Deadly Crossing

TRUE JUSTICE: DEADLY CROSSING (aka RUSSIAN CROSSING) (2011)
Directed by: Keoni Waxman
Written by: Steven Seagal
Starring: Steven Seagal, Sarah Lind, Gil Bellows

After years of direct-to-DVD action fodder (some good: Pistol Whipped, A Dangerous Man; the rest mainly rubbish) and a brief stint with a reality TV show, the big man and one time Under Siege star now transplants himself into an action TV show: True Justice. Seagal is tough Seattle cop Elijah Kane (in other words: he's Steven Seagal) who heads some kind of bad ass crime fighting squad made up of good looking, know-it-all and improbable police officers who only exist in slick TV cop shows. So there is a new recruit learning the ropes, a douche bag pretty boy who thinks all the ladies love him, a female cop who looks like a Sports Illustrated model and of course Seagal himself, who mainly sits behind a desk sprouting wisdom and occasionally gets up to fire guns and break bones.



This pilot episode is a slick looking production and deals with the gang trying to take down some Russian kingpin played by Gil Bellows. Seagal looks more at ease than he has done in most of his direct-to-DVD epics of late but the rest of the cast, despite trying their best, are unfortunately lumbered with annoying characters who attempt to try and out douche one another. Sarah Lind is the only one that comes off as really likeable as the tough new recruit. Deadly Crossing is part CSI and part Seagal movie and while it never blends together seamlessly, the flick feels more like the action shows of the 80s and 90s such as Renegade and Walker: Texas Ranger compared to one of those numerous talking head cop shows that seem to clog up the airwaves these days.



There is a decent amount of action as well, including Seagal akido-ing bad guys at regular intervals, some decent gun battles and even a ridiculous bit where Seagal skids and slides his SUV while he fires his gun at the same time taking out the bad guys. Awesome. Unfortunately, the makers obviously got hold of a new Avid edit system when putting this together and overdo the whole thing with lots of ridiculous swooshes, fast cuts, blends, flashes and various other stupid and pointless "Avid farts." Ugh.

Cheesy action TV that's entertaining, has Seagal doing his thing and is an easy going watch if you like some fisticuffs and fire fights to go along with all the cop talking and posing. He's conquered martial arts, movies, music (sort of) and the energy drinks business, now Seagal well and truly kicks TV's ass.