Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)

Three years after the success of what has been called Seagal's greatest film he's back as Casey Ryback for another siege stopping event!  Unfortunately, Under Siege 2 is a kin to sequels like Speed 2, highly camped up, very sporadic and sorely missing the charm of the original.

After Ryback's brother dies in a plane crash the only family he has left is his niece Sarah (Katherine Heigl) whom he hasn't seen in five years.  Having missed the funeral, he feels the need to speed a little quality time with her and try to makeup for all the years he wasn't around.  But it seems wherever Ryback goes trouble follows, as the train their traveling on happens to be commandeered by a certified nut job named Travis Dane.  Dane plans to hack into the government's super secret weapon satellite, which he helped to create, and blow the crap out of the Pentagon which is supposedly housing a nuclear reactor deep underground.  It's not simply a plot seeking revenge on the government for canning him, Travis is making a hefty one billion dollars from a group of Middle Eastern terrorists bent on destroying the heart of the American political system.

Under Siege 2 is a complete 180 degree shift from the original, which was a solid action film.  Everything about this is not only corny, but completely over-the-top, even for a Seagal film.  The story is similar to a bad rip-off of the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, a secret satellite with the power to destroy anything from space.  The lead villain, Travis Dane, reminded me of the character of Adam on the TV series Northern Exposure (not a complement for a villain), and the film's conclusion is not only beyond belief but so corn cobbed that it was clear Seagal must have not cared much about taking this one seriously.

The best aspect of the film was the only real tough guy villain, the character named Marcus Penn or as I've grown to call him "albino man".  Albino man manages to be this film's saving grace by picking up all the great one-liners Seagal seemed to have left at home.  The scenes were he sprays mace in his mouth like it's a minty spray, or when he gets aroused by Sarah's attempt at incapacitating him by grabbing his face, all classic moments.  But in the end albino man is no match for Seagal. Their fight sequence is the highlight of the film, as Seagal doesn't break a sweat taking him down with a barrage of hand signals, and leaving him bloodied on the kitchen floor with his only good one-liner to end the scene.

Aside from those few scenes Under Siege 2 is truly awful. The token black guy is horrible comedy relief, and Katherine Heigl plays the same obnoxious character she always does.  Supposedly Seagal recently commented that he'd be extremely interested in doing Under Siege 3, if the opportunity ever came along.  I'm all for Seagal's big return to the big screen, but if Under Siege 3 was to be anything reminiscent of this mess I'd be completely against it. Overall, Under Siege 2 is not completely devoid of entertainment, but it's no where near Seagal's best.

5/10