Directed by James Cullen Bressack and written by Johnny Martin Walters and Chad Law, Beyond the Law is an action crime film starring Johnny Messner, Steven Seagal and DMX. The film features Steven Seagal and DMX together for the first time since Exit Wounds in 2001 and is also the last theatrically released film to star DMX before he passed away this year.
After the murder of his estranged son, former detective Frank Wilson (Johnny Messner) decides to seek revenge on his killer who is the son of Augustino ‘Finn’ Adair (Steven Seagal) who runs a drug syndicate, while Detective Ray Munce (DMX) is a corrupt cop that is working on the case, but it is uncertain if he going to help Frank Wilson or Augustino ‘Finn’ Adair.
This film comes across as very lazy. The dialogue doesn’t sound natural, and the story has been done before and is predictable. Most of the actors seem to mumble through their lines and Steven Seagal delivers another one-dimensional performance. He spends most of his scenes sitting behind a desk while sucking on a cigar and whatever accent he is attempting to do is inconsistent and changes from scene to scene. DMX shows the most charisma while he is on screen but sadly, he doesn’t have any good material to work with.
The film is relatively short at eighty-nine minutes in length, but it feels much longer than that as the film is so boring, that it feels like it is going at a snail’s pace and struggles to hold your attention. This is due to the reasons mentioned above and Beyond the Law being so dull that it is difficult to think of any redeeming features about it.
Beyond the Law is a mind-numbingly bland film. I cannot think of a worthwhile reason to watch this film unless you are a fan of the actors, and you must see every film that they are in. If you are interested in seeing this film, you are more than welcome to judge it for yourself, however, in my opinion, it isn’t worth your time.
Beyond the Law will be released on DVD in Australia on the 13th of October 2021.