Born to Raise Hell (2010)

There are certain things you can expect from a Steven Seagal film. These films typically feature titles of four or less short words. They tend to have at least one scene of gratuitous nudity (my favourite type of nudity), plus plenty of kicking ass and taking names. The recently released on home video flick Born to Raise Hell delivers on all fronts.

In Born to Raise Hell, Steven Seagal portrays Samuel Axel, a tough-as-nails Interpol agent who is attempting to put a halt to the gun and dope running business in Eastern Europe. As one would expect, this proves to be quite dangerous and even deadly for one of Axel's fellow agents.

From there, it gets personal for Axel. Like another famous Axel, this one has an appetite for destruction. It is no longer about upholding the law. It is now all about vengeance. Axel even forms an unlikely alliance with a gun runner he vowed to take down in order to exact revenge. I'm not sure the real-life deputy sheriff Steven Seagal would approve of this type of underhanded dealing, but sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils.

Steven Seagal is the ultimate man's man, and at age 59 shows no signs of slowing down. Not only did he star in this film, he also wrote it. He's not just an action hero and a scribe, however, he is also a musician and a reserve deputy sheriff in Louisiana (which you can learn more about by checking out his A&E series Steven Segal: Lawman). On top of all this, he recently made headlines by helping train UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva. When Silva knocked out challenger Vitor Belfort cold with one kick this past February, he credited Seagal with teaching him the kick. Actor. Writer. Rock Star. Sheriff. Professional Ass Kicker. That would look great on a business card. Plus, with all apologies to Pebbles Flintstone, the Olsen Twins and Britney Spears, nobody rocks a ponytail like Mr. Seagal.

Seagal has largely been absent from the big screen the past 15 years, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been busy. He's starred in 22 direct to home video films between 1998 and 2009. He recently made his return to the big screen in 2010's best film Machete. With a successful reality show on the air, and a connection to the red-hot UFC brand, I think we'll be seeing a lot of Steven for the years to come. Get yourself prepared for this by checking out Born to Raise Hell. It is vintage Seagal.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars