Movie review - "The Asian Connection" (2016) **

Late period Steven Seagal - the waistline is huge, the hair is clearly painted on, most of his scenes are shot with him sitting down except one where he tumbles with a topless girl, it's a relatively small role though quite well spread out throughout the film.

He's the baddy in this one - well, antagonist rather, since the "heroes" are bank robbers - a Yank and an Englishmen living in Thailand who decide to rob a bank in Cambodia. That's not terribly nice behaviour and there's no redeeming reason for it - none of them have a terminally ill daughter seeking treatment or anything. One has a girlfriend who I thought was going to be the innocent victim, but she's complete into it, making out on the bed of cash and later on joining in the robberies.

So there's really no one to sympathise with - except, oddly, Seagal who sits at this table, wondering why he keeps trusting people who advise him to put his money in banks which keep being robbed - and indeed after we've seen that scene a few times we wonder too.

Pim Bubear has a likeable screen presence as the girl. John Edward Lee kept reminding me of Australian spin bowler Steve O'Keefe. I wish their characters had been etched out a bit more - why do they do what they do? I know character should be explained through action but I felt they were inconsistent - nihilistic? Decent? Troubled?

Director David Zirilli keeps things moving at a fast pace. It's no classic but it is unpretentious fun - I quite enjoyed it- and the location shooting in Thailand helps.