The Asian Connection (2016) User Reviews

Everything you would expect and nothing more.

[dtwine · 2/10 · 13 May 2016]

I really thought that the inclusion of MJW would hopefully lift this slightly higher than expected. Sadly he is unseen but for a fleeting scene in which his role could have been played by any random crackhead.

The whole thing is so poorly acted and scripted not to mention directed that it really comes down to a D grade action flick built around Sensei Seagal playing patty cake in his pj's (yet again) and delivering even worst dialogue than usual. Even giving him the opportunity of playing a bad guy for a change seems too much like hard work for the Sensei who dials in one of the lamest performances from him yet. Maybe his lethargy is a result of being squeezed too tightly into his Spanx.

Perhaps the worst offender in this mess is Director (and I use that term very loosely) Daniel Zirilli. He continues his rise towards mediocrity with another typical example of his very obvious limitations.

Watch only if you absolutely must, but don't say you weren't warned.

It's time, Mr. Seagal....

[Erin50266 · 2/10 · 16 June 2016]

Not so much a review, but a warning to not waste your time! I watch so many movies and TV shows-very addicted-who has time to review them as well? But I have to warn you, fellow 'basers'! I honestly thought "Against the Dark" was the bottom of his 'barrel'. But the man has ?bravely? kept on going. Cameos are one thing and I realize that these movies are going straight to DVD, but where is your pride? Stay in the business producing, directing, whatever, but Steven, please, for we, your loyal fans, get thee behind the camera! You'll be eligible for Social Security next year! From a 56 year old lady who has watched all your films since "Above the Law" in 1988-but I couldn't even wait til Michael Jai White hit the screen in this one!

Every Fairy tale has a monster

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 10 December 2017]

This is another Seagal and Michael Jai White where there is little of either one.

Jack (John Edward Lee) has a Thai girlfriend Avalon (Pim Bubear) who works in a night club and a friend Sam (Byron Gibson) who doesn't like to be called stupid. They rob a bank in Cambodia and escape across the border. They ended up getting more money than they expected, What they don't know is that the money is marked and belongs to the lumbering crime boss Seagal. This then involves more robberies and a double cross.

This was basically a boring action/crime flick. Seagal has a fight scene in the beginning, but clearly he can't move anymore. John Edward Lee couldn't carry the film as his character was to play a straight man to everyone else, people who didn't have any decent lines.

This Seagal film was every bit as good as: "Sniper: Special Ops" for what its worth.

Guide: F-word. Rating claims "brief sexuality and nudity" I missed the nudity.

Easily Seagal's poorest film....he needs to give it up now.

[FlashCallahan · 1/10 · 26 May 2016]

There was a time when Seagal was a big hitter in Hollywood. Back in the early nineties, his films would always debut at number one at the American box office, and you could tell he actually cared about what he was doing, despite appearing slightly larger in each film.

This year has seen him at his laziest. Sniper: Special Ops had him sitting down for the majority of the film, and Code of Honour didn't even have speak until 48 minutes into the film.

Now whilst he does stand and speak in this film (he must have been paid well), it's the fact that the rest of the cast and the narrative are just handled so poorly, it makes Seagal look deceptively on form, but if you are/were a fan of his, it's clear he isn't bothered about the film in the slightest..

When two American robbers, Jack and Sam, embark on a series of heists in Southeast Asia, they run into more trouble than they bargained for when they steal money from a ruthless drug lord.

A fight for riches turns into a fight for survival as Jack and Sam become the target of the drug lord and his gang's vengeance.......

The girls narration throughout the film makes it feel like a cross between a lifetime movie and a really bad reality TV show (aren't they all?). It's soulless, poorly executed and her voice is just so mundane, it makes you feel sad.

The 'hero' of the film looks like a cross between Evil Ed from Fright Night and Bill Paxton (he ironically played his part in Terminator: Genisys), and dresses up like Brad Pitt in fight club. He's highly unlikable, and the fact that his partner is a cockney geezer with name calling issues, just makes matters worse.

