'What does it take to change the soul of a man? ' asks Steven Seagal in one of this action movie's highly resistible bursts of pious philosophy. Broken bones, dire agony and long periods of unconsciousness will do the trick, judging by events here, as Seagal casts himself as an oil rigger whose conscience is pricked by the plight of Eskimos in Alaska, who are at the mercy of big business interests, headed up by ruthless oil baron Michael Caine in a dark rinse that makes him look like Robert Maxwell. The action scenes are nastily well done, but Seagal is on shaky ground, compared with the relative splendours of Under Siege, especially with the cringe-making final speech. Caine tries hard to scowl and sneer, but remains basically engaging (and therefore miscast), while Seagal is uncomfortably unsympathetic as a hero.

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