Attrition | aka Final Mission (2018) Review

“Attrition” Korean Theatrical Poster

Directer: Mathieu Weschler
Cast: Steven Seagal, Fan Siu-Wong, Ting Sue, Vithaya Pansringarm, Yu Kang, Fan Mei-Sheng, Rudy Youngblood, James P. Bennett, Sergey Badyuk, Cha-Lee Yoon, Kat Ingkarat, Bayra Bela, Kang Yu
Running Time: 85 min.

By Paul Bramhall

The last time Steven Seagal undertook one of his passion projects we ended up with 1994’s On Deadly Ground, a bombastic environmental action thriller in which Seagal asks us “What does it take to change the essence of a man?” It would take until 2018 for another Seagal magnum opus to grace our screens, during which time we’ve only had to suffer through close to 40 horrendous DTV productions (ok, some of them were kind of fun), but its finally arrived in the form of Attrition. “I’ve written something…which kind of reminds me of a (Akira) Kurosawa movie” Seagal claimed during pre-production, and (according to an interview in the making-of featurette) is based on his “own personal experiences in one way or another.”

Attrition has had a bumpy journey to the screen. One of its producers was Bey Logan, the Hong Kong cinema expert who became embroiled in various allegations when the #metoo movement swept through Hong Kong in 2017, leading to him (according to Logan himself) volunteering to have his name removed off the production. Considering Seagal himself would have similar allegations levelled against him soon after, I’m not sure it was a move which had any benefit. Logan’s stamp is clearly on Attrition when you look a little closer – it’s directed by Mathieu Weschler, who’s last gig was helming the Logan produced The Borderland, Ross W. Clarkson is on camera duties, who directed the Logan produced Vixen the same year, and it co-stars Fan Siu-Wong, who’s friendship with Logan saw him choreograph the action in the fiasco that was ShadowGuard.

Things didn’t get any easier when it came to its actual release, with a bizarre announcement coming in September 2018 that Attrition would only be available to purchase through a new VOD platform called 365 flix. One of the platforms creators was Philippe Martinez, who produced Attrition alongside Logan and Seagal, and now in 2020 it seems to have disappeared without a trace. Echo Bridge Entertainment eventually picked it up and released it in August 2019, leading me to speculate that while Seagal was in the midst of the sexual misconduct allegations (no charges were pressed in the end), likely no distributor wanted to touch it, so the producers attempted to create their own platform to get it out there.

But enough of all that, what about the movie itself? Attrition opens the same way many a Seagal movie has opened in the past 10 years – he plays a Special Ops agent named Axe, decked out in his usual bandana (which I believe first appeared in Half Past Dead), orange sun glasses, and leading his ‘crew’ through a hostile environment. I swear, if someone told me Seagal was fooled into filming a Special Ops movie 10 years ago, only to find its scenes have been broken up and inserted into every movie he’s made since, well, I’d find that easier to buy into than Richard Harrison’s ninja movie woes. Things go wrong, they’re unable to save the female hostage they’d been sent to retrieve (who, in true Seagal movie form, is found gratuitously naked), and after spending 3 years up a mountain Seagal moves to Thailand to do his best impression of Wong Fei Hung and open up his own Po Chi Lam.

At least, it’s clearly Thailand onscreen, although everyone there either speaks Mandarin or English, so perhaps its filmed in the same universe as Triple Threat. For those who found Seagal’s Buddhist themed musings in The Glimmer Man to be heavy handed (and there he at least had Keenen Ivory Wayans to counter-balance), Attrition takes it to the next level. Seagal also penned the script, and if you were to take his 7-minute closing speech from On Deadly Ground, change saving the environment to Buddhist philosophy, and stretch it out over 85 minutes, that may give you some idea of what to expect. Frequently accompanied by slow motion rain, one such sampling of the many nuggets of wisdom Seagal bestows upon us has him explain that “The mind is infinite, but the body is finite.” Indeed, and so is Attrition’s runtime, clocking in at just 85 minutes, which for the most part works to its benefit.