Seagal spends the film in his Bandana, shades and ball gown, doing gentle martial arts, by waving his hands in front of the camera, and showing the lady of the film, what appears to be Madonna's Vogue dance.

It really is a terrible piece of work, and a thankless cameo from Michael Jai White doesn't add anything to the film.

An ordeal to get through, it's the cinematic equivalent of a Buffet owner seeing Seagal walk in with a knife and fork...........horrifying.

So bad!

[popnruss · 1/10 · 18 March 2017]

First of all, I turned the film off. I simply could not watch the entire fiasco. The acting was so amateurish that it was laughable. How old was Jack's girlfriend? All of seventeen? Where do they find the actors for these disasters? But to make matters worse, the three minute segments with Steven Seagal who is way too old and out of shape to be in all these action films he so call stars in. I watch these films to see just how much worse they can get. This one certainly met my expectations.

An Okay Watch!

[namashi_1 · 5/10 · 17 May 2016]

'The Asian Connection' is An Okay Watch, despite a few arresting moments & a top-billed Steven Seagal. I liked the attempt, but the execution isn't foolproof.

'The Asian Connection' Synopsis: Two American expatriates, Jack and Sam, unwittingly steal a drug lord's money when they rob a series of banks in Southeast Asia and become the target of the gangster's vengeance.

'The Asian Connection' begins well, but the narrative falls short as its progresses. The characters appear lethargic, although the villain has his moments. Also, the pace is inconsistent. The Writing needed to be stronger, crisper. There was great potential here, but it only utilizes only half of it.

Daniel Zirilli's Direction is passable. Cinematography is standard. Editing lacks sharpness. Action-Sequences are very okay.

Performance-Wise: Steven Seagal is on a roll. 'The Asian Connection' is his 3rd release in a span of just a month, first Sniper: Special Ops, then Code of Honor & now this. He's seen in a negative role here & he does his best. Michael Jai White is wasted. John Edward Lee is a loose leading man. Byron Gibson is efficient. Sahajak Boonthanakit is ordinary.

On the whole, 'The Asian Connection' is fair.

About As Bad As You're Going to Get

[Michael_Elliott · 3 July 2016]

The Asian Connection (2016)

1/2 (out of 4)

Jack (John Edward Lee) and his buddy are in Asia where they rob a bank. Jack plans to use the money on his girlfriend (Pim Bubear) who he loves very much. However, what he doesn't know is that he is actually robbing from Asian crime lord Sirankiri (Steven Seagal). Soon Jack is forced into robbing even more banks and now the police are after him as well as Sirankiri.

This is the first Seagal movie I've seen since his 1997 film FIRE DOWN BELOW. I knew that the actor had gone into the direct-to-video craze but I honestly just wasn't big enough of a fan to check out all of these movies. THE Asian CONNECTION grabbed my attention because I read some really negative reviews on it so I decided to check it out myself.

There's no question that the awful reviews were right on the mark because this is a pretty darn bad movie no matter how you look at it. Obviously it was done on a very low-budget but the problem is that it's so poorly made that you just get bored by all of it. The direction by Daniel Zirilli is certainly a major issue because the action scenes all look horrible and there's not a single moment where the film contains any energy or excitement.

Another problem is that you certainly don't care about any of the main characters. The love story subplot between Jack and his girlfriend is laughable at times and even everything with Seagal is pretty bland and boring. John Edward Lee's performance is also quite bad and it appears Seagal is just picking up a paycheck as he does very little with his role.

THE Asian CONNECTION is a really bad movie that doesn't have a thing going for it.

Endearingly bad bank robbery caper

[shakercoola · 3/10 · 23 September 2018]

An American action thriller; A story about two expatriates living in Thailand who go to Cambodia to steal a drug lord's money. The best thing about the film is the glowering nature of Steven Seagal who looks like an illegitimate son of "Dr No". The indeterminate nefariousness of his crime lord outfit is beguiling. Alas, the film has a very poor script and the characters are too feintly sketched for the viewer to get behind any of them. Nevertheless it does have a throughline of pure action and a good plot. It just has a look and feel of tackiness.

