Clevercell Very disappointing...

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Leofwine_draca Another excursion into the increasingly weird direct-to-video life of action star Steven Seagal. SHADOW MAN follows the declining trend of the actor's efforts in the 21st century, a cheaply made and intensely derivative offering shot in Romania with a mixed cast and nary an ounce of originality in the script. Once again we have Seagal shambling back into action in an attempt to rescue his kidnapped daughter in a plot already used in two or three of his other recent movies.With the current crop of the actor's DTV efforts, the movies themselves are pretty interchangeable, marked by poor, MTV-wannabe direction and a blatant disregard for logic or credibility. Seagal is literally the "shadow" man here, spending much of the film lurking in the shadows, perhaps to disguise his double chin or increasing bulk. Occasionally he gets out of his chair to do a little fighting or shooting, but the action is in short supply here. When Seagal performs his 'martial arts', it's typically a punch, a kick or a wrist-throw, a single move that kills or disables the enemy; don't expect any fine show of Aikido as the star just hasn't got it anymore. His stand-in is also lurking around, perhaps not as much as in some other films he's made but he's obviously doubled in other places (is getting out of a car simply too much for him?).The rest of the cast is a real mixed bag – made up of Romanian nationals, once almost-famous US actors (Garrick Hagon, a pilot in the original STAR WARS) and Brits. Two of the Brits are instantly recognisable from their roles in soaps (Eva Pope and Alex Ferns, the latter better known as EASTENDERS' Trevor) while another, Imelda Staunton, is noticeable from the incongruity of her appearance here: this stalwart British actress is better known for her roles in 'proper' films like VERA DRAKE.Still, there is some fun to be had here, especially in the film's more ludicrous moments. An early car chase blatantly rips off THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, with edgy camera-work that directly resembles the cinematography of that film; in addition, there's a bit of 'theme' music that pops up which is Jason Bourne's theme, minus two notes so the composer doesn't get sued for breach of copyright. I also loved an early set-piece in which Seagal finds himself trapped in a room and uses a number of household items to craft himself weapons; don't expect any of the cool bomb-making in the UNDER SIEGE flicks though. Here, he uses a gramophone (!), some random pipes from behind a wall, food, and kitchen knives to attack the enemies.Perhaps realising that action fans are turning away from these films in their droves, the producers amp up the sex and violence to try and attract them back. So we get bloody gun-shots and a surprising amount of nudity and sexual situations, probably the most seen in a Seagal flick; watch out for the hilarious 'hug' moment between Seagal and a pretty, bra-clad Pope and lots of gratuitous bits in pole-dancing clubs. Yet for the most part, SHADOW MAN is trash, one only for those people, like me, who find themselves inexplicably drawn to the actor's poorly-made films.

ianlouisiana The Big Man is what he is.You don't like him?Well,hell,nobody is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to watch his movies....... The plot is nearly always - as here - completely irrelevant;we just want to see Steve get revenge against whoever has p*ssed him off this week.You think they'd know better by now. In "Shadow Man" he takes on most of the Romanian nation,several Brits and the odd rogue yank,a helicopter and a central library,leaving them dead,destroyed and in tatters respectively.Way to go Big Steve. Miss Imelda Staunton keeps an admirably straight face and looks to have enjoyed herself immensely sharing screen time with a true legend. Miss Eva Pope,as unlikely a killer as you could hope to meet,is involved in a half - hearted attempted seduction scene but Steve knows the importance of keeping his vital bodily fluids intact before going into action and merely gives her an avuncular hug. I think Steve should have it written into his contract that only he be allowed to sport a ponytail :to see and the chief villain going mano a mano with ponytails swinging was just a touch de trop. But overall,for a cheap,cheesy movie,"The Shadow Man" is a lot of fun and good value for money.Honest.

Celticnationalist 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.

Claudio Carvalho 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")