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Belly of the Beast

2003

Director: Ching Siu-Tung

Stars: Steven Seagal, Byron Mann, Monica Lo, Tom Wu, Vincent Riotta, Chau Siu-Tung

After a couple of decent recent efforts from Steven Seagal, I was actually kind of hyped to check out this movie, since Ching Siu-Tung was behind the helm. But even one of the best action directors out there can't save Belly of the Beast from becoming a plodding, generic action flick. The plot has Seagal's daughter being kidnapped by a group of terrorists, so he heads to Thailand to save her.

This isn't a great story, but it could have been the start to a good action movie. Could have been. Seagal just looks horrible in this movie. He's old and bloated, and totally unbelievable in the action scenes -- which Ching Siu-Tung must have forseen, because Seagal is heavily doubled. There are a couple of good action bits, but big boy Seagal ruins matters every time he pokes his fat head onto the screen. Even if you're a die-hard Seagal fan (are there any of you?), you'll probably want to steer clear of this clunker. Belly of the Beast is the kind of crud that gives action films a bad name.

RATING: 4

A review of the DVD for this movie can be found here

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