This will be a cult classic.

[yorktown_hawk · 1/10 · 27 June 2020]

This will be a cult classic purely on how bad it actually is.

Some of the worst acting you'll ever see. John Edward Lee; first off, who the hell is he? I've never seen a stiffer, unnatural and generic actor who thinks overacting will hide the fact he cannot act and has no natural bond with any of the other stiff actors. Pim Bubear is so cliche in her role, her lines and her overall performance, it's not worth talking about.

Seagal was just brilliant. Obese, old, slow and stupid, yet has the respect and fear of all those around him. His fight scenes are a thing of beauty, if you ignore that you never see below his shoulders where a fat, bloated body is hardly moving and cannot keep up with basic choreography. His comedic timing was on point where he was able to knock a professional MMA fighter out with a kick with so little power that it wouldn't score a goal from the goal line, and Seagal's physical inability to lift his leg higher than 1" off the ground. Or there was when Seagal flipped a table over in anger using so little power, you could clearly see if was inflated... but that's the joke, right?

If neither of those make you laugh, then the tacky one-liners after an action scene will give you stomach muscles a good workout. "Guess playing all those video games paid off?" "The fish is the most sentient of animals" Or the random droppings of F bombs by Seagal when there was no other swearing in the movie.

I guarentee this will be a cult classic in years to come due to the cliche plot, bad acting and all-round Steven Seagal presence turning an intended action movie into a cult comedy classic.

A connection not worth connecting with

[TheLittleSongbird · 1/10 · 20 September 2018]

Steven Seagal has done some good, or at least watchable, films. Particularly 'Under Siege'. He has also done a lot of mediocre and less films, indicative of laziness and that Seagal was well past his sell by date, and a good deal of them are even very bad.

'The Asian Connection' for me is down there with Seagal's worst. Did not expect much, but watched it because Seagal has shown signs that he can be halfway decent and as said not all his films are bad. Also do appreciate the action genre and there are good films out there in the genre, classics even. 'The Asian Connection' is far from that, more closer to a waste of time that shows little signs of trying.

Seagal, in a role smaller than the advertising lets on, himself gives another lazy and wooden performance that shows that he was not interested and wanted to be somewhere else. His reading-from-an-autocue-like and robotic line delivery in particular betrays that. The rest of the cast are just as poor though in all fairness have little to work with and over-compensate.

The characters are ones we know very little about and don't care what happens to happen, so unengaging and one-dimensional they are. The dialogue is risible, with a lot of cheesiness, awkwardness and far too much talk delivered with little emotion or momentum and bordering on the near-incomprehensible.

Its excessively talky nature affects severely the pacing, which never comes to life. There is no urgency, let alone tension, intrigue or suspense. The action doesn't feature enough in comparison and suffer from pedestrian choreography and laughably bad editing. The story is by-the-numbers, dull and not always easy to follow.

Direction is flat and ill-at ease, while the sound/soundtrack are one-note and obvious as well as poorly recorded and the whole film looks cheap. And it's not just the editing, the slapdash effects and drab photography also. The only okay asset here is the backdrop sadly wasted by the rest of the production values being awful.

Overall, a mess. 1/10 Bethany Cox

A dog of a film

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 21 August 2018]

THE ASIAN CONNECTION is yet another execrable Steven Seagal movie in which the actor barely appears aside from in a minor villain role. Most of the screen time is given over to young characters who have no charisma or presence, making it impossible for the viewer to care about their plight. It's yet another tale about a drug lord trying to get back some missing money, partially shot in Thailand. Michael Jai White is credited but only cameos, and Seagal delivers gruff, expletive-laden dialogue and barely fights. A dog, in other words.

A masterclass in dairy farm documentary-making

[richsonrichardson · 10/10 · 19 July 2020]

An up-and-coming delivery monster aspires to become the world #1 toenail delivery gangster. In an unconventional move first popularised in the nose-harvesters quadrilogy but since fading into obscurity, the film begins at the start of the film. The graphic portrayal of mild toenail addiction may be too close to the home bone for many, it certainly was for me so I had to immediately stop directing the film and burn all traces of it. But yes, I agree with you, this is something parallel in importance to the creation of the universe or the invention of sausage skin, so people do need to know about it, especially children of the stones.

The toenail delivery monster teams up with an angry British salamander whose name isn't important. Saint Tim Martin of the luncheon meat earwig crew makes a rare cameo in the 51st nanosecond of the film. His racist mumblings are not for everyone, granted, but you can't deny that they they are integral to the first 20nanoseconds of the plot - this is a subtle nod towards Seagal's previous life as the Drink Up Please man in Wetherspoons. It was a brave move for Seagal to star only as the nose flaps in his iconic trotting heritage glasses. But it really did pay off! You did it again, Spielberg!!

An interesting role for Seagal in a different kind of heist flick

[coryshpprd · 6/10 · 5 June 2016]

The film was pretty good, not great, but an enjoyable watch. It's definitely a low budget endeavor but the backdrop of Thailand along with some solid directing and camera work pick ups some of the slack. It's a well-paced bank heist story with several interesting elements, including an inside man with bad blood for Seagal, and a unique "switching out" of heist partners about 2/3 of the way through. No over-the-top, "every 15 minutes a fight scene" action but instead it's more about suspense and nuggets of conflict where it supports the story.

Seagal has a different kind of role in this film. As the drug lord from who the two protagonists are stealing (several times, in fact), Seagal has mostly a speaking role with little martial arts included from him. He's not out saving the day but instead a bad guy getting jacked by thieves while also being double-crossed by one of his own men. Michael Jai White, on the other hand, has only one scene in the movie, and while he's a powerful presence, it's hardly worth his face on the cover.

Strongest character in my opinion was Niran, the inside man played by Sahajak Boonthanakit (Nicolas Refn's "Only God Forgives"). Very understated but nefarious, and a decent actor. The lead, John Lee Edward, not so much. His girlfriend, Pim Bubear, made up for Edward though with a comfortable, genuine ease to her performance that somewhat balanced out the pair.

Asian Connection offers an interesting blend of action and suspense from a story and characters you wouldn't expect. Definitely worth a watch.

Oh boy!

[legrandcaelum · 1/10 · 18 March 2019]

The biggest garbage i have ever seen. Steven Seagal is awful the leading actor is awful. This movie is a total disaster. The only good thing in this movie is that British guy with his accent.

Don't waste your time!

Really well done movie, with a really good story!

[subxerogravity · 4/10 · 16 May 2016]

If you want to see this because like me you saw Seagal on the poster larger than life, I got to tell you, Steven Seagal is not much of a fixture.

Seagal plays the antagonist, a crime lord that has taken over the Cambodian underground. A nobody named Jack robs a bank in order to give his hot girlfriend a fairy tale lifestyle, but discovers some of the money he stole belongs to the crime lord when his henchman comes to get it back, but the henchman has his own agenda when he blackmails Jack to rob banks that he selected. Than the story get complex.

It's a crime drama and a love story, similar to True Romance, filled with guns and crime.

If you've seen True Romance, Seagal's part in Asian Connection is similar too Christopher Walken's part in that, and it's an excellent place for the aging action hero.

Although from the look of the poster, I was expecting more action. Not just from Seagal but in general. Seagal does a few moves but nothing fancy, just enough to justify his pay check, The worse part however, is the spectacular Micheal Jai White makes an appearance in the movie that's nothing more than a glorified cameo, that makes people like me think it's gonna go down, but nothing that epic happens.

Don't let that discourage you from seeing the movie. Once I got over the disappointment of the b-action Star power being used to put this in limited release at my theater, I got an excellent crime filled love story that makes up for it.

Don't Steal From Steven Seagal!!!

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 10 June 2016]

"Time Rush" director Daniel Zirilli's Orient-based bank robbery caper "The Asian Connection" qualifies as an average but interesting thriller. If you want to attach a moral to this 91 minute shoot'em up, it would be: 'Don't Steal from Steven Seagal.' Although he takes top billing, Seagal spends most of his time talking instead of shooting or displaying his signature Aikido martial arts artistry. The "Exit Wounds" star plays a bearded Asian crime lord, Gan Sirankiri, who gets hoodwinked by one of his treacherous lieutenants, Niran (Sahajak Boonthanakit of "No Escape"), who has hired a couple of guys to start holding up banks that launder Gan's loot. Jack Elwell (John Edward Lee of "Terminator Genisys") and Sam (Byron Gibson of "Only God Forgives") like to rob banks in broad daylight in motorcycle crash helmets and automatic weapons. This two man team scores, but it turns out that they hauled off some of Gan's dough and it was marked. Niran tracks them down after they cross the border into Thailand and threatens to kill Jack's girlfriend, Avalon (Pim Bubear of "Ninja: Shadow of a Tear"), who dreams about living a fairy tale life with her beloved. Freshman lenser Orlando Herrera's widescreen cinematography is exemplary. Unfortunately, Zirilli lacks a sense of pace and intensity. This movie should have kicked into high gear during the robberies, the demise of Jack's pal, and the final chase scene between a truck and a BMW sedan. Had Zirilli punched up those scenes this could have been a contender. As it is, "The Asian Connection" has to coast on Seagal's presence, one scene with Michael Jai White as a bald arms dealer, and John Edward Lee's charismatic presence. Every time that I looked at Lee, he reminded me of "Transformer's" star Josh Duhamel. Lee could easily carve out a career playing matinée idols and looney villains. Let's not forget his partner in crime Byron Gibson. Gibson has what it takes to make a solid character actor if not more. The other shortcoming of his promising thriller is the downbeat ending. Some may compare it unfairly with Tony Scott's supercharged "True Romance" because it concerns a guy and a gal on the loose with a dastardly villain on their heels and the girl narrates it. A better ending, memorable dialogue, and more muscle than flab, and "The Asian Connection" could have connected. Finally, a better title than something generic like "The Asian Connection" would have improved this saga.

Connection to Crapsville Asia...

[robbieadams1969 · 1/10 · 5 November 2020]

Yet another Russian production made movie that's pure trash. The acting is so bad it makes troll 2 look like a masterpiece.

Keep em' coming fattie... These movies are pure comedy

Life Is Too Short

[slightlymad22 · 1/10 · 23 November 2019]

Asian Connection (2016) . The gist of this pile of trash is two guys rob a bank and get away. A nasty bad guy (Seagal) is none too pleased about his money being stolen, send his right hand man to track them down and make them pay, instead he betrays Seagal and has them rob more banks, that hold his money!!

Seagal does not do much, except sit around whinging about his money being taken, don't fear though, he still has his awful scenes with much younger women.

I actually turned this one off. Life is too short for this tripe.

Never Steal from a Ruthless Crime Lord

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 2 June 2016]

This movie begins with a young man named "Jack Elwell" (John Edward Lee) and a beautiful woman by the name of "Avalon" (Pim Bubear) meeting on a tropical island and falling madly in love. They eventually move to Thailand where Jack and his best-friend "Sam" (Byron Gibson) then decide to get rich by robbing a bank in neighboring Cambodia. Although they successfully escape with the money, what they don't count on is the fact that most of it belonged to a powerful crime boss named "Gan Sirankiri" (Steven Seagal) who not only wants his money back but also wants the heads of the two thieves as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film had two good things going for it: beautiful scenery and an equally beautiful actress in Pim Bubear. Unfortunately, the role played by Steven Seagal was much too limited and none of the other actors seemed capable of carrying this film by themselves. At least, that is how it seemed to me. In any case, although this wasn't necessarily a bad movie by any means, it wasn't a great film either and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

What a weird movie...

