Cartels

Once more big old Seagal makes more of a cameo appearance in this movie as---well, does it really matter who he played? It's basically Steven Seagal. He does not have that much range to him. Anyway, he's interrogating Luke Goss who plays an army man on a special ops team, that screwed up their mission. I always felt that Luke Goss was somewhat of a poor man's Jason Statham, but I only think that way cause he took over the Rebooted Death Race Franchise. In this movie he tells Seagal the mission in flash backs that remind me of Die Hard as the whole thing takes place in a Hotel in Romania where the bad guys take over and Goss has to sneak around them to complete his mission, which is grading the head of a Cartel from people who want to kill him after he flipped on them. The strange thing is, despite Luke Goss' character being set up as the main protagonist, it's not his name that comes 1st in the credits (Or rather second after the extreme cameo Seagal). It's some guy named Georges St-Pierre. He does not look familiar, but I'm guessing he's a MMA fighter. My guess is based on the fact that he has that cauliflower ear thing that Randy Couture has. Wonder if you get that ear and they force you to retire and become an actor? I hope not, and I hope he's a better MMA fighter than he is an action hero. Speaking of action, that's the real reason we go see a movie Seagal's big head would be the center of on a poster right? Well the action is mediocre. Cartels is more of a crime mystery movie as the players try to figure out a tangle web of people double crossing each other. This leaves the filmmakers trying to make something that looks suspenseful but does not have that much action to it. But unlike a lot of movies I've seen recently were Seagal is given a fat check so we can watch his fat ass sit around for ten minutes trying to sound cool, he actually does get up and puts down a few moves, like the fight he has with Georges St-Pierre, which becomes one of the rare moments when someone is able to put Seagal on the floor (or rather the stuntman, in fact I would not be surprise if Seagal did not even know that his character showed a moment of weakness until the film came out). Plus,there was this really neat action sequence that had a lot of gun play inter-cut with a lot of fight scenes in which the good guys had one on one battles with the bad guys. It's not the best movie (far from it) but I still get a kick from watching Seagal slur thorough lines wishing he was Brando and repeating the same moves over and over again that he's been doing since he gain the pot belly, but I would skip it unless you're that big a fan of Seagal (or just like making fun of him) http://cinemagardens.com

Granted, as I sat down to watch the 2016 crime action thriller "Cartels" (aka "Killing Salazar"), I wasn't harboring a single expectation from writers Keoni Waxman and Richard Beattie. Why? Well, simply because Steven Seagal's movies haven't exactly been top notch for many years. Yet, I opted to watch "Cartels", on the account of it being a movie that I hadn't already seen. And who knew, maybe, just maybe I would be surprised by what director Keoni Waxman delivered. However, I must say that "Cartels" was a bland movie, a very, very bland and forgettable movie. The script and storyline here was generic to the point where you could essentially leave the movie for an extended period and come back only to not have missed out on anything. And while I did manage to endure "Cartels" to the end, then I wasn't particularly entertained. Not only was the script and storyline flaccid, but the character gallery was equally so. I honestly didn't care one bit about any of the characters on the screen, as the all had the same, dull and lifeless personality and no backstory. In fact, I can't even remember the names of the characters, aside from Luke Goss's character, as Jensen is a Danish surname. The action sequences in the movie were adequate, and it was those that actually kept the movie afloat and make is semi-watchable. As for the acting performances in "Cartels", well... You know what you get with Steven Seagal, so no point venturing there. Luke Goss was in the movie, and was adequate enough. However, I had no idead who Georges St-Pierre is. It was clear, though, that the actors and actresses were struggling with the fact that the script was mundane, bland and devoid of anything thrilling. I suppose "Cartels" is a movie that die-hard fans of Steven Seagal or Luke Goss might get a kick out of watching. For a casual viewer, such as myself, then "Cartels" was not a noteworthy movie. And while I did endure the movie to the end, I can honestly say that this is not a movie that I will return to watch a second time. Nor is it a movie that I would recommend for action fans. My rating of "Cartels" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Although this is not perfect because most things are typical, annoying, boring...the main actors and action part is good enough. High presence of strategy, creativity, and nice environment. Good topic and main idea also. Best is the Steven where he look confident and strong both during interrogation and during action. Realistic, serious, dangerous. Shows us how typical police job looks like from the depths or from their side, the special ops side, and how cartel business is dangerous.

There is absolutely no reason of existence for a film like this. I mean yes I had a good laugh and all that, but there is literally no reason ever to watch this movie-shaped piece of crap. Remember Jeff Goldblum when he took of his glasses to watch that mountain of poop in Jurassic Park? Well, keep on your glasses.

I am a luke goss fan and its sad to see this guy in this film with steven seagal who cannot act and all and is overrated and makes trash films..his 90s films were good but the guy is a joke now,luke goss should have make big in hollywood hellby 2 was great .luke goss should change his agent and avoid direct to dvd films.this movie is bad,skipp it.

I just watched Killing Salazar (Cartels) The long fall from grace for Seagal continues. Since 2003, he has appeared in almost 30 STV movies. That's two dozen more than the 10 pictures from 1988-2002 that were box office hits. In the last decade, things have grown worse for what is left of his fan base, as he is now a supporting player (some times not even that) in his own movies. That's the case, once again, in this tripe, but it was strangely enjoyable tripe. I can't quite put my finger on why I found it semi enjoyable, I think it was because of Luke Goss, he was the best actor in it and i enjoyed his performance. It looked like it had the biggest budget for a movie featuring Seagal for a long time, but for me Seagal was the weak point of the movie, he is a constant distraction every time he comes on screen with his bloated face and jet black hair and goatee. There were times he didn't even look like he was putting the effort in to realistically hold and fire a gun, let alone hit anything.