Half Past Dead

• Written and Directed by Don Michael Paul (Directorial Debut)
• November 15, 2002

When thieves takes over a prison to learn the location of a fortune in stolen gold from a man facing execution, an undercover FBI agent is forced to blow his cover to stop him.

Half Past Dead is a dumb actioner that while entertaining is easily forgotten once you turn it off. It is a film that borders on the nonsensical and could easily be turned into a comedy given the ludicrous nature of the plot and everything that occurs. Since he was still alive when this was made Leslie Nielsen would have been perfect for it, but it might have been too similar to Wrongfully Accused. Anywho…

Steven Seagal stars as FBI Agent Sasha Petrosevitch working undercover as Russian car thief Sasha Petrosevitch seeking to bring down crime lord Sonny Eckvall (Richard Bremmer) who somehow got Petrosevitch’s wife killed though I am not sure how that happened and Eckvall was so clueless he never put it all together. Sasha has used car thief kingpin and Eckvall subordinate Nick Frazier (Ja Rule) as an in to the criminal gang. A confrontation goes haywire leaving Sasha dead for 22 minutes hence the title of the movie.

Fast forward 8 months to the newly reopened Alcatraz where Nick and Sasha are part of a prisoner work detail putting the final touches on the refurbished prison because that makes sense. But wait! The first execution to take place before the prison is even finished is that of Lester McKenna (Bruce Weitz) who masterminded a multimillion-dollar train heist in which several people were killed when the train hauling it derailed. Enter the sociopathic Donny Johnson played exquisitely by Morris Chestnut (who never goes campy) that has been working for vaguely defined government official Frank Hubbard (Stephen J. Cannell). If that does not sound a touch convoluted I do not know what does!

The background cast of characters are moderately dangerous criminals with I guess good enough records so they can paint walls and do labor. I’m not sure if the program is voluntary though. Dialogue never really clears that up. They are good enough for one of them to get a videogame system.

What gets me is that the assault on the prison and the plan to bring down Eckvall are unconnected elements. Normally they would connect even if such a connection strained credibility. It would not have taken too much to connect them but instead it is all one big coinky dink.

Seagal by this point had crossed the line into being a physically implausible action star. Not as heavy as he is now but the loose orange jumpsuit does not hide the belly hinted at by the extra chin or own sees in a group shot. His now trademark waddle and the use of stunt doubles, especially in a skydiving scene, does little to help.

Bruce Weitz as Lester McKenna is quite charming. McKenna has changed his ways facing the end of his life and Weitz makes him very likeable. McKenna in his final hours asks to speak to Petrosevitch to get a peak at what death is like. Writer/director Don Michael Paul avoids any confirmation or denial of anything by either character keeping things on this side of death. Weitz like most every other actor gives more effort than this movie deserves. It creates a little pizzaz to something ultimately pedestrian.

I give this points for style. Seagal movies are infamous these days for slo-mo to get over that 90-minute hump. Half Past Dead uses the technique but as a style aesthetic. The memorable villains “49er Six” (Nia Peeples) have a level of cool even if they are defined only by being bad. Her clothing in particular definitely gets inspiration from The Matrix.

Everything is happening during the worst rain possible because that always happens so things go haywire for the baddies when their copter crashes during this Die Hard in Prison. Inmates get guns to fight the villains while Johnson interrogates McKenna who after years of keeping the location of the loot secret slips it to Petrosevitch because he is such a good guy.

This leads to explosions and bullets that spark so seriously on impact you might think they are tipped with sparklers. This is ridiculously silly and over-the-top though never treating it like that. What sold it for me was the heavy practical effects which are missing in today’s action movies. Some CGI was involved but nothing like now. That and the acting-even by Seagal. Given superior performers, consciously or not, he stepped up his game.

Then there is the money clearly put into this. The budget is enough to hire good actors and create a convincing environment to sell the story. As improbable as it all is, nothing ever takes you out to the point you cannot care about what you are watching.

As an actioner Half Past Dead is not bad. Not among the greats, but among the good ones and definitely worth a watch. Seagal, supported by an excellent cast and good production values, does not hold this movie back. It is good enough to satisfy an itch for an action film.