“Attrition” has moments that seem somewhat promising but it all descends into a rather formulaic action thriller experience. Steven Seagal (“Executive Decision”, “Half Past Dead”) not only stars in “Attrition” but also wrote it. This was a passion project for him; he looks more enthusiastic than has done in lots of his other recent films but the movie itself is still disappointing.

Axe (Seagal) is a former-soldier that has killed a lot of people and now he just wants a quiet life. He becomes a doctor in a tranquil village in Southeast Asia. However, when he learns that a young woman with alleged healing powers has been kidnapped, he must assemble a team to rescue her.

As is the case with a lot of his recent movies, the fight scenes involving Seagal are a little underwhelming. I get that he is getting older but other ageing action stars have been able to still delivers the goods. Aside from the average at best fighting, Seagal’s performance is actually fairly decent. Siu-Wong Fan (“Riki-Oh: The Story Of Ricky”) plays Chen Man and his martial arts skills are fairly impressive. The villains are not memorable and are just there for Seagal and his team to off.

Some of the locations look great and the scenes that feel more like a pure kung-fu movie are actually quite refreshing. The problems come from the more generic scenes where Seagal and his crew burst into the bad guy’s lair and start blowing people away. We have seen it all before in countless other movies (including many of Seagal’s films). A little thing that bugged me throughout the movie was the unrealistic blood effects that make the film look cheap and nasty. “Attrition” may be enjoyed by Seagal fans but it’s unlikely to excite the general public.