Shadow Man (Video 2006) Poster

(2006 Video)

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5/10
He must have been listening.
argentobuff20 June 2006
I always wonder if Steven Seagal reads the forums here.I think he does as his latest,Shadowman is actually an entertaining action movie that does not mock(most of the time)or insult the audiences Intelligence. Did I just say that?The story is another matter.

Yes he is Jack foster.Not a bad name this time.He is yet another CIA agent.Yes his daughter has been kidnapped by shady types.All in a eastern European area.What is a shadow man to do but kick some ass.

Whats different here is that Seagal actually tries and succeeds in giving a decent turn here.He does most of his own fights.Gone is the raspy voice and Dubbing.The stunt doubles are kept to a minimum.He gets into quite a few scraps here that recall his early days glory.

The only bad thing is they needed to get some better actors to back him up.With the exception of Eva Pope most of the Bad guys are what else?Clichés.I do remember when the villains were written good even for low-budget movies.

The other problem is the most common plaguing DTV movies today.The Badly-done CGI.Its the same problem in the Detonator and Second in command.

Director Michael Kunesch Keeps the movie rolling,gives it a nice look,but winds up a little uneven.He is the best since Anothony Hickox though.Production values are good.

Its a few notches above Seagals latest work which was depressing me.What is good to see is that Seagal has woken up to the fact that we want the old-time Seagal action.
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3/10
Messy and Noisy
claudio_carvalho22 December 2007
The former CIA agent Jack Foster (Steven Seagal) travels to Bucharest with his daughter Amanda (Skye Bennett) and his father-in-law George (Michael Elwyn) to spend vacations in Romania. In the airport of Bucharest, Jack sees his daughter being kidnapped by the taxi driver Anya (Eva Pope) and the limousine of George exploding. He chases the taxi with the CIA agent Harry (Vincent Riotta) and he finds that different groups believe George gave him the research of a lethal virus. While trying to rescue his daughter, Jack is entwined in a network of traitors and criminals that are disputing the powerful biological weapon and he has to fight to survive.

"Shadow Man" is another messy and noisy movie of Steven Seagal. The screenplay is terrible with an awful development of the characters and the situation, and along the first fifteen, twenty minutes, the viewer does not know what is happening. The cast is above average, highlighting the awarded Imelda Staunton and Eva Pope, but unfortunately the story is not good. I found funny to see the character of Steven Seagal with a girlfriend (with a wonderful body) and having a romance with Anya, since it is unusual in his movies this type of situation. The locations in Bucharest are very beautiful and with a better screenplay, this film could have worked. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "O Homem Sombra" ("The Shadow Man")
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3/10
Steven Seagal puts no effort in his acting
TheGOLDENWALRUS12 June 2006
Before I start I would like to say that I already know Seagal isn't known for his acting but for his fight scenes. Exit Wounds was a fun thriller where Seagal actually put effort in his acting. Into the Sun wasn't that bad of a film either which had a decent plot. This film just had nothing.

What can I say, Steven Seagal keeps throwing films at us. They are completely rushed. Segal plays Jack where his daughter gets kidnapped and all he does is watch and with no emotion as his daughter is taken away from her. Throughout the movie Jack never does show anytime of emotion. I know that Seagal plays a tough guy throughout his movies but this was so over the top.

The directing and the editing also credits for this mess as plot holes developed quickly. Such examples included that Seagal would trust people to quickly than all the sudden he would become best friends.

If you are a Seagal fan than this movie wouldn't bother you. It doesn't compare to Exit Wounds but I can say, this film was better than his previous three (Submerged, Today You Die, and Black Dawn). That really isn't saying much. I will admit I enjoy watching Seagal films even though I usually disappointed.

