True Justice Season 2: Angel of Death
Calling Steven Seagal prolific is like
referring to a tornado as a bit of a breeze: in short, something of an
understatement. Between the release of 2002s Half Past Dead and
his appearance in the Robert Rodriguez film Machete eight years
later, Seagal released more films than Warren Beatty did in his entire
5-decade career. Admittedly his modestly budgeted straight-to-video
outings like Submerged and Belly of the Beast didn’t have
the impact of, say, Bulworth, but they were fun, watchable and
often well-crafted affairs that satisfied the seemingly insatiable
desire of Stevie’s fans for new material.
Now aged 60, the once ponytailed action
master shows few signs of slowing down. The star of his own reality TV
show, a volunteer sheriff’s deputy, newly married and with the usual
slew of films on the way (including the intriguingly titled Gutshot
Straight, which will see him starring as a character named Paulie
Trunks), Seagal has also found time to produce and star in a series
called True Justice. Comprised of movie-length ‘episodes’ the
series revolves around Elijah Kane (Seagal), a former special forces
operative recruited by the CIA to undertake rogue missions they cannot
be seen to officially sanction. Together with his team of hot-heads and
hotties Kane undertakes a series of covert missions, which usually end
with him employing his own unique brand of ‘interrogation’ ie. kicking
and karate chopping bad guys in the face.
The episodes I was given for review are
Angel of Death and Dead Drop, which are episodes 4 and 5 of
the second season respectively. I’d seen a couple of episodes from
Season 1 but nothing from the current season. Given that Angel
opens essentially mid-scene with Kane and a wounded Sarah in some kind
of safe house, I’d worried that this might be something of a problem -
thankfully, however, there’s just enough exposition and even a helpful
flashback or two to allow viewers to pretty much pick up the series
where they left off.
Angel of Death sees Stevie and his
loyal team of operatives hunting for a suitcase packed with nuclear
weapons - I don’t to spoil the surprise, but they find it. After
kicking a lot of bad guys in the face, obviously. In Dead Drop
Kane becomes concerned that his mole inside the CIA is conspiring
against him, probably wanting to subject him to an interrogatory
face-kicking (although this isn’t actually depicted in the film), and he
also continues to track the suitcase nukes in an effort to stop them
reaching their intended buyers, whose faces he will probably kick in a
follow-up episode.
Both these films (and due to their length
and pacing they feel markedly more like films than episodes of a TV
series) are plenty of fun and surprisingly accomplished. The action
sequences are expertly staged, thanks to some clever editing and good
use of stunt doubles who can actually lift their legs off the ground - I
personally can’t recall haven’t seen Seagal perform one of his own kicks
for going on six years now. The themes and dialogue get a little rote
at times (dodgy Russians, cops named Johnny, stolen nukes, etc) but the
performances are really good here, especially that of Seagal’s luscious
sidekicks, played by Sarah Lind and Tanaya Beatty - Beatty in
particular deserves to go onto bigger and better things. Stevie fans
won’t be disappointed - there’s plenty to like here.
Audio & Video
Looks surprisingly slick for a series shot
on digital with time, money and the need for speed ever-present
factors. The 16:9 transfer is crisp and Keoni Waxman’s cinematography
is punchy and immersive. The soundtrack is a potent and defect-free DD
5.1 on each episode.
Bonus Features
There are no extra features, subtitles,
trailers or audio options. Bare bones.
