Steven Seagal (“Under Siege”, “Hard To Kill”) stars in “Contract To Kill”, a lukewarm espionage action flick. It’s not exactly good but it is definitely watchable and noticeably better than other recent Seagal films such as “Code Of Honour” and “Mercenary: Absolution”.

C.I.A. and D.E.A. operative John Harmon (Seagal) finds his services in demand when it is believed that a deal between Mexican drug cartels and Islamic extremist groups will lead to Muslim terrorists being smuggled into the United States to carry out devastating attacks. In order to prevent this from happening, Harmon and his elite team travel to Istanbul to locate the individuals forging an alliance.

Like most of his recent films, Seagal looks like he does not really want to be there. He does very little in terms of action so do not expect a particularly physical performance from him. One embarrassing scene has him make love to an attractive young spy. The other members of Seagal’s team are okay. One of them pilots a small drone that the team use for surveillance. The other one is really just there for Seagal to sleep with. The villains are actually quite good for this type of film. There’s a mixture of Mexican gangsters and Muslim terrorists.

I was impressed by the plot and by the espionage elements of “Contract To Kill”. The movie surely deserves no awards but it is refreshing to see Seagal in a film where it at least feels like some people involved in the project cared about what they were doing. If you have been disappointed by his other recent films, “Contract To Kill” may be a somewhat pleasant surprise for fans of the martial artist. Those that do not care for him are unlikely to get much from a viewing of “Contract To Kill”.