Overall this film gets a 2 for directing, 2 for editing, 2 for acting, 2 for plot, and 6 for the stunts.
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5/10
Could this be a turning point? Maybe!
supertom-32 June 2006
It's fairly obvious to see, to non fans, that Steven Seagal over the last few years has seen a decline in film quality, since Exit Wounds, which itself briefly reversed a falling trend in the big guys, post Under Siege works. By the time Wound's came out Seagal hadn't actually done all that many films, 11 in all, including Executive Decision which was merely a cameo for Steven. Since wound's though he's so far done another 13, shot and in the can awaiting release. Including another 3 awaiting release, and several potentials yet to be shot. So in the last 5 years his career has shot up in terms of output. Unfortunately the sheer amount of films, has seen a decline in quality. Furthermore Seagal has put on a lot of weight and is no longer looking the part, in the way he used to. Similarly trends have emerged such as voice dubbing, stand ins, stunt doubles and a real lack of enthusiasm, which is remarkable considering Seagal's wooden demeanour has been in question from critics since his glory days, but in some recent films he's nearly asleep. Seagal films these days, ridiculously, are rated on his participation in fight scenes, his own dialogue, etc, which in a critical standpoint is really no way to rate a movie. However in that respect this film is good in one respect: Seagal kicks ass! He does all his own fights, aside from an opening fight probably needlessly added in post production using his double, as naturally Seagal shoots these things and moves on to other things.

Shadow Man though marks an upturn in quality for Seagal. In most respects it's his typical DTV dreck, but this film at least has Seagal half interested and also has a good pace. At least Seagal is IN the movie. Some of his previous DTV films have seen him actually only appear in about 75% of the film (in Mercenary Seagal doesn't even properly appear until 12 minutes in.). What we have in Shadow Man is Seagal in most scenes, albeit with the use of a stand in for a lot of reverse shots and far off shots. But this is favourable to him disappearing for huge gaps, and since he's the main draw some films where Seagal disappears from proceedings, suffer immensely (MFJ, Black Dawn). Seagal also does his own fights, and what's more he has a lot of action in this film. Shadow Man does feature some vintage Seagal moments, including a great fight against a group of Russian gangsters. Also this has a classically violent climax worthy of the Seagal of old. Seagal too is ably supported by a good cast, something missing in some of his previous films. Alex Ferns, Imelda Staunton (surprisingly) and the lovely Eva Pope, all appear to give fine support.

The plot is quite simple but as usual in some of these movies the storytelling is poor, with Seagal travelling from scene to scene with little indication as to why. There is no cohesion in the narrative but at the same time Seagal is essentially going from action scene to action scene and as such the pace is brisk. Shadow Man at least isn't a trial to sit through like his last few films were, which suffered terribly from dull patches. There's enough carnage, bone breaking and car chases to keep things moving briskly. Essentially this film gets by on the nostalgic value with some classic Seagal moments that seem vintage. Some moments bring a sudden breezy memory from his glory days, while you still of course acknowledge that these are not nearly as well made as say Nico or Under Siege. It's all competently done though from the crew, and Barry Taylor in particular produces a decent musical score that although mimicking John Powell's Bourne scores, is simple and effective. At the same time director Michael Keucsh is okay. It seems that there could be a brighter next year or so for Seagal fans as he's got another 2 films with more or less the same crew, working with Keusch both times. However the real turning point is likely to be Prince Of Pistol's which seems to at least have Seagal's undivided interest and enthusiasm. Anyway Shadow Man is by no means a very good film, but it is still pretty good fun. **1/2
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4/10
Kind of like seeing a sporting Icon, a few years after their prime! (Maradona)
buckforris9 October 2006
The last time I saw Seagal, was in Exit Wounds. He'd really packed on the pounds since his glory days, but then I watched this film, during an action man rampage (Icidentally, Dolph Lundgren's The Russian Specialist was my clear winner) and boy was Seagal looking fat, old and horribly sweaty.

Shadow Man has no plot to speak of, it's just a bunch of guys who turn up to get beaten up by Steven Seagal. The film is poor. Seagal as well is half asleep, he's awful here. It was actually saddening to see once one of my idol's (I took up Aikido cause of him) looking so unwell. It's my estimation that he's probably done a few too many films past his prime, a bit like Brando, without the talent.

