THE ASIAN CONNECTION (2016) **

Steven Seagal stars as a shady crime boss in Cambodia.  A bank robber (John Edward Lee) steals from a bank that contains a hefty sum of Seagal’s cash.  Seagal’s right hand man (Sahajak Boonthanakit from Hard Target 2) tracks him down, but instead of killing him, he offers Lee a deal:  Continue to knock off the banks where Seagal keeps his cash and they’ll split the money down the middle.

The Asian Connection (which was co-written by Tom Sizemore of all people) is a mediocre, but watchable latter-day Seagal effort.  This one combines his recent love of playing villains with his penchant for wearing sunglasses, a doo rag, and a big bushy beard (although he still wears his more traditional Asian-inspired fashions).  As far as these things go, it’s not bad.  He spends a lot of his time sitting down (another new Seagal motif), but he does have a pretty good knife fight that opens the picture.

Since Seagal spends most of his screen time hanging around the edges of the plot, it’s up to Lee to do much of the heavy lifting.  Looking like Johnny Knoxville cosplaying as Tyler Durden, Lee makes for a serviceable leading man.  His romantic scenes are a bit dull, but he makes out just fine during the bank robbing sequences.  

Michael Jai White is around for one scene as an arms dealer who equips Lee.  He doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but he gives the movie a much-needed shot in the arm.  White delivers a solid performance, and is pretty funny too, which makes you wish he hung around longer.