Executscan Expected more

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

vmalast Awful, just awful. I honestly couldn't finish it. Ya, I know it's pure fluff. Just an ego stroke for Mr. Seagal. I've seen better action on a kindergarten playground and, better acting. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to finish gouging out my eyes.

Scott LeBrun This terminally silly Steven Seagal vehicle casts the martial artist / "actor" as Sasha Petrosevitch (!), a "criminal" shot by the FBI, revived, and sent to "New Alcatraz", a modern version of the legendary island prison. Naturally, he is just about the only one who can save the day when a team of operatives bust INTO the place, all in the name of making condemned man Lester McKenna (Bruce Weitz) spill his guts about where he stashed a fortune in gold bars.Yeah, there's a lot of action in this flick, but so what? It still suffers from a particularly lame script by the director, a former actor named Don Michael Paul. Paul had previously established his credentials by writing the equally macho "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man". Decent production values and a not-bad supporting cast can't do much to counteract the inanity of this whole thing. It's short on sense and long on nonsense. Now, if the potential viewer / action fan is looking for something pretty mindless, they might find this passable.One problem is that the villains lack any real personality. The usually engaging Morris Chestnut (who'd previously played sidekick to Seagal in the second "Under Siege" picture) gets a chance to play a heavy, and, to put it quite frankly, the role just isn't that entertaining. Super sexy Nia Peeples seems to be enjoying herself as Chestnuts' slinky partner in crime.Among the cast are rappers Ja Rule (as Sashas' buddy Nick) and Kurupt (as the comic relief guy Twitch), the excellent Tony Plana as a prison official, Claudia Christian as a tough Federal agent, and Linda Thorson as an imperiled Supreme Court justice. What's nice is seeing 'Hill Street Blues' actor Weitz do a good job in the only good role in the movie. TV icon Stephen J. Cannell has a small role, and Mo'Nique appears during the closing credits as Twitch's girlfriend.Some interesting touches and moments here and there, but the ending is ridiculous beyond belief. Overall, this is a mess, and indicative of the eventual decline in whatever quality there was in Seagal cinema.Four out of 10.

David Love The plot concerns a man who goes undercover in a newly reopened Alcatraz prison to find out information to help prosecute those who killed his wife. How many films are there where the lead is seeking revenge for the murder of his wife? In filmland women need to watch out if they marry! The dialogue is clichéd, and stilted. The plot is illogical. Who wrote this? The answer is the director – Don Michael Paul. However the camera-work is fine and the sound good.The film moves along nicely but the action scenes are over the top. How is it possible to fire so many bullets without hitting anyone? The stunt work and the fight choreography were nominated for awards, as was Seagal for a Razzie as worst actor! So I have to think – do I give this film a second star? I think in fairness to all the guys who worked in art, sound, effects, stunts, camera, sound – they did good work and this mess wasn't their fault. Two stars

Jackson Booth-Millard I had always had my opinion about the leading star of this film, and only ever really liked him in Under Siege, but in recent times I decided to give him a chance and try his films, and this was another one of them. Basically car thief Sasha Petrosevitch (Razzie nominated Steven Seagal) is brought in by criminal Nicolas 'Nick' Frazier (rapper Ja Rule) working for crime boss Sonny Eckvall (Richard Bremmer), who apparently killed his wife. During the job however FBI Special Agent Ellen 'EZ' Williams (Claudia Christian) catch the team, and Sascha ends up getting shot, and for eight months he is medically dead, until his recovery finally works, and he is immediately imprisoned in Alcatraz. He joins Nick and the many other dangerous and petty criminal inmates in the infamous prison that has only just been reopened by new charismatic Warden El Fuego (Tony Plana), and the place is equipped with a new state-of-the-art execution chamber. The dead men walking can choose from the five methods of death: gas chamber, lethal injection, electrocution, hanging or firing squad, and the first criminal to face the new facility is gold heist thief Lester McKenna (Bruce Weitz). Watching the execution to see how the system works are Supreme Court Justice Judge June McPherson (Linda Thorson) and Federal Bureau of Prisons head Frank Hubbard (Stephen J. Cannell), but also interested in getting their hands on McKenna is a team of terrorists, called the "49ers". They are led by number one, Donald Robert Johnson (Boyz n the Hood's Morris Chestnut) who wants the stash of gold that has been hidden by the man on death row, and as he won't tell them Johnson is holding the Judge and others ransom to get what they want. Obviously Sascha are trapped inside as well, and they decide to do something about the situation, fighting back, but of course we find out Sascha is actually an undercover cop trying to find Sonny Eckvall. With the help of the other inmates, including Twitch (Kurupt) and Little Joe (Michael 'Bear' Taliferro), and in the end Alcatraz goes back supposedly to its original state, the villain is defeated, and Sascha does rescue the Judge and others. Also starring Nia Peeples as 49er Six, Michael McGrady as Guard Damon J. Kestner and Hannes Jaenicke as Agent Hartmann. Seagal is reasonably okay as the at first unlikely but then obvious hero, and his high kicks certainly make for alright viewing, some of the story was in ways interesting, but overall it is almost a rip-off of The Rock and other similar films, so not much originality, and not the highest amount of satisfaction, a sort of silly action crime thriller. Adequate!