90s Action Hero Turns Crime Lord While Streaming

By Robert Scucci
| Updated 1 hour ago

Steven Seagal’s days of portraying the “damn he’s good” action hero may be long behind him, but the man who brought us Under Siege, On Deadly Landa Hard to Kill deserves credit where it’s due for pursuing roles that fall into morally gray territory. Direct-to-video 2013 Power of Execution is one such film in that Seagal doesn’t play a highly decorated right wing war hero with an ax to grind, but rather a cold and responsible crime lord named John Alexander who makes dirty deals behind closed doors with the ultimate goal of leaving his life of crime behind.

While the usual trappings of Steven Seagal can be found in Power of Execution, like his unbreakable moral code (albeit a bad one), the film ultimately falls flat because his ethics are trapped under his ruthlessness when he clearly wants to be a good guy.

Power of Execution of Paupers

Power of Execution introduces us to Roman Hurst (Bren Foster), a freelance mercenary who carries a gun for protection despite the fact that we are led to believe that his hands are lethal weapons in their own right. After an assassination attempt in a prison where Roman takes the wrong target under the leadership of an imprisoned gang leader called Ice Man (Ving Rames), John Alexander (Steven Seagal) had no choice but to force Roman into an early retirement by breaking his hands. In John’s mind, Roman has been a loyal employee for 15 years, but he still needs to pay the price for his serious miscalculation, which hurt the reputation of all parties involved.

After Ice Man is released from prison, he immediately butts heads with John, and a gang war unfolds to gain control of Albuquerque, New Mexico’s underground crime circuit. John makes a peace offering to Roman in the form of enough money to disappear and start a new life, while subtly suggesting that he could use his help to ease the developing and ongoing tension between him and Ice Man. Roman finds himself conflicted because he wants to resume working with John, but his hands are damaged beyond repair.

Danny Trejo Elevates the Building

Roman has a few brief encounters with a deli owner called Oso who is portrayed by Danny Trejowhich only makes you wonder how many minutes of runtime will occur Power of Execution before Danny Trejo does what he does best: die on screen. I’ll spare you any spoilers, but Oso has a very quotable scene where he attacks the Romans with poisonous scorpions and a hammer in a misguided attempt to repair his hands.

No clear Good Man or Bad Man

Despite Steven Seagal’s best efforts to portray a villain of some sort in Power of Executionhe still can’t help himself and delivers his signature monologues about pride, his highly secretive past that vaguely explains how he amassed his skills and fortune, and his personal code of ethics to justify his actions, no matter how ruthless and moral. doubtful they may be.

Streaming Execution Force

This direct-to-video action film is a far cry from Steven Seagal’s ’90s heyday, but it’s not without its charms. At least, it’s nice to watch Power of Execution because Seagal is trying to turn heel this late in his career by taking on a character that isn’t the front-and-center action hero with a heart of gold that we’re all familiar with. Power of Execution is a ramshackle affair at best, but effectively conveys Seagal’s willingness to try new things even if he is subconsciously trying to relive his glory days in every scene.

As of this writing, you can stream Power of Execution free on Tubi.

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