Normally, a movie starring Steven Seagal and a rapper wouldn’t be my first choice for a DVD purchase, but given Seagal’s performance in Under Siege, and lots of beer, I found myself in the possession of Exit Wounds.
I knew that this was a fairly modern movie, because I remembered it being in the cinema, but I couldn’t go to see it because I wasn’t yet 18.

The movie follows two men, Orin Boyd (Seagal – Nico) who is a tough, but rogue cop who saves the vice president’s life by disobeying an order and storming a bridge and throwing him into the river. For a reward, he is transferred to the roughest precinct in Detroit, Precinct 15. After getting off to a terrible start with the Commander (Jill Hennessy – Robocop 3) it isn’t long before he gets further into bother for interrupting officer Montini (David Vadim – G.I Jane) in an undercover mission to bust drug dealer Latrel Walker (DMX – Never Die Alone).

But all is not what it seems with Latrel, for his real name is actually Leon Rollins, and he has been filming Montini and his crew of crooked cops trying to buy drugs from him, so he can prove that his little brother, who is now in jail, was set up by the cops.

As the two realise they are fighting the same fight, they team up to take on the villains in a climax that has even more drastic changes in the way you will view the characters…

The acting in the movie is actually any better than a Seagal movie has any right to have. The big man himself is playing that character he plays in every movie, so if you could stomach him in any other of his rogue cop movies (of which take up about 95% of his career) then you wont have any problems. Personally, I cant dislike the guy, just because of the simple fact that even when he is terrible, he is comical.
Despite the trend of those in the field of music being crap actors, DMX is actually a more than competent actor, and impressed me a lot in this movie.
The supporting cast is also top notch, at least for an action movie anyway. Jill Hennessy is stunningly sexy as ever, as is Eva Mendes in a tiny role as one of Leon’s friends.
Action movie veteran Bill Duke (Commando,Predator) crops up as a tough police superior and does his thing brilliantly.
Michael Jai White (Spawn,Universal Soldier:The Return) is also gives a great turn as the man behind the operation.
Bruce McGill (Timecop), as Seagal’s old friend and boss is also good.
Comedy relief is provided by Tom Arnold(True Lies) as a goofy talkshow host who helps out Orin with information and Anthony Anderson(See Spot Run) as Leon’s buddy. Personally I didn’t find them all that amusing, but some people might.
And finally Isaiah Washington(Hollywood Homicide) gives a good showing as Boyd’s slightly in awe partner who is the only other cop he can trust.

The music in the movie isn’t bad, but I don’t think it suits. The theme tune ‘No Sunshine’ by DMX isn’t a bad song exactly, it just isn’t action movie sound. In Cradle 2 the Grave his song X gon Give it to Ya was the perfect soundtrack for an action movie, this slower track just isn’t. the same goes for all the music, there isn’t one standout ‘action song’ in the whole movie. None of the music is bad, just not suited.

The only real special effects are the wirework and stunts. For the most part the wirework is good, but there is one kick Seagal pulls off while fighting a group of thugs at his pickup that is just crap looking.
The stunts are fairly well handled, such as a car flying out of a second story car park floor, but the car has a mysterious door that disappears when this happens, which led to some amusement in my household.

The action scenes in the movie are all fairly exciting, although you cant help but feel it lacks anything really new or originally done. The only one that comes close is the Jai White/Seagal large cutting blade fight, which is horribly ruined by the action repeatedly switching to what is happening with other characters. The way the two main villains are killed is also a waste. Killing one of them that way was poor, but both of them with almost exactly the same method? Get real.


Other good things about the movie are the decent budget, which has been put to good use. No horribly faky cgi helicopters here, the movie is shot well and has been made well.
This movie is one of a dying breed of action movies that actually make it to the cinema, how company’s figure Seagal is a bigger pull than Van Damme or Lundgren I don’t know, but it was probably more a case of DMX getting this to the cinema. The man has quite a following for his music, so it would probably have been banked on that they would flock to see this.
To be honest, I cant help but wish he would use his real name in movies, because I feel he would probably get more respect as Earl Simmons the actor than DMX the rapper turned actor. And seeing as he seems to be on a one man quest to keep the action genre alive, that could only be a good thing for action fans.

The faults are there as well. Like I said, there aren’t really any outstanding action scenes in the movie, nothing that people will think of when they think of Exit Wounds.
The other is that the story really isn’t anything new. It is pretty easy to spot most of the bad guys from miles away. The DMX character revelation is actually quite good though, as you only find out he is good when Seagal does, making things slightly interesting.

At the end of the day, Exit Wounds is a fun action movie, if taken in the right way. While it isn’t even a standout in the genre, it is nice to see that they do still make action pictures that don’t just plain suck (see: Vin Diesel’s filmography).

Seagal fans will love it, probably DMX fans as well. Seagal doesn’t do all that much of his Aikido, but he shows that he still has it to play action roles,and DMX proves that he can play one pretty well and action heroes are running short these days, so we need all the help we can get.








Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age