Steven Seagal returns as ex-Navy SEAL captain, anti-terrorist expert and culinary specialist, Casey Ryback, in this pacy and entertaining sequel to “Under Siege” (1992). The setting has shifted from a battleship to a train, the luxury Denver to Los Angeles Grand Continental no less.
Taking a well deserved break from his job at a Denver restaurant, Ryback boards the train to accompany his sassy teenage niece, Sarah, to the West Coast. She is grieving the loss of her father — Ryback’s estranged brother — who coincidentally was also a Navy SEAL.
While the two are getting reacquainted, a heavily armed gang of a dozen or so criminals descended on the Grand Continental in two helicopters stolen from a search and rescue base in Leadville of all places. The team of hijackers is led by Travis Dane (Eric Bogosian), a disgruntled computer expert who faked his own death after being fired from the military. Dane’s claim to fame is the creation of the Grazer One satellite, an orbiting space weapon equipped with a particle beam capable of destroying large targets on Earth. He wastes no time gaining control of his invention from the comfort of the train, via a laptop and clunky satellite dish, after which he establishes contact with his former superiors at the Pentagon via video link. Unsurprisingly, they are dumbfounded by Dane’s apparent resurrection from the dead and irritated at the loss of connection with their prized asset.
Dane cockily demonstrates the weapon’s potential, flattening a Chinese weapons factory. He then threatens to destroy the Pentagon, the whole of Washington, D.C. and a large swathe of the Eastern Seaboard, unless the Government agrees to stump up $1 billion — a mere trifle in today’s money. Bogosian puts in an impressive performance as the insane Dane. He exudes a comic arrogance and is equally dismissive of his former employers as he is to his band of goons. Dressed in a hideous combination of loud tie, denim shirt, tweed coat, smirky face and greasy perm, he controls Grazer One from a laptop with an entertaining flourish of one-handed typing. In a strangely prescient moment he declares “technology can be used for beauty or debasement.” No prizes for guessing which one he opted for.
With the exception of Ryback (who gets sidetracked in the baggage car teaching a young porter how to shoot), all the passengers are corralled together in a single carriage. The galley is then mercilessly strafed with machine guns under the command of a ferocious leather-jacketed ex-soldier by the name of Mr. Penn (Everett McGill). This is very triggering of course for Ryback who takes the vandalism of kitchens very personally. Immediately he springs into action to take back control of the Grand Continental, taking the thugs down one by one.
“This, I am trained for,” he reassures his charge.
In contrast to Dane’s shabby chic appearance, Ryback cuts a dashing figure. He is perfectly coiffed and suited and booted in black satin. Many moons have elapsed since training with the SEALS, and I wondered if there was a hint of a corset keeping our hero tucked in. Despite all the running around on the roof of the train, perching on and hanging from the greasy couplings, clinging to sheer cliff faces and innumerable dances with death, Seagal’s ensemble remains immaculate throughout. That’s Hollywood for you.
His impressive martial arts skills are on full display throughout the movie, hands as speedy as ever. Of the numerous violent confrontations with Dane’s goons, the highlight for me was the scene in which the glowering Mr. Penn sprays mace into his own mouth, “breath-freshener style,” in an absurd display of machismo to convince Ryback’s niece that he is immune to pain. Ironically, this persona is shattered when in a later scene he gets upset when Ryback slashes his leather coat.
The love interest in the movie is provided by two treacherous government agents who are caught canoodling in their compartment by one of Dane’s crew. Once it is ascertained they are of no further use to the gang, they are unceremoniously thrown from the train. The shot of an obviously fake body hurtling down into the river far below is comical. Vintage tech fans will be impressed with Ryback’s use of a PalmPilot to make contact with his colleagues back in Denver who patch him through to the top brass back at the Pentagon, all of whom are portrayed as hapless buffoons caught off guard by the devious Dane.
Movie aficionados will recognize actor Jonathan Banks, who plays the murderous but oddly cute looking train driver. Banks, who has enjoyed a long and successful acting career, is best known for his role as Mike Ehrmantraut, Gus Fring’s head of security and “fixer” in the TV series “Breaking Bad.” More recently, he has appeared in Netflix’s “The Beast in Me” as Martin Jarvis, the odious father of the protagonist, Nile. Some of the spacecraft featured in the opening titles are genuinely impressive, and Travis Dane’s tripod-mounted communications device is a delight to behold.
“Under Siege 2: Dark Territory” is an enjoyable action flick with plenty of silliness thrown into the mix. I do not wish to spoil your enjoyment by revealing the denouement, except suffice it to say that things do not end well for Dane or Mr. Penn. Despite all his brooding and whispering, Seagal is fun to watch and unquestionably very skilled with a blade. Lest we forget, nobody beats Casey Ryback in the kitchen.
The DVD is available to borrow from Garfield County Libraries. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Seagal always puts in a good shift.