Shadow Man has in its favour some nifty, and violent action, but not nearly enough of it, to overcome the boredom elsewhere.
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3/10
Another badly acted, poorly directed, woefully scripted, confusing,overly complicated Steven Seagal DTV release.
WelshFilmCraze23 February 2010
Steven Seagal made some good movies earlier back in his career such as UNDER SIEGE (1992) ABOVE THE LAW (1988) & MARKED FOR DEATH (1990) but that was a very long time ago.

Since his last Theatrical Flop, The Rapper's in Alcatraz nonsense that was HALF PAST DEAD (2002) - Seagal's career as been in the Straight- to-DVD doldrums and has starred in 19 Movies in 8 years to date, but it's a case of quantity rather than quality I'm afraid.

SHADOW MAN has Seagal playing an Intelligence Operative whose Daughter gets kidnapped and spends the rest of the movie trying to get her back, that's pretty much it, but SHADOW MAN has a needlessly confusing and overly complicated screenplay - There's far too many different sets of baddies (Cops,Americans,Romanian Mafia) and too many pointless scenes by half which add nothing to the story, it does become quite a chore to sit through.

The Film is poorly directed by Michael Keusch - who went on to direct another couple of Seagal starred stinkers in FLIGHT OF FURY & ATTACK FORCE.It's very disjointed,The Screenplay is woeful - Seagal co-wrote and co-produced it himself so has to take a lot of the blame here.

There's plenty of action, none of it very interesting and most of it poorly edited.

The Acting is pretty awful, but I've come to expect that in a Seagal Flick - What Oscar Nominated British Actress Imelda Staunton in doing appearing in such mindless trash I really don't know.

Filmed in Romania on the cheap - Not the worst Film I've ever seen,but Seagal DTV releases have become interchangeable, none are better or worse than the one before, but ALL are pretty dire - there hasn't been a really decent one since UNDER SIEGE 2, 15 years and 30 odd Films ago.

I used to be a sucker for his Flicks, buying every release, but this is the last one I paid my hard earned money to buy - Make of that what you will.

I was surprised to notice the Film is only 95 Minutes long, because it felt far far longer.
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4/10
Not Segal's best
denny-long30 September 2006
The photography appeared to be foreign made and of poor quality. In many scenes Segal appeared passive and bored and just along for the ride. Overall it lacked the crispness of most of his prior films.

It appears that the shirt that Segal is wearing upon arrival at the taxi driver's apartment is not the one he was wearing in the taxi while on the way there.

