Even the most ardent and dedicated of Steven Seagal fans would surely have to admit that Under Siege remains the action star’s best movie by a distance, becoming one of his rare vehicles to find both critical and commercial success, while it even landed a pair of Academy Award nominations into the bargain.
It was inevitable that a sequel would happen, then, just as it was foretold that the second chapter would live to disappoint. Three years after the original, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory choo-chooed its way into theaters, to effectively tell pretty much the same story all over again, except this time the story unfolded on a train as opposed to a boat.
Seagal’s Casey Ryback is still trying to live a quiet life as a chef, but things take a turn for the violent when he decides to head off on a scenic locomotive journey with his niece (played by a young Katherine Heigl). As tends to happen when the martial artist goes anywhere, a band of terrorists hijack the train and force him into action, causing him to once more dust off the lethal set of skills he thought he’d left behind forever.
Ironically, a 34 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes is still enough to see Under Siege 2 rank as one of Seagal’s better efforts, but it’s a pale imitation of its predecessor in every way. Not that streaming subscribers seem to mind, though, with Dark Territory snapping necks on the HBO Max charts.
As per FlixPatrol, Geoff Murphy’s actioner can currently be found as the 11th most-watched title on the platform’s global rankings, even if you’re much better off watching the opener instead.
