Half Past Dead

Screen Gems | Release Date: November 15, 2002

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

23	METASCORE Generally unfavorable reviews based on 23 Critics

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin

So audaciously bad it's good, which is about as close to quality as Seagal is likely to get these days. Read full review

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue

A shoot-'em-up for cynical times. Its only asset is Seagal himself, and frankly, he's is getting a bit past it. Read full review

L.A. WeeklyDavid Chute

The most exhilarating fight by far is an acrobatic wall climber between Ja Rule and Nia Peeples, choreographed by Hong Kong's Xin Xin Xong (The Musketeer) who, in terms of thrills per minute, is the movie's real star. Read full review

Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington

What we get, while rarely boring, is a succession of senseless scenes bathed in formula-thriller blue light, full of blazing Uzis, exploding helicopters and sentimental male bonding. Read full review

New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman

The martial arts are well represented, the gentler arts -- like, for example, acting -- are not. Read full review

Boston GlobeWesley Morris

Brilliantly named Half Past Dead -- or for Seagal pessimists: ''Totally Past His Prime.'' Read full review

New York PostJonathan Foreman

Has the cheesy, deadened feel of a straight-to-cable film. Read full review

USA TodayMike Clark

Steven Seagal's acting style is so minimal that we can almost believe a script that tells us that his character's near-death experience left him flatlined for 22 minutes. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh

Sleek, pointless action picture. Read full review

Film ThreatDavid Grove

Half Past Dead would’ve been a bad film without Seagal anyways, but he fails long before any of the other parts do. Read full review

Village VoiceWalter Dawkins

Morris Chestnut, known for his "Best Man"-style nice-guy roles, is surprisingly effective against type as the evil commando leader, but he's handcuffed by a script that never adequately explains his motivations. Read full review

VarietyRobert Koehler

In recent years, Steven Seagal has been steadily losing any firm standing as even a B-grade actioner icon, and by the genre's most basic standards, he now displays a visible fatigue and lack of interest that proves deadlier than any of his hero's skills. Read full review

San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle

About as weak a movie as can be made without actively trying. Read full review

Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker

Call this one "Die Hard" on Alcatraz, and this time the "cuckoo crazy" maverick has got the homeboys on his side. Read full review

Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach

Stupid. Illogical. Simplistic. Pandering. And those are its good points.

Entertainment WeeklyBruce Fretts

When Seagal's undercover FBI agent Sascha Petrosevitch waddles into the big house wearing a do-rag and a billowing blue jumpsuit, it's the funniest jailhouse-flick scene since Gene Wilder's white-boy strut in ''Stir Crazy.'' Read full review

Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones

Dismal. Read full review

The New York TimesA.O. Scott

After several scenes of this tacky nonsense, you'll be wistful for the testosterone-charged wizardry of Jerry Bruckheimer productions, especially because Half Past Dead is like "The Rock" on a Wal-Mart budget. And the marked-down price tags are incredibly visible. Read full review

Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis

Absent one original moment and bathed in de rigueur steel blue punctuated by sporadic bursts of flaming orange, the movie is notable only for its creative approach to Seagal's bulky gracelessness: Not since "Apocalypse Now" has a film gone to such lengths to hide what its star looks like. Read full review

Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson

This lame hostage movie doesn't even deliver for Seagal fans. Read full review

Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan

Here, common sense flies out the window, along with the hail of bullets. Read full review

Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

It goes through the motions of an action thriller, but there is a deadness at its center, a feeling that no one connected with it loved what they were doing. Read full review

Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman

“This is just like a video game,” observes rapper-cum-actor Ja Rule, taking aim during one of the myriad firefights that comprise this lunkheaded, vaguely dystopic actioner. Man, is it ever. Read full review