Good movie but grossly overrated

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

An intelligence operative discovers that no one is what they seem in the shadowy world of espionage. The Shadow Man makes fun of 80's Pop Corn Action Flicks and unlike films such as Commando and Rambo 2 which although they were corny and over the top they still had a lot of cool one liners and a lot of great action that they were entertaining and turned into classics now in this case we have just a bad made for DVD kind of action movie starring Steven Seagal who shoots down a chopper with a gun and then it explodes and has some of the worst cgi effects i have ever seen , also he punches a dude and his eyes go missing or even the fact that a guy gets shot in the cheek and he is still alive for a few seconds before he gets shot in the head. Action Movies might be corny and over the top but they are entertaining and great if they are directed by the right person and have a great cast which in this case we have none overall The Shadow Man is just terrible.

I have seen a few of the films from the leading actor, both the ones that made it to the cinema, and the ones made for TV and straight to DVD, and so far Under Siege is the only one worth mentioning, I was sure this film would be another I would find tedious. Basically Jack Foster aka The Shadow Man (Steven Seagal) is a widowed former CIA operative, he is travelling with his young daughter Amanda (Skye Bennett) to Europe for what they thought would be a relaxing getaway. However Jack is tricked by rogue CIA operatives into smuggling a deadly virus out of the United States, they kidnap Amanda following the completion of the mission. Jack slowly realises he is just a small pawn in a much bigger game, he vows to rescue his daughter and bring her back safe and sound, he will get vengeance upon those who crossed him, using his great skill of martial arts and weaponry, and he must also stop the extremely wicked plot to hijack the world. Also starring Eva Pope as Anya, Imelda Staunton as Ambassador Cochran, Vincent Riotta as Harry, Michael Elwyn as George, Garrick Hagon as Waters, EastEnders' Alex Ferns as Schmitt, Michael Fitzpatrick as Chambers and Elias Ferkin as Velos. Seagal is completely out of shape and mumbles his way through, the casting of Staunton as the embassy leader is pointless, and it laughable seeing from Trevor from EastEnders putting on a bad American accent, I could not follow the wretched story of kidnap and international conspiracy with a virus, the special effects are awful, not even the fast fight and chase sequences can save it from being a complete waste of time, a crap action thriller. Poor!

The film has nothing to do with the title. The plot is simple. His daughter is abducted and he is running around, beating the crap out of people to find his daughter. Seagal is slow, monotone, emotionless... he uses Tai Chi in fight scenes, extremely boring. Other actors are also bad, nothing special... just there for being paid. It's very interesting to see actress Imelda Staunton here... what a hell is she doing here?! In this straight do DVD crap? She is a good actress that deserves more better films. Seeing her and Seagal in scene... it was a pretty large fail... that was so unbearable... I bet she was disgusted by Seagal's "performance"... There's nothing special to say about this film... it's incredibly boring and impossible to watch. Do something better... for example go beat the crap out of your dog... much more fun.

Well, another of Seagal's Direct-to-DVD movies down the hatch. This one actually wasn't too bad.Once again the the big dude plays a former operative with a colorful past which is hinted at but never explained. Once again he has a daughter that's kidnapped and he breaks some bones to get the guilty party.The script, in fact, is somewhat confusing now and then and the paper thin story seems more complicated than it actually is. Old Steve does OK here, he's not dubbed (I think) and he seems to be doing most of his fighting himself. Oddly enough, fairly many shots show him (and leading lady Eva Pope) continually below face level so just about anyone could be doing the running there.Spoiler A particularly curious scene involves Seagal and Pope fleeing the safe house due to a helicopter chasing them. Their faces are never shown while running, neither in the car as they get to the woods and only a close-up of Steve with a gun while he shoots the chopper down. Very strange scene - might even have been put in after the fact. Very cheesy CGI in the scene by the way.End of Spoiler "Shadow Man" is average entertainment all the way. If you're in the mood for Steve, this is an OK choice. Decent fighting scenes and shoot-outs but it's mostly pretty forgettable.