Release Date: March 16, 2001
Starring: Steven Seagal, DMX, Isaiah Washington, Tom Arnold, Jill Hennessy, Anthony Anderson, Michael Jai White, Bill Duke
Directed by: Andrezj Bartkowiak
Written by: Ed Horowitz, Richard D'Ovidio
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
MPAA Rating: R (strong violence, language, some sexuality/nudity)
Steven Seagal is back to his old tricks and stale one-liners. In Exit Wounds, though, sophomore director Andrzej Bartkowiak can't seem to get the viewer to care either way because this corrupt cop story has been told too many times.
Orin Boyd (Steven Seagal) is the tough cop who doesn't follow the rules. After his latest screw-up, he goes to the infamous, decaying 15th Precinct -- and if that weren't punishment enough, he gets enrolled in a rage group where he meets television talk-show host Henry Wayne (Tom Arnold). With the help from Wayne and his new partner George Clark (Isaiah Washington, Romeo Must Die), Orin starts to unravel a case involving dirty policemen and a lot of drugs -- all of which leads back to a big-time heroin dealer named Latrell Walker (DMX).
The movie is as action-packed as they come, and in that regard, director Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die) knew what he was doing. He's spent most of the last decade as cinematographer on a number of top-notch action thrillers, and on his last feature he worked with the world-renowned martial artist Jet Li. The fight scenes were choreographed with hardly any flaws, and the music (a rapper's delight, complimented by original compositions from Trevor Rabin of Remember the Titans and Gone in 60 Seconds credit) was used to Band-Aid the transitions. While the moves weren't particularly outstanding, they made up for quality with quanitity. Thus Bartkowiak was able to get the most out of the action sequences, easily the best part of his film.
And while that's all well and good, his direction begins to fail apart from the fight scenes. Bartkowiak did give us the traditional beginning, middle, and an end, but the story was flawed through all three acts. For example, Orin is introduced to us through the first of many action sequences, an elaborate scheme to attack the Vice President. It's never really explained why the VP is in danger, (the most likely reason was to use dynamite and model helicopters), and after saving the VP, Orin gets punished by his overbearing superiors.
But even though scenes between the good cop and his overbearing superiors are forever stagnant, clever new ways to hide drugs are always fun. National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 gave us drugs in Girl Scout cookies, Traffic gave us drugs in a doll, and now they come in shirts. While the idea is almost as off the wall as DMX's character being a dot-com computer whiz, it works for creativity points.
As far as the rest of the movie goes -- mostly uncreative stuff -- director Bartkowiak can wash his hands of this one, because the writers didn't given him much to work with. Ed Horowitz (On Deadly Ground) is around one more time to give Seagal his questionable one-liners; he's joined by debut scribe Richard D'Ovidio in adapting John Westermann's novel of police corruption. I'm sure it's a lovely read, but it does not translate well to film.
There were a few scenes where Bartkowiak must be held accountable -- mostly the ones that have no meaning whatsoever. The crooked cops argue about best sports star in a dimly-lit bar, a scene that drags on and could easily be removed. Go. The men in the audience are already there for the guns, violence, and female strippers; they don't need another reason to pay to see this movie. Bartkowiak also decides to allow words to be exchanged during fight scenes and car chases. Big mistake. A director never should allow pointless dialogue (and believe me, most of it is pointless) to get in the way of a decent action sequence.
All in all, Exit Wounds ended up being an over-the-top music video starring DMX, Seagal, and a nice expensive line of cars that are available at a dealership near you. With any drug/cop corruption story, greed and power lie in the hearts of the bad guys, and justice lies in the hearts of the good guys. But this is all too familiar and while the movie does its job -- it's as fine a Seagal product as they come -- the viewer will find himself check-marking his way through the movie instead of taking in the experience.
all contents © 2001 Michael J. Eiff