Above the Law (aka Nico) (1988)

 

More meme now than man, all twisted and bloated, it is seemingly forgotten there was a time when Steven Seagal was a genuine action star. Sure, not on the level of a Stallone or Schwarzenegger, but together with Van Damme (and possibly Carl Weathers) he occupied a more underground niche yet was one of those names you could rely on for gritty action flicks. Seagal never had massive range, but his earlier work was always entertaining and this one absolutely is one of his best.

Seagal plays Nico Toscani, a former CIA operative, aikido expert and nowadays police officer in Chicago, being a loyal family man, a guy from the street and a tough cop. You know: all the clichés in one basket. He does his thing, cracking down on druglords and little thugs left and right. Things take a turn for the worse when his local priest is killed in a bombing and Nico discovers that some shady CIA members are involved. It has something to do with drug trafficking, human trafficking (lots of trafficking apparently) and even a nasty git from the past who loves torturing people (a gleefully evil and suave Henry Silva). But as the title says: no one is above the law and Nico is on a crusade to stop these evildoers from getting away with it, one broken bone or gunshot at a time. 

So if you wanted clichés, you've got clichés. But because this is so clearly an 80s product, it doesn't matter. It still is entertaining as fudge. Seagal tries to emote and even if it's not his best trait, he at least still tried here. Luckily for him, he is surrounded by decent character actors who do most of the emotional heavy lifting (like Pam Grier - what a legend). The evil people are clearly unredeemably evil and that's why it was a stroke of genius to cast Henry Silva, a man with a face so memorable and tailormade to play villains you will always recognise him even if you don't know his name. 

As far as the rest goes, you get chases, gunfights, fistfights, a few explosions and all leading up to a short but frantic final fight before the film is over. It's relatively short, but it never gets boring and the energy is still high. 

Is it a masterpiece? Of course not. But it is absolutely one of Seagal's best and if you like gritty 80s action, you could do a lot worse.