[kagethemagetwitch · 5/10 · 24 June 2022]

Okay right off the bat. Steven Seagal cast himself in this movie as an Asian-American man. I was incredibility confused and had to google to see if I was wrong about him not being Asian at all. He is not.

Steven was in this movie for about 30 minutes. 20 of these minutes were sex scenes or weird lingering shots of him touching women.

I'm pretty sure this movie was only made as an excuse for him to sleep with women. It was very uncomfortable to watch.

Other than that the movie was shot pretty well, the plot around the main characters was passable, and honestly without Stevens presence could have been an okay movie. By my god was he weird. So so so weird.

This movie is bad and not in a funny kind of way

[goku-42388 · 3/10 · 26 October 2020]

This movie is based on lies from the get go. It has Michael Jai White as one of the first names during the opening credits but he is only in the movie for ONE SCENE and does close to nothing. Seagal is barely in the movie and when he is he looks extremely bored, does close to nothing, and clearly either can't act or refuses to try. The story itself is really kind of bland and the main actor is ok but the actress who plays the girlfriend has such bad line delivery. There is also clear signs of the movie hoping the audience is dumb or doesn't notice stuff clearly on camera. Multiple times you have characters cocking their pistol or chambering a round only for the hammer on the pistol to not be cocked the next time the pistol is shown which is like half a second later. The gun sounds are horrible with some guns that are different calibers sounding exactly the same while others sound a whole lot louder for no reason. You can clearly tell they are using airsoft guns and adding digital flashes and casing ejections going as far as at least 2 points without me being able to slow down or even trying to look me seeing the blatant airsoft mags used on the ar-15 which i believe is a gas block back (the mag has the part that holds the bbs for the bolt to pick them up while traveling forward, the other one you can clearly see the mag is black where you should be seeing the follower). Towards the end the laziness gets even worse. The ending scenes of the movie has fire fights where you can clearly see there is no ejections from the guns as well as the vehicle Seagal is suppose to be in having another person clearly leaning out from where he is suppose to be sitting that is not his character because it doesn't look like him and has an assault rifle while Segal has a pistol when they show him. The last scene has Segals weapon being the loudest gun in the movie even though there is clearly a suppressor on it and his audio clearly was c not done the same time the scene was taking place or the audio for it took place. It literally sounds like it was recorded on the cheapest mic i ever heard and has a distinct hissing sound in it that comes in and disappears when he talks and only when he talks. I haven't seen a Seagal movie in a very long time since he has been doing these straight to video garbage projects for a quick paycheck but i didn't think it would be this bad. I honestly hope this is just one of the lessed movies he has done and not the norm for his career now days.

Seagal back in classic form!

[bc_rocker · 9/10 · 13 May 2016]

Steven Seagal is back in classic form in this rip-roaring, fly-by-the- seat-of-your-pants action suspense thrill ride!

The setting is good, the cast is better, and the action is unbelievable!

Seagal plays Gan Sirankiri, a Southeast Asian drug lord and complete badass. He has money, women, and power, and everyone knows he's the last person you want to mess with. If you cross Gan Sirankiri you end up dead, or worse...

In one of Seagals most believable and thrilling action performances of his career this is one film you don't want to miss... and remember: The beast is in the East.

Great movie

[adgloride-440-642480 · 7/10 · 24 August 2017]

I didn't expect much of this movie especially when reading the reviews. The story line was good but I was expecting to see more of Michael jai white. Especially when he is on the main billing on the first and last credits. This and the fact I expected a twist at the end were the only things that spoiled it.

Great movie!

[dhorgan100 · 9/10 · 18 March 2017]

Director Daniel Zirilli has created an action packed film that delivers on many levels. The poignant relationship between lead players, intertwined with the brutal drug lord Steven Seagal portrays, kept me involved in this international action film that is masterfully executed. Zirilli has a keen sense of direction not only for action, but also stunning aerial shots, and genuine performances that put Asian Connection in the same league as "Goodfellas" and "Die Hard". If you want a fun evening of action entertainment with a strong storyline....this is it.