The plot was difficult to follow and I found myself relying on the action scenes to maintain interest. There is an excellent body count if that is your bag, although some innocent people needlessly died at Segal's hands. He is usually for the underdog, but in this film he does not appear to care who he terminates.
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1/10
Shadow Man
jboothmillard18 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I have seen a few of the films from the leading actor, both the ones that made it to the cinema, and the ones made for TV and straight to DVD, and so far Under Siege is the only one worth mentioning, I was sure this film would be another I would find tedious. Basically Jack Foster aka The Shadow Man (Steven Seagal) is a widowed former CIA operative, he is travelling with his young daughter Amanda (Skye Bennett) to Europe for what they thought would be a relaxing getaway. However Jack is tricked by rogue CIA operatives into smuggling a deadly virus out of the United States, they kidnap Amanda following the completion of the mission. Jack slowly realises he is just a small pawn in a much bigger game, he vows to rescue his daughter and bring her back safe and sound, he will get vengeance upon those who crossed him, using his great skill of martial arts and weaponry, and he must also stop the extremely wicked plot to hijack the world. Also starring Eva Pope as Anya, Imelda Staunton as Ambassador Cochran, Vincent Riotta as Harry, Michael Elwyn as George, Garrick Hagon as Waters, EastEnders' Alex Ferns as Schmitt, Michael Fitzpatrick as Chambers and Elias Ferkin as Velos. Seagal is completely out of shape and mumbles his way through, the casting of Staunton as the embassy leader is pointless, and it laughable seeing from Trevor from EastEnders putting on a bad American accent, I could not follow the wretched story of kidnap and international conspiracy with a virus, the special effects are awful, not even the fast fight and chase sequences can save it from being a complete waste of time, a crap action thriller. Poor!
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7/10
Bad guys kidnap Seagal's daughter!...
romyllos30 May 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Just saw the movie. I guess it is much better from the last DVD-movies he made. Main reason is that he does almost all his stunts and his talks!:) And his wearing the awesome black leather 3/4 jacket as seen in the DVD cover! The whole story of the movie takes place in Romania where you can see many fit girls.I can say the storyline is pretty straight forward with no big surprises! Seagal goes to Romania with his daughter for the 5 years of his wife's death (she was Romanian). Then he is found himself in a middle of a fight (American Embassy Dirty Agents - Some Eastern European Terrorists) which are trying to get a virus which is believed to be with Seagal; so they kidnap his daughter....and the party begins! This time film-direction looks much better than latest films and Seagal is cool and "untouched" as always. I am s Seagal fan, so I liked the movie! Just a note, the bad guy used to play in a soap opera in UK (Trevor from Eastedenrs!)
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5/10
Average Seagal vehicle with action , suspense and entertainment
ma-cortes14 March 2007
The film concerns about a shadowy CIA ex-agent (Steven Seagal) , he goes to Bucarest (Romania) and at airport his daughter is kidnapped after an explosion . A Romanian cabbie (Eva Pope) carries to the small girl and being pursued by Seagal . Later on , he contacts with the American Ambassador (Imelda Staunton : Vera Drake). The film expands an exciting suspense about world of espionage blending with lethal virus intrigue and a kidnapping.

The picture contains numerous gunshots , blown up , bloody killings and great lots of violence when struggles and murders happen . Interesting scenes when Seagal is locked into room and he similarly to ¨McGiver¨ uses items for creating weapons confronting nasties ; besides , some cars chase are quite thrilling . Here appears the prestigious British actress Imelda Staunton , she shot for two days, but Seagal did not film any reverse angles with her . All the scenes where her character speaks with Seagal's character were done with the help of a stand-in . Imelda Staunton was quite vocal about her displeasure with the film with several online publications , she went on to say that the picture was a disorganized, under-funded mess . The film is produced by veteran French producer Pierre Spengler and Joe Halpin , usual financiers of Seagal films and shot at Castel Studios in Bucarest where have filmed his last movies .