The plot of Attrition was heavily publicised, involving a kidnapped girl with mystical powers that forces Seagal to temporarily put his peaceful ways on hold, and get the old crew back together for a rescue mission. Onscreen though, the girl in question (played by Thai-American actress Ting Sue) shows precisely zero of these so-called mystical powers. Apart from appearing like a floating apparition in Seagal’s dreams (in which she dispenses lines like “Axe, your destiny awaits you”, and sometimes appears topless) and characters mentioning she has mystical powers, it almost feels like needing to show what they are is a part of the script Seagal forgot about. Oh well.

When Seagal isn’t blathering about in his clinic like some kind of God incarnate able to heal anyone he lays a hand on, we do actually get some action. Attrition comes with the best action pedigree of any Seagal movie since Ching Siu-Tung directed him in 2003’s Belly of the Beast. Under the guidance of the German based foursome that make up Reel Deal Action Design, the style of action is more focused on kung-fu (specifically Wing Chun) than it is Seagal’s usual Aikido. Can Aydin, who can be seen in the Jackie Chan vehicles Kung Fu Yoga and Vanguard is on action director duties, with Phong Giang (One Million K(l)icks) handling fight choreography (and also stunt doubling for Seagal), and Tanay Genco Ulgen (Ultimate Justice) on action design. It’s Cha-Lee Yoon (The Girl in the Spider’s Web) who keeps the busiest, pulling triple duty as stunt coordinator, Fan Siu Wong’s double, and playing a character in front of the camera.

The crew’s skills are complemented by a cast that includes the aforementioned Fan Siu-Wong, and Yu Kang shows up as the main villain. Yes, the same Yu Kang who’s featured in almost every Donnie Yen movie for the past 15 years, and most recently threw down against him in the finale of Big Brother. Perhaps the most unexpected aspect of Attrition though, is that it reunites Fan Siu-Wong with his legendary father, Fan Mei-Sheng. The pair haven’t appeared together in a movie since Siu-Wong’s headline debut in 1992’s Story of Ricky, so seeing them share the screen together again is a nice bonus for fans of Hong Kong cinema, even if it is in the clumsy context of Siu-Wong being Seagal’s ‘martial brother’, and Mai-Sheng their master.

I sense that Weschler himself is somewhat of a Hong Kong cinema fan, as the cinematography throws in some subtle nods here and there, none more so than a shot-for-shot recreation of Yuen Qiu’s introduction in Kung Fu Hustle. Despite his relative inexperience, Weschler shows a keen eye for visuals, highlighted in one particular scene where we see someone’s hand go through a meat grinder in reverse. There’re some nice touches in other aspects of Attrition as well, like when it’s revealed that the filling for Yu Kang’s punching bag is one of his (barely alive) victims, and the fact that proceedings end with Seagal taking the stage to belt out a blues number over the credits while the cast dance along. One of those is being sarcastic.

For the finale Seagal gets his old crew back together, complete with onscreen names (Infidel, Yinying, Scarecrow, and Hollywood!). Embarrassingly, one of them is played by Rudy Youngblood, the breakthrough star of Apocalypto. Remember him? I guess no one else does either. The rest are rounded out by Kat Ingkarat (Troy: The Odyssey), James P. Bennett (Black Water), and Sergey Badyuk (because Seagal has Russian citizenship now, so hey, you have to have a Russian in there somewhere!). Despite the effort to reunite them, they’re given surprisingly little to do, with the finale mostly dedicated to Seagal and Siu-Wong doing their thing. Seagal faces off against Yu Kang with a sword, while Siu-Wong goes toe-to-toe with Lee Yoon (yes, his own stunt double) in a fight that pits axes versus Wing Chun knives. Expect chain punches aplenty, terrible CGI blood, and doubling you could spot from a mile away for Mr. Seagal.

Attrition ends (well, before Seagal straps on his electric guitar) with an On Deadly Ground style coda, as Seagal narrates his woes of how traditional martial arts values are being eroded away, and how we all have to find inner-peace. Indeed. In interviews Seagal states that Attrition is the first time he’s been so heavily invested in a production for years, however when the bar you’ve set for yourself is already as low as it can go, it was never going to be difficult to create a moderately entertaining 85 minutes. It may be meant as Seagal’s love letter to kung-fu, but it’s equally his love letter to himself. If you can digest his constant musings and self-love, Attrition is a fun little action flick, it just seems to think its something a whole lot more.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10