General Commander apparently started life as a TV show. It never got picked up and the episodes were then condensed into a feature length movie (which explains why it is credited to two different directors). I assume it was to be a slight variation on Steven Seagal’s other program, True Justice as he once again is in charge of a team of law enforcement agents. Basically, all he does is sit around barking orders while they do all the leg work, before he finally shows up for the fight scene finale. The big difference here is that instead of working on the Seattle P.D., Seagal and his team are with the C.I.A. True Justice yielded a handful of not-bad patched-together movies. All I can say for this one is I’m glad the makers of General Commander only milked this show for one feature.
Seagal and his team are on the trail of some black market organ harvesters in Cambodia. When one of their own is killed during a sting operation, Seagal and his crew naturally want to go out for revenge. The agency forbids any retaliation and orders the team to be disbanded. They then defy their superiors and reassemble to get payback for their fallen friend.
I feared the worst when I put this on, but it’s semi-competently put together. It’s not nearly as bad as some of Seagal’s latter-day efforts, although it’s hardly noteworthy, that’s for sure. If they were going to slap two episodes of a TV show together, I just wish they had picked ones that had more action in them. Things particularly bog down in the second act where the team members go off and mourn the death of their dead pal. The action we do get is far from Seagal’s worst, but there’s just not enough of it to make it worthwhile.
The climax might’ve worked for an hour-long TV show, but it’s a little underwhelming for an action flick. The final knife fight is over much too quickly and suffers from some poor editing. That said, the first episode (err... half) moves at a fairly brisk pace. Overall, it's mostly innocuous, if a tad forgettable.
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