. The action doesn't feature enough in comparison and suffer from pedestrian choreography and bacon-slicer-like editing. The story is by-the-numbers, dull and not always easy to follow.Direction is flat and ill-at ease, while the sound/soundtrack are one-note and obvious as well as poorly recorded and the whole film looks cheap. And it's not just the editing, the slapdash special effects, drab photography and laughably bad green screen (that was too obvious and jarring) are just as bad.Hate to say it, but to me nothing works in 'Contract to Kill' and it is an awful mess in every way. 1/10 Bethany Cox

In 1988 an action star broke onto the screen in a modestly budgeted film that took the world by storm. This mystery man claimed to have worked for the CIA, became a master of aikido at a young age in Japan and worked with Hollywood celebs before making his move in front of the camera. The movie was ABOVE THE LAW and the star was Steven Seagal.But in the late 90s his films dropped in popularity, he divorced and most of the later output went straight to DVD. This doesn't mean that his films lacked quality or that they were any less ambitious than in the past but that times had changed. As we all do he'd grown older and wasn't as rail thin as he appeared in ABOVE. In Hollywood this is a no no. But he didn't care what they thought and continued making movies that remain some of the best action films even when the budgets dropped from what they once were.CONTRACT TO KILL is a great example of a quality action film starring Seagal that delivers the goods. Seagal plays John Harmon, an ex CIA/DEA asset brought out of retirement to handle a particularly sensitive contract. Arab terrorists are about to set up a deal with a Mexican cartel head that will help them gain access to enter the United States with ease. This gives them the opportunity to smuggles in people and weapons up to an including a dirty bomb. What the government wants Harmon to do is pinpoint the location of their meeting and let them know where it is.But as with most movies involving spies these days crosses and double crosses are the rule of thumb and Harmon isn't your typical low level asset. He's been there, he knows how they work and figures out that the original plan wasn't what he was told. So he takes him team, FBI agent Zara (Jemma Dallender) and drone pilot Matthew Sharp (Russell Wong), and sets in motion his own plan.Harmon realized early on that the location for the meet wasn't in Mexico as the intel thought it was but in Istanbul instead. With his team they ramp up the paranoia of the terrorists and plant the seeds of suspicion between the two. It won't be enough to prevent the deal from going down completely but it will allow them a greater margin of success in accomplishing their goal. And does that goal align with that of the agency that sent them in giving the plausible deniability? Watch and see to find out.Segal remains the strong, silent type in his films and this one is no exception. His demeanor and vocal stylings are low key and subtle. Why yell when you can quietly put things in motion? His fighting style while aikido reminds me of the term Bruce Lee created with jeet kune du, the way of the intercepting fist. He allows his opponent the chance to throw at him and then uses their energy and the flow of their own body against them providing him with ample opportunity to deliver more debilitating blows. It's worked for him in all of his films and continues to do so now.The supporting casts here does a great job. Dallender shows plenty of future potential here with an acting ability and attractive appearance that makes you wonder why she isn't doing more mainstream features. Wong seems on the same career path as Seagal having been in higher priced fare in the past but seemingly relegated to lower tier films of late. He too is a victim of Hollywood where age isn't seen as a positive thing no matter what you can still do which is sad. At least he helps elevate the roles provided him as in this film.On the whole the movie will probably not make anyone must see list but does provide plenty of entertainment for action fans. Seagal fans will rate this one higher than some of this other films and the plot ties in perfectly with what is happening in the world since word has come out that there is a possible connection between cartels and terrorist organizations actually taking place. One can only hope there is a team like Seagal's seen here in place to stop them.

Never have I seen a more disgusting scene than fat old Segal, fully clothed, orange shooting glasses, leather coat and all on top of the lovely Jemma Dallender, mauling her beautiful naked breasts with his chubby hands. I will never watch another one of his movies again. Oh, the rest of the movie was poorly written as well.

What? is what i have to say about this movie i barely understood the point of this movie, I would have to say the special effects as well as whoever wrote the script used some words that confuses the audience in one part some guy says brother but he meant it as a friend usage not as a real brother it got me confused. I will have to say the best part was honestly Jemma Dallender and the the first half of the fight choreography.