FishersRJF This movie should have starred Victor Webster with special guest star Steven Seagal. Victor was is most of the fight scenes and did most of the better acting. Steven did his typical F word for everything and the final battle so he could be the hero. The plot was very lame and I don't think the little girl should have been so OK with all the blood and fighting. It would make more sense that the females were Sasha's wife and daughter, not siblings. That was a weird part of the story. Plus the love interest between Alexander and Lena was just wrong on so many different level and I think she was young enough to be his daughter. Gross!!! All in all this was a great Victor Webster movie. Not sure it should have given top billing to Steven Seagal, but he is the better known actor, so I understand why.
leonblackwood Review: This movie is pretty awful! The acting is really bad and the storyline was all over the place. Its about a special force officer (Seagal) who is trying to take down a rich arms dealer. After slipping through his fingers, he tracks him down in Europe but he is dragged into a Russian mafia war after trying to save his next door neighbour. He then realises that the Russian Mafia are connected to the arms dealer and with the help of his next door neighbours brother, they end up in a bloody war with loads of casualties. Personally, I didn't really like the flow of the film and the action was pretty terrible. Seagal goes missing through a lot of the movie and the other characters weren't that interesting. The beginning wasn't bad, when Seagal was trying to take down the arms dealer with the special forces but after such a big build up, I ended up feeling quite disappointed with the whole thing. Round-Up: My expectations for this film wasn't that high because a lot of Seagal's latest work is pretty bad. I did enjoy the movie with Steve Austin but the rest of his films have terrible story lines and low class actors. I'm sure that Seagal will release more of these straight to DVD movies, just to pay the bills, but he really does need to question his career, which has become a real disappointment. Luckily enough, his style of fighting doesn't take that much physical movement so, at 63 years of age, he can carry on coming out with these type of movies for his selected audience but I personally won't be renting another one anytime soon.Budget: $7milion Worldwide Gross: N/AI recommend this movie to people who are into their action movies about Seagal trying to take down a Chinese arms dealer. 2/10
The_Phantom_Projectionist It's fun to be a fan of Steven Seagal these days. I can see him espousing his odd political philosophies on television, I can go see him playing the blues in concert, and finally, I can properly enjoy his movies again. Steven's film output for the last seven years has been uneven: for every URBAN JUSTICE getting my hopes up, there was an AGAINST THE DARK knocking 'em back down again, but things seem to be leveling out now. For the longest time, I wasn't happy that Keoni Waxman had become Seagal's apparent director of choice, but their experience together is now paying off in their having made two back-to-back action vehicles that I really enjoy. A GOOD MAN is a lot like the Seagal/Waxman collaboration that came before it, FORCE OF EXECUTION, and if you weren't a fan of that one, there's a good chance you won't like this one...but personally, I had a great time with it.The story: An ex-Special Forces soldier (Seagal) on a quest of vengeance in Bucharest becomes caught up in a splintered family's troubles with the Russian and Chinese mafia.Part of the reason for the upturn in quality of Seagal's movies is his opportunity/willingness to work alongside performers who can properly bolster his pictures. Recently, these have included Steve Austin, Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo, and Bren Foster, and now, he's got top character actor Tzi Ma and martial arts stud Victor Webster on his side. Ironically, one of the biggest overall weaknesses of the film is its dramatic content, with way too many European performers phonetically delivering English dialogue, but Ma and Webster soundly anchor the movie as actors. They even have good chemistry with Seagal, who rumbles his lines but nonetheless seems pretty enthusiastic to be delivering some pompously cool phrases (e.g. "Is this how you want to go out? A man of war, a son of Guang Gong, like this? Killing a child? This is not you").Waxman's screenplay is at least a step above the average for the direct-to-video realm. There's a bit too much backstory for me and one of those uncomfortable endings that seem to indulge the lead star more than it furthers the story, but there's also some definite intrigue and noticeable character development. I like that it fully establishes most of its main stars before plunging them into action, and as such, the film takes its time getting to the brunt of its adrenaline scenes. Additionally, the production values are pretty nice. There are very few "avid farts" (as Vern would call them) and none of the technical failures you tend to get with lower-budget flicks. What's most apparent for longtime fans is Seagal's minimal reliance on stunt doubles and stand-ins. Though there is some apparent doubling in one of Steven's fights, I think that this film marks the first time in many years that we can be certain we're seeing the back of the real Steven Seagal's head, not that of a hastily-inserted double. It's a weird thing to celebrate, but the cinematography benefits from Seagal apparently being on the set more and appearing in a lot of the second unit shots.Equally or more important than any of that is, of course, the action content. In short, I was very pleased with what I saw. Seagal's last film boasted no less than ten full fight scenes, and A GOOD MAN is close behind with nine, not counting the quick skirmishes. Steven claims four of these brawls and Victor Webster takes five. Seagal isn't slouching: despite the unwelcome presence of a double in one of the battles, he's in swell form and delivers quick, brutal martial arts, unhampered by excess editing. He regularly draws a short sword. And like Bren Foster one movie ago, Victor Webster claims the more elaborate fights, but I think Webster's style of fighting is better suited to a Steven Seagal feature than Bren's: he's a fighter, not an acrobat, and as a result, his brawls are more gritty and less pretty...though they're still a lot of fun and he still finds time to wield a couple mêlée weapons.I'm not sure whether or not the "Alexander" that Seagal plays here is the same he played in FORCE OF EXECUTION, but if this persona helps generate this strong of an action movie, I'll be hoping for a trilogy. Like I said before, what I value in a Seagal flick doesn't seem to always match what other reviewers want to see, but I can wholeheartedly award these four stars and fully recommend the film based on the strength of its action scenes, quality of its storyline, and the presence of its lead star. Buy it!
A K We all know what to expect when watching a direct to video Steven Seagal movie. "A Good Man" may not be like "Marked For Death" or "Under Siege" but it definitely rates as one of his better DTV movies I've seen. I myself partly watch these movies for the comedic value of course to see Seagal's acting/cheesy plot and as a B-action film fan. Of course a movie like this you don't expect a great story but lots of action and Seagal kicking the bad guy's ass in the most unconvincing and bloody way possible. The movies good for that and lots of naked babes are a bonus too. Seagal definitely doesn't seem as lazy/careless in his acting as he usually seems in his DTV movies which was a surprise. Tzi Ma was good as a villain, he pretty much plays the same role he did on 24. I also thought that his partner wasn't so bad in the movie. Could he be the next potential DTV action star??.....maybe. Overall, better than the other dozens of crap DTV Seagal movies that have came out and that will within the year. A good watch for the B- action film fan who know's what to expect and for the few Steven fans out there. 4.5/10
