FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Leofwine_draca ABSOLUTION is another in the absolutely endless wave of action thrillers made in the past few years starring Steven Seagal and invariably shot in some East European country; this time it's Romania. Seagal plays the usual former special forces guy who moves in to help save a girl from the mob, only to find a sinister conspiracy in place surrounding a popular nightclub. Anyone familiar with the modern-era Seagal will know to expect shaking camera fights and plenty of doubling, with the hefty protagonist now one of the worst things about his own films. The rest is just about passable, with the likable Byron Mann (a Seagal regular) doing well as the second hero and Vinnie Jones randomly playing a serial killer in scenes that feel like they belong in a different movie. The fights are refreshingly gruesome with lots of justice meted out to the bad guys.

Comeuppance Reviews A man known only as The Boss (Jones) is some sort of crime lord but also has a kill room where he tortures and murders the captive victims of his insane rages. When one girl, Nadia (Stetcu) escapes The Boss, she ends up crossing paths with a hired Killer - said to be "the only guy who can do the job" - named John (Seagal). John, a rotund man of girth, teams up with an actual Martial Artist named Chi (Mann) so they can both fight the baddies that are after them - some for political reasons, some for personal ones. After a lot of violence and bloodshed, the final confrontation occurs: The Boss vs. John. Who will feel the ABSOLUTION? Absolution is proof that they are indeed still making Steven Seagal movies. Maybe it's not that difficult to head off to Romania for a while and, armed with a computer that can do CGI bullet hits and editing software that can speed up fights and take away frames, come back with something that you can release to DVD. Presumably Seagal himself doesn't have to appear that long on the set, as he has other people do his ADR, his stuntwork, and even his dialogue scenes, as stand-ins, well, stand in for him. Many times this is very obvious that Seagal is not actually there listening to the dialogue said by other people. Usually his stand-ins look like Hollywood producer Robert Evans or Roy Orbison. So now you'll know what to look for. It's possible some of the stand-ins even have glasses or blonde hair, that's how little they care to make it match. (That's a joke, but very close to the truth).Just exactly why Seagal doesn't do these fundamentals of filmmaking remains unexplained. Is he some sort of Hollywood royalty that thinks he is above doing these things? Better question: what does this free up time for him to actually DO? What is so important to him that he can't really even appear in his own movies, but for a bare minimum? When did he get so lazy? Why is he running away from himself? (Stay tuned until the last paragraph for a potential answer).We're not really sure who is watching these Seagal movies (besides us, obviously, but we have a website about direct-to-video action movies - what's everyone else's excuse?) - and, if people are watching them, are they taking them seriously? Are they meant to be taken seriously in the first place? Judging by Seagal's narration about him being a bad man in search of absolution, whatever that may mean, we think the answer may be yes, interestingly. Maybe the foreign markets eat these things up, we don't know. Thankfully, when Seagal is talking (and not someone else talking for him), he doesn't lapse into a random Cajun accent too much, but you never know when it will strike. It's like a cobra. A Cajun cobra.Smartly, the filmmakers brought a solid actor and quite good Martial Artist named Byron Mann to pick up Seagal's considerable slack. The movie could have starred Mann and been perfectly fine, if a bit junky. However, the two of them walk away slowly from an explosion, so, maybe there was some bonding there. Fan favorite Vinnie Jones as the uncreatively named "The Boss" (Seagal's name is "John" in the movie so the writers get zero points for creativity in naming the characters) is really at his worst here. Not him, per se, it's not his fault, but the role is weak. But the guy likes to keep working, so, lord bless him. But as a pseudo-Saw-type monster/crime boss, Jones doesn't shine like he should. It could've been anyone wearing that apron in that green-tinted room.Seagal is a victim of his own choices in life. He is where he is because of no one but himself. He wanted to place more emphasis on being some sort of blues-playing Buddha than on doing what he does best. He should consider being less lazy and arrogant and instead put some energy into what he puts out there with his name on it. If he were to reverse course and do that, we might really have something going forward. But as it stands, this is pretty much standard Seagal muck.

joshuawood-54247 As for how Segel Movies have went in the past he did start with some amazing movies then hit a rough patch. It is obvious that with this movie he is back to the classic 80'2 early 90's action. Most forget that he doesn't practice kung fu or Karate Though he does hold a black belt or equivalent in four different martial arts forms. In his movies he uses a version of Aikido to disable or kill his attackers. It is not the slow snappy fight stuff you see in most martial arts movies. He never kicks above the waist, never attacks first he uses the attackers energy against themselves. Often manipulating joints and breaking bones. Now for the Movie, he does play a Mercenary that was part of a failed mission that did not result in the kill or capture of its primary target in the beginning. Does the movie build from there, yes it has a slow story arch and then its straight into the Segel action of the past. Is the plot horrible, no its actually pretty decent and there's no mumbling his lines are clear. Over all the dialogue didn't make me want to tear my ears off. The fight scenes are actually pretty good, He shows a short Katana in a wooden sheath and tells that its his preferred method of killing. I did see someone else mention that it looked like garbage and someone skipped on buying a better prop, also the same person had no idea what a Raptor Drone looked like with Hellfire Missiles as they showed one in the beginning of the movie. Obviously the design of the sword is for tactical field craft as you saw earlier in the beginning of the movie when he takes out a sentry it was tucked under his KIT that he was wearing. Overall this movie was hands down one of the best movies I have seen him in over the last five years. Great job, now off to finish the Trilogy.

leonblackwood Review: This is another one of those low budget action movies, with terrible acting and a silly storyline. Steven Seagal is hired to take out a drug dealer and uncovers a drug ring that involves trafficking and prostitution. One of the girls escapes a torturer and just happens to run into Seagal who, against his morals, uses his skills to save her. She then gives him information to take-down the drug and prostitution lords with the help of his trusted friend, Chi. Seagal, actually wasn't to bad in the movie and I liked the relationship between him and Chi, his sidekick, but the film looked cheap and some of the acting and one liners were awful. The action scenes weren't bad that bad, especially from Seagal & Chi, but it's predictable from the beginning to end. I wasn't expecting that much from the film, so I wasn't overly disappointed. It's basically what it says on the tin! Round-Up: It's a shame that Steven Seagal only gets the chance to star in straight to DVD movies because his cool demeanor and great fighting skills were great in movies like Under Siege and Marked For Death. After he started to put on weight, his movies became terrible and he wasn't taken that seriously in Hollywood so he must be starring in these low budget movies to pays the bills. Vinnie Jones has also become a straight to DVD actor who plays the same type of roles all of the time. Since his move to Hollywood from football, he has only started in a handful of big budget movies and his career hasn't really blown up like Jason Statham. It seems like he is also just starring in these movies to pay the bills! I did like Seagals sidekick, played by Byron Mann who starred in the terrible Streetfighter movie and had small parts in Red Corner, The Corrupter and Catwoman but the rest of the cast wasn't that great.I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/crime movies about Steven Seagal taking down a drug ring. 3/10