So folks, it's that time again, and as promised this is a Seagal double whammy and the second film of Seagal's that i am reviewing is 1988's NICO aka Above The Law, a far more interesting and handled film which has a darker tone than Out For Justice.
!!!!!!!!WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!
When I look at action films, they usually have to have certain ingredients to get me pumped up and interested. 1. A good story 2. Car Chases 3. gunfights, luckily Nico has all of these which is why I decided to watch it. Unlike Out For Justice, Nico was a lot darker in tone and the violence was more real and less comical, now I am not saying that I get off on violence, but if the film is rated an 18 then I don't want see partial violence I want it spread across the screen, I want it almost real and for a good majority of the film, Nico does this, which is why I enjoyed this film more than the previous Seagal film I reviewed.
The Plot: From the DVD case
Chicago cop Nico Toscani (Steven Seagal) is onto something big. Suspects collared in a drug raid are allowed to walk and Nico himself is asked to turn in his badge and his gun. He's kicked off the force but not off the action as he tracks ex-CIA operatives trafficking drugs and plotting a political assassination. Along with his partner (Pam Grier) and his 'Mafioso' family members he hunts these evil doers down and exacts his revenge and exposes the plot to assassinate a senator.
The Cast:
STEVEN SEAGAL as Nico Toscani
This was Seagal's screen debut but had worked as a martial arts co-ordinator on the films The Challenge ('82) with Scott Glenn and the non Bond Bond film, Never Say Never Again ('83). Nico is the sort of character that grew up with gangsters but became a cop but still affiliates himself with the mafia in a non violent criminal way. He enlists the help of his obviously 'made' uncle to keep his wife (Sharon Stone) and child safe as he goes on his journey to take down bad guys. For a first film Seagal is pretty good, not as fun to watch as he was in OFJ, but enjoyable none the less.
PAM GRIER as Jax
Pam Grier will be recognizable from her roles in the Blaxsploitation classics, Foxy Brown and Coffy and from her lead role in Tarantino's Jackie Brown, here however she plays Nico's partner who is about to leave the force to become a district attorney. Grier seems to be having fun playing on the right side of the law and unlike Tyne Daley's character in Clint Eastwood's The Enforcer, Jax is a veteran street cop, in the middle of the action with the big boys. Jax is that rare thing in Nico, she's a strong central female character.
HENRY SILVA as Kurt Zagon
Henry Silva is great in almost anything, he's great here. Silva plays Zagon the man responsible for drug trafficking and the assassination plot and the man who was stopped from killing a Vietnamese soldier by Seagal during 'Nam. Silva made a lot of appearances during his career including the original and remake of Ocean's Eleven. But I knew him from The Manchurian Candidate and Roger Corman's The Secret Invasion. But as Zagon, Silva is menacing and commands the screen.
SHARON STONE as Sarah Toscani
Sharon Stone was nothing but support during the 80s from films such as Police Academy 4, Action Jackson and the Allan Quatermain films with Richard Chamberlain. It wasn't until 1992 with Basic Instinct, that Stone became a household name. In Nico she is still just a support character and plays Nico's wife like Diane Keaton played Pacino's wife in The Godfather, not a very strong character, but kind of needed to be in the film to keep him grounded to a degree. She's ok but I find I enjoy Stone more enjoyable in her more recent films.
The Direction:
The film was directed by the very capable Andrew Davis who had previously helmed the Chuck Norris film Code Of Silence and would go on to direct the Oscar winning film The Fugitive. Here though, Davis handles the action with an effortless style and his screenplay, co-written by Seagal gives the film a much darker tone than some of the other films in Seagal's catalogue due to the inclusion of a bomb going off in a Catholic church during a ceremony and a flash back scene set during the Vietnam war.
My Final Verdict:
I really enjoyed Nico a lot more than I expected to. The film was well paced, directed and acted. The action scenes were expertly handled and there is a brilliant shoot-out in a multi story car park. All in all, Nico is a top notch 80s action thriller with a tone that reminds me of Ridley Scott's Black Rain with a little Die Hard thrown in. Ive said it before and i'll say it again, if Seagal is so enjoyable in his earlier films, why are his DTV films so bad. So if you are like me and have only just gotten into Seagal's films, start with this one, Out For Justice, Hard To Kill and Marked For Death.
FILM: 8/10
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