Also good is that the recently near-ubiquitous annoyance of having another actor dub the voice for Seagal's character is here entirely missing. This certainly adds to the film, as one of the best things Seagal has going for him as an actor is his super-cool voice, which resonates with a sense of unshakable calm, coolness, and is mixed his trademark near-whisper menace. Seagal fans will be glad to hear that ol'Steven is cooler in this film than he's been in quite awhile. He's had a haircut, which suits him wonderfully, and here tends to wear suits and ties rather than the foot-length leather coats he's been donning in other, recent films (even when other characters all have short-sleeve shirts on and no jacket!) The film also boasts one genuinely good chase scene, which was actually shot for this film (unlike in Today you Die, which utilized stock footage from another movie). Kudos aside, there is still plenty to complain about here, as this film could have very easily been MUCH better. In regards to this, the film is a true shame. Here are my gripes and recommendations: 1) The villains lack motivation. We are never told why the Chechens want to blow up L.A. (besides the perpetual repetition of a line during the opening credits stating that if they don't do this they'll all be slaves, whatever that means), and further, why the "surprise villain" would EVER help them is never explained at all. (If Seagal's character's aim was always to hinder the villains from obtaining a suitcase nuke, then why does he help them get the password for it?) 2) The above-mentioned genuinely good chase scene is unfortunately implausible in part. Seagal and Tamara Davies jump out of a high-story window, without having any reason to expect there to be anything below but concrete, and just HAPPEN to land in the back of a soft-bedded semi that just HAPPENS to be driving by at that precise moment. This is my only gripe. MANY reviewers have said that the entire chase makes no sense by questioning why the semi driver, who doesn't even know that Seagal and Davies are in the back of his truck, would then proceed to help them by evading their pursuers while smashing into everything in his way. I don't quite see this. He is, after all, shot in the shoulder and probably sees the black cars following him. If someone opened fire at me and I saw cars chasing me, I'd probably try to lose them too! 3) There is a startling lack of fight scenes. Black Dawn, unfortunately for Seagal fans, gives Seagal very little to do. (In fact he's not even in the film that much, to be honest.) There are literally no extended fight scenes in the entire film. This is a shame, for one of the reasons Seagal became so famous is because of the fact that he filmed fight scenes that other real-life martial artists could watch, recognize as the REAL THING, and enjoy. This is because in his fight scenes he employed real moves from various arts, executed them with near-clinical precision, and let them be displayed without them being sped up and distorted. It is obvious, when watching Seagal in a fight scene, that he's the real deal. In fact, he's probably the single most talented martial artist currently making films. Though Van Damme is touted as having better acting abilities, his notorious high-flying kicks do not impress upon the viewer that his real-life martial arts acumen is anything approaching Seagal's. I would also (shock, shock) extend this to Jet Li, as well as to the "new sensation" of martial arts, Tony Jaa. Though Ong Bak was surely exciting, I submit that literally hurling yourself through the air at your opponent in the vain hope that he will kindly let you land your elbow on his head is a pretty unrealistic and ridiculous thing to do in a real martial arts fight. The moves that Black Dawn does show Seagal execute are all split-second, efficiently executed gun disarms, which are usually followed by Seagal driving the blade of his hand into the larynx of his victim. Unfortunately, there are only two extended fight scenes in the whole film, and though both involve Seagal's character, neither involve Seagal at all. They both use a stunt double that, in both stature and facial and hair appearance does not in any way even remotely resemble Seagal. The effect is sad. What I wish Seagal and his producers would realize is that there is truly no need for the stunt double, because fans of Seagal's martial arts ability do not want to see him twirling and delivering kicks in the first place. That's not even what Seagal is famous for! That's not even realistic and effective martial arts! Why can't they just show Seagal performing more wrist locks, arm bars, disarming moves, etc., as he they did in Out for a Kill? They could have easily included a flashback scene showing Seagal's character teaching his pupil, Davies, some fundamental aikido moves and such. Further, the climax in which the characters, both good and bad, converge in a seedy hotel could have provided an excellent set piece to show Seagal wiping out multiple adversaries using his martial arts skills. I feel that producers shy away from such scenes because they suspect that fans today want agile moves that look as though they are performed by lightning-fast men. This is symptomatic of the deleterious impact that The Matrix had on action films in general. Give us the real deal, darn it, not CGI-generated shock and awe. This certainly isn't what Seagal fans want. Simply show him executing his arm work and throws at regular speed. Fans will relish seeing one of the screen's only CONVINCING practitioners displaying recognizably GENUINE moves (unlike the plethora of other films involving non-martial artist actors who've trained for a short stint and then film ultra-polished turds of fight scenes displaying incorrect stances, throwing sloppy punches that don't utilize the momentum of the body, and in general, though appearing fast and flashing, looking like they couldn't hurt a girl scout (e.g. Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity, Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, etc. There are of course rare exceptions to this, where actors who were not martial artists, after a short stint of training, exhibit very convincing skill, such as Tommy Lee Jones and Benecio del Toro in The Hunted, and, going further back in time, George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, or James Cagney in Blood on the Sun, in what was perhaps the first martial arts fight in any American film.) Sadly what we are given are a couple of short gun battles and some stunt doubling. On a closing note, Black Dawn isn't half bad all-in-all