Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Nonstop violence, some nudity in cookie-cutter action movie.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Seized
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In SEIZED, Richard (Scott Adkins) runs a security consulting business in Mexico, trying to raise his tween son Taylor after the untimely death his mother. After another argument with the moody Taylor, Richard sits down to work in his home when a dart bursts through the window, hitting his neck and knocking him unconscious. He awakens to his phone ringing, and on the other end is a man who calls Richard "Nero," which was his name when he was a Special Forces agent. This man has taken Taylor hostage in a room with a tube coming through the wall that will fill with carbon monoxide unless Nero does exactly what the man tells him to do. This man, Mzamo Lescano (Mario Van Peebles), is the head of a crime syndicate, and is blackmailing Nero into carrying out three missions in order to destroy Mzamo's rivals, so that Mzamo can be the last man standing. Nero has a camera on his chest that he must wear at all times, so that Mzamo and his henchmen can watch Nero undertake each mission. As Nero completes each mission, he's determined to rescue his son, and discover who it is that has kidnapped Taylor and forced him to do Mzamo's dirty work.
Is It Any Good?
This is a cookie-cutter action movie that's as violent as it is ludicrous. Not that anyone would be going into a movie like Seized expecting anything rooted in realism, but the scenes here make Chuck Norris movies look like documentary films. The injuries our hero sustains over the course of a sleepless night and the next day of taking out cartel bad guys and their henchmen heal in roughly the same amount of time it takes for the average person to brush the plaque off their teeth. Handcuffs can break if there's enough willpower and any solid object to rub the links against. And in case the cliche of the camera on the hero's chest isn't obvious enough, the bad guy makes sure to use "Call of Duty" as a verb when explaining the need for the camera.
In what is the movie's greatest irony, our hero, at the beginning and end of the movie, preaches to his son that "not everything has to.be solved by violence." This bookends an hour of mass shooting, stabbing, punching, kicking, etc. It's frankly terrible. But managed expectations make this the kind of action movie perfect for those who want to turn off the logical parts of their brains and watch something mindlessly entertaining after a long week.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about action movies. How does Seized compare to other action movies you've seen?
Did the violence seem gratuitous and overblown, or was it necessary for the story? Why?
Does an action movie have to be "realistic" to be entertaining? Why or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : October 13, 2020
- Cast : Scott Adkins , Mario Van Peebles , Karlee Perez
- Director : Isaac Florentine
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Grindstone Entertainment Group
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Run time : 85 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence throughout, sexual material/nudity, and language
- Last updated : August 25, 2022
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