The title is an obvious nod to the Taken <\/em>movies, and Adkins\u2019 character, known only as Nero, is a bit of a John Wick analog, although the retired assassin who\u2019s drawn back into the underworld against his will is a longtime action-movie staple. A former special forces operative with a long list of kills, Nero now lives a quiet life under an assumed name in Mexico, where he works as a security consultant and raises his son Taylor (Matthew Garbacz) following his wife\u2019s death. As soon as Nero starts telling Taylor, who\u2019s being bullied at school, that violence is never the answer, it\u2019s obvious that the onetime assassin is going to be doing a lot more killing before the movie is over. In a Scott Adkins movie, violence is always the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure enough, a tranquilizer dart whizzes through Nero\u2019s window, knocking him out, and when he wakes up, he discovers that Taylor has been taken (er, seized), and he\u2019s now expected to follow orders from a mysterious villain (Mario Van Peebles). The bad guy promises to release Taylor if Nero will take out some rival bad guys, and he has helpfully provided a bunch of weapons and a bulletproof SUV to accomplish this task. The plot follows the structure of a rudimentary video game, as Nero defeats the smaller bosses before taking on the big boss, and there\u2019s only as much narrative as needed to carry Adkins from one action sequence to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those action sequences are Adkins\u2019 and Florentine\u2019s specialty, and here they mostly deliver, especially during a Wickian fight in a neon-lit strip club, and in a particularly graceful brawl in which Nero prevails with his hands tied behind his back. The obvious budget limitations occasionally hinder the excitement thanks to some distractingly dodgy CGI, but Florentine has plenty of experience with stretching his resources, and the fluid action choreography usually makes up for the visual shortcomings. Florentine shoots with fewer quick cuts than other action directors, allowing Adkins to show off his genuine skills without the camera looking away. Adkins has often been compared to early Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme, and he\u2019s far livelier onscreen than either of those two legends have been in quite some time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Adkins is also a decent if limited actor, conveying the requisite anguish over Taylor\u2019s kidnapping, and effectively delivering menacing quips. With his big black cowboy hat and his perpetually half-open shirt, Van Peebles is clearly having fun as the villain, who straps a bodycam to Nero\u2019s bulletproof vest so that he and his henchmen can watch the action on TV, cheering Nero on like he\u2019s their favorite MMA fighter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike Jesse V. Johnson, Adkins\u2019 other go-to director, Florentine doesn\u2019t have much of a sense of humor, and Seized <\/em>lacks the playfulness of Adkins\/Johnson collaborations like Avengement <\/em>and the Debt Collector<\/em> movies. But it makes a good case for Adkins as an action star with the potential for wider success. (At bare minimum, he deserves a career on par with someone like Gerard Butler.) Seized <\/em>is just good enough to make you wonder what Adkins and Florentine could pull off with a decent script and a decent budget. They make the most of what they\u2019re given, and that should afford them the opportunity to be given a little more. “Seized” is out today on DVD<\/a> and VOD<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Seized2-1024x512.jpg\")
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