The picture belongs the last period of Seagal career when he's making middling and low budget films , directly to video and many of them are considered semi-turkeys stinkers . These film are directed by B-directors as Don E. Fauntleroy (Mercenary for Justice) , Michael Oblowitz (Foreigner) , Anthony Hickox (Submerged) , Alexander Gruszynski (Black down) and this one , Michael Keusch (Attack force , Flight of fury) who directed him in three films . Following the tendency to oriental action cinema , Seagal hired Asian directors as Mink (Into the sun) , Leong (out the reach) , Ching (Belly of the beast) . These movies aren't on the level from previous successful and big budget Seagal films just like : ¨Glimmer man¨ , ¨Under Siege I,II¨ , ¨Exit wounds¨ , ¨The patriot¨ , ¨Fire down below¨ and others .
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8/10
Shadowman
jockey1-18 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed the movie, I was pleased to see Steven do most of his fighting himself. Eva Pope was a real professional actress in this movie. Steven was Steven, whispering most of his lines made it difficult to hear sometimes. Skye Bennett, who played Amanda, was a cute little actress, who held her own. My only complaint would be when the actors spoke in another language, the subtitles were not written largely enough and were left on the screen for only a few seconds, not long enough to read the whole thing. Credits at the end of the movie were barely clear enough to read. Larger print would have helped. One of the BEST parts was at the very end, seeing Steven come out with a great, RARE smile!
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7/10
His best movie on a long time!
pf-meddle5 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is Seagal's best movie in a long time. The plot was actually more enjoyable than Exit Wounds (although I would not say the production values were better). Obviously this movie is no Under Siege, but it had the qualities of a great action movie: hot women (and lots of them - in fact I can't really recall a Seagal movie with this much nudity), great fight scenes, explosions, etc. It looked like Seagal did all of the fight scenes (and there were a fair amount!) as well as speaking. Seagal looked like he was having fun in this movie. As mentioned, I think this one rivaled Exit Wounds and is his best work in a long time. Someone said this could be the start of a comeback, and I agree. Hopefully the next ones are at least this good and actually supersede it. A definite watch for Seagal fans as well as action movie fans.
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5/10
Why do I keep watching these?
Sandcooler23 February 2013
Steven Seagal's straight-to-DVD releases really can't be judged by the usual standards, because then you'd have to give them all a zero and that would be depressing. They have their own set of standards, so here goes. How many obvious doubles do we get this time? Surprisingly few, but then again, this movie barely contains any martial arts. All Seagal has to do is pull the trigger a bajillion times. Still, it's refreshing to see him do action scenes where he doesn't mysteriously lose or gain 80 pounds with every new shot. Which people who used to be in actual movies embarrass themselves alongside Seagal? There's Imelda Staunton in a very minor role, but for the most part these are complete unknowns we don't have to feel bad for. How moronic does the plot get? Not very, it's just pretty confusing. Do we really need twenty-five different sets of bad guys when you know Seagal is just going to kill them all in the end? Just have one really big crime organisation chase him, same result but way less filler. Overall "Shadow Man" isn't nearly the worst I've seen of him though, this is one of those recent ones that are actually sorta entertaining. And you even understand what Seagal is saying in this one, even if doesn't matter much. If it's in the bargain bin, there are worse ways to spend a dollar.
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3/10
typical Steven Seagal movie, simple plot, bad stunts,...
JOhlendorf4 June 2006
I mights add upfront, that i am no Steven Seagal fan.

The movie is similar to all Steven Seagal movies. So if you don't mind that you never see "stevens" head/face in any stunt ( which includes anything with more action that jogging or crouching) nor worse effects then a 1950 movie "high speed" chase, then you might enjoy this movie.

if you hate to see slowly moving vehicles through a shaking camera (which somehow is supposed to make it look more action/speed loaded...) i suggest not to waste your time with it. If you hate flat dialogs (there a re a few "good" ones, but Steven manages to spoil them by reading them with no emotions nor ambition) then again, this movie should probably not to waste your time.

summery: Steven, if you are a good guy, which i hope, then you wont take this personal: please stop trying to be an actor. you are wasting peoples lifetime.
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3/10
Not Steven Segal's worst film, but it is still pretty bad
TheLittleSongbird9 January 2011
I admit it, I am not a Steven Seagal fan or of his films, but I do keep watching them for curiosity. As far as they do, Shadow Man is pretty bad, but it does start off quite promisingly and it for me is not as bad as Out for a Kill, which is a serious contender for Seagal's worst film ever. Plus there are some striking locations. However, the camera-work is very slapdash a vast majority of the time, and the direction is pretty incompetent. The story is messy and predictable, the action is barely risible with some poor doubles, the film is dreadfully scripted and the pacing is sluggish. Sadly the acting doesn't fare much better, fine actress Imelda Staunton especially deserves much better than this but she tries hard with an underwritten role. Seagal is part of the problem, I actually consider him a poor actor overall, and this is no exception. Here, he looks very tired and unkempt and he seems to be going through the motions. Overall, marginally better than I thought, but that is faint praise. 3/10 Bethany Cox
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4/10
A classic Seagal movie
dr_ali_n1 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Lets dissect a Seagal movie:

Major Ingrediensts ------------------- 1. Steven Seagal on 90% of scenes. He is The Good, The Mind. The heart and Logic, fearless and powerful, A sex God who never gets old. 2. A dead wife (his recent movies) who has been a good house maid and it ends here. Everything is house is Steve's taste. 3. A Cute pre-school girl who talks like a teenager and doesn't know the meaning of fear and never stops to ask her dad to go to trips, troubles always come when he wants to give up a few seconds to his beloved daughter. Ah damn problems they never end. 4. A fortune company kicking ass under his nonexistent management and supervision, he just slaps and breaks hand and it works that way, the wealths keeps coming. 5. A girlfriend who is so young, so sexy and looses no time to get naked. She is She never has any idea, is semi Mute + Brainless + Idol and wants nothing more than life but sleeping with Steve which he is too tired of that due to overwhelming offers. 6. The rest of world, which is either Bad or Stupid. good ones fall under second category. 7. Car driving (no matter driving like turtles, it IS fast enough) 8. Couple explosions 9. Some kicking, braking hands and necks, 10. Pistol shots and some other cliché stuff of this genre.

Minor Ingredients ------------------ 1. A bar with half naked girls and exotic dancers (essential) 2. A martial arts house, Japanese type and Steve talking about it's effect on body and mind, in couple minutes we see it's all worthless, the only thing that counts is slapping on face 3. A rotten friend or cop

Rules ------ 1. Bullets out of Steve pistol find their way, say "intelligently". so don't bother if he shoots 45 degrees to the ground and brings down a chopper. 2. Bullets out of enemy guns are afraid of him and "change their way" before reaching him. So a gang of professionals are very unable to shoot him with machine guns and aiming perfectly 3. He is law, that's why he loves law and people see no problem with that.

During recent years his movies lost most of their essential ingredients we are accustomed to, hopefully he is back once more with a bag of all good old tricks, a very Seagal movie. He is the mind of a 4 year old boy in a 300+ pound 6" body barely able to walk fast and his martial arts are nothing but slaps but he looks so confident, a self esteem we all enjoy watching his movies. I think he truly believes in what he does and the child inside him sees him the master of martial arts and that's why his acts look so real as if he really believes the bad guy has broken in half under his feast.

Once again he is the first guy in charge and better say the only one in the movie! all Romania is against him and everyone is bad, the Romanian police, Russians, US government and his father in law are are mafia! The only (somehow) good girl in the movie is an ex-agent who has no idea how to protect herself.

The plot is so cheesy I am not going to go into detail. Don't ask why he keeps on giving the Romanian Ex-Agent good compliments about her inside, he sees his beloved precious daughter that worths him everything getting attracted to her and he wisely chooses the sexy idol girlfriend over her. He is scientist, genius, understanding and very loyal lovely dad after all and women are the same, even this ex-agent looses control and starts getting naked for him on her first chance but her time is over.

Special effects are awful and goofs are endless, don't be bothered when the cab has a single passenger on long shots and two in close ups. The car shots are among the worst I have seen in recent years. The car is in studio and a green background is moving behind the car nevertheless it's running in front of cars, fountain, traffic or anything and you feel like the car is turning round itself! The Seagal reactions are very funny compared to turbulence of the image behind. The scene he shots down the chopper is terrific fun, turning around with a camera on shoulders giving the idea of a chopper in turning motion! the explosion turns out so cheap. Overally the film is so short on budget even the cars collide carefully.

The cast is mediocre but Eva Pope gives an acceptable performance. Seagal is old and slow but he does his tricks several times in this movie.

It's a real Seagal movie, I have always liked his unique style and I enjoyed this movie very much, a wonderful choice for the weekend at home.

Highly recommended for Seagal fans, overall 4/10
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1/10
Bad plot, bad actors, bad director and Seagal out of shape
Leo_KMFDM3 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
OK, this is really a bad movie, Steven it's really out of shape like he's going to explode. The dialogs are terrible and so the actors, most of the scenes in the movie are incredible hilarious and ridiculous. The audio is like a Chinese movie from the 70 dubbed to English. The car chase... lol, they were shaking the camera and driving really slow!! Ahhh... the explosion of the helicopter you have to see this. The voice of Seagal, i don't know if his talking or whispering. The point it's that i'm comparing this movie with the older ones of Seagal and if he wants to keep the image he has to have a better director, better actors, better plot and better shape... the other way is to stop acting.

Conclusion: if you want to laugh you have to see this, but if you want to see Seagal you have to watch the old ones.
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3/10
middle life expression
diFERIT25 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
to call a movie like this as a good one is a unfortunate mistake. Let's be serious... just because of some explosions (that can reveal a bad taste: like the one at the airport or the one of the helicopter) because of bad shooting (the one where he kills the drug dealer in his house, the ones in the library where he succeeds to shot an enemy in his forehead, a vital place but in the next person he kills he puts six bullets and not only one... though the target is way easier) because of the bad sexual scenes (the one at his house where he is "ignoring" the.. what is she.. younger spouse? - and the one with Anya... let's get real... would a spy be that much of a family guy?) anyway... this is one of the worst films i have ever seen... the script is practically improvisation... i think it changed a lot after the filming. the sound is bad as well... no offense... but to illustrate by sound the blood that gets out of a person is really lame. and what is all that with the "artial marts"... jeez.. does it still work in a movie.

i find this movie a middle life crisis expression... the nostalgia of past times mixed with sexual desire.
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6/10
Not as bad as most of his late movies.
stormruston5 January 2007
But not as good as his early stuff. Still this one shows he still has a good movie or two in him.

Anyone following Steven Segal's career has seen a pretty painful drop in movie quality from him, this one is I hope, the beginning of a up swing.

The Story is his usual "have to save a loved one and kill all the bad guys in the process" CIA related thing. But the characters are, with the exception of his daughter pretty believable and fun to watch. Steven's fights are better in this then in his last few outings but still no where near his classic stuff. I watched this one sort of fondly during the fight scenes, thinking "well at least it is him this time not some padded up stunt double" It was a fun watch and left me hopeful that something good may still come out of Steven Segal. Worth watching for fans like me.
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4/10
Disappointing
danaya_f26 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The story goes from one incident to another without much information on why or how. Not enough detail to the "item" or who's who and why among the bad guys. The dialog is choppy and corny at times. Direction was full of Hollywood, overdone, magic. For example, the door knob and lock was shot at Anya's apartment however, when the door was kicked, it fell off it's hinges. The marksman in the helicopter was a terrible shot, not by inches but by yards. The car chase scenes with Segal in view were obviously fake. Segal isn't a favorite but I do enjoy an occasional Segal movie. The best scene, when Segal does an internal Chi on George. Segal's movements are classic.
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9/10
Great action, Seagal kicks ass, snaps arms.....but needs a better director
dolemite7211 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
As others have stated, Shadow Man is a welcome return to form for Steven Seagal (who seems to be putting more effort into recent movies) but as usual with (most) d-t-v releases, it does have a rather jumbled plot, that detracts from what the big guy does best. Seagal plays (surprise, surprise) an ex C.I.A agent, who whilst on vacation with his young daughter, gets tied up in a plot to smuggle a deadly chemical agent (capable of doing serious damage to the human race) and in the carnage, his father in law is killed(?) and his daughter kidnapped......Which anyone will tell you, is the wrong thing to do to Seagal! The action moves fast and frantic (and the movie looks well, for it's modest budget) but as usual, there seems to have been post-production tampering. At the movies start, it shows Seagal teaching a martial arts class, and showing them the 'spiritual' side to the combat. Then (in a terribly doubled after-thought) Seagal (or his double) is then seen to start brutally going one to one with the class (dubbing is evident, at this point as well) so i chalk this up to the film-makers wanting extra fights (strange, given that Seagal performs all the other stuff himself?) Some ropey C.G.I and obvious body doubles asside (although Seagal is never around on set enough, to make an entire movie, given that he puts out 3-4 of these movies a year) the movie is a good solid little action flick (the people behind Van Dammes 'Second In Command'...take note!)

What Seagal now needs is to work with a decent director. One that cares little about scenes lasting longer than 2 seconds before an edit. It's good to see him kicking ass again, but the surrounding material is beneath him, and regardless of his good work, these annoying tactics only serve to make Seagal 'the star' look bad.

U.K fans will be keen to spot ex-soap regulars Eva Pope (Coronation Street) and Alex Ferris (Eastenders)......and remarkably (oscar nominated) Immelda Staunton(?)

The bottom line is this, Shadow Man has all the good quality fight scenes that Seagal is famous for, but suffers from this inexplicable 'filler-syndrome' that infests most d-t-v's. 'Mercenary For Justice' had the same problems (yet that movie, also grows on the viewer) Once Seagal can work with a plot without these distractions, and a director that can shoot action in a fluid style, that suits his beautiful Aikido skills, then expect to see the 'Stout Sensei' on the big screen soon enough?

Big Lee gives this (not quite) perfect action flick 9 out of 10
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7/10
The Leather Coat is back!
FEF31212 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Shadowman was a pleasant surprise for me. Along with "Mercenary for Justice", it was quite an improvement over Seagal's last few films.

Seagal appears to be having a good time in this one, is a bit more animated (for him), and there is plenty of action (gunfights, aikido moves) to hold your interest.

Seagal's trademark leather coat is here, along with his Colt .45 automatic. He looks better than he has in his last few films (Black Dawn, Today You Die).

One lame sequence - Seagal shooting it out with a large military helicopter, and bringing it down - with his trusty .45 pistol! The scene where the helicopter explodes was ineptly done.

Definitely a step up for Steven.
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4/10
Casts a shadow of drabness
shakercoola15 September 2018
An American action drama; A story about a former intelligence officer who seeks vengeance after he's duped into smuggling a deadly virus by a perpetrator who also kidnap his loved one. Next stop Bucharest for Steven Seagal. A woeful actioner with a fairly predictable plot, risible script and fight sequences that lack vitality and thrills. The camerawork technique is stylishly modern and the soundtrack pounds to try an elicit an atmosphere but it struggles all the way through to the bitter end.
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Best Seagal film in a while, but still pritty bad.
mr_pivac198528 March 2007
Steven Seagal is getting old. Luckily he had found some extra energy when compared to his "movie" Black Dawn. Still - Steven seems to be so fat and tired of all this action junk, that he only has the energy to whisper his lines and barely keeps his eyes open. Anyways Shadow Man is definitely an above average film in Steven's latest production thanks to good production quality, director and a better script than on average in these films.

The plot is simple: Steven's character Jack is carrying micro cell containing a virus without knowing about it. Bad guys and the good guys want it. Ka-Boom. The end.

The film is pretty good in the beginning but it kinda loses it's intensity on the way. In the end of the film you just wish for the film to end. It's a horrible movie but if you have absolutely nothing better to do and you're a Steven Seagal fan - then you might check this one out. Otherwise - get something else. I'm not a demanding critic when it comes down to guys like Steven Seagal: The problem's just that I gotta keep it real - I didn't feel myself entertained during the film. Steven's losing his grip on this.

Some people say Steven Seagal has only one face. They couldn't be more wrong; Stevie has at least two faces. Cool and extra-cool. In the film for a second I thought Steven was trying to act but neh.. I was wrong.
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3/10
Cheeseburger without the cheese!
Filmnerd198427 March 2007
I bought this movie fully aware that Steven Seagal movies are just OK, or damn right lame. but sometimes you're in luck. unfortunately this wasn't it.you get that b-movie 90's feel. it's OK to watch, but you crave for something more. that something is called acting. you can see in Seagal's face that he just don't give damn. its just another forgettable action movie that he just don't get in to the plot. movies like "marked for death" and "under siege" where superb. and i truly believe he could make these types of movies again. he just needs to fire his agent and find a really talented director with a bright idea. then you have have the whole nine yards. but after 'mistakes' like this,"black dawn" and "into the sun" etc. i would be dreaming if i could see Seagal in a high budget action movie with capable co-stars, and full devotion shining on his face! i am still hoping! good night, and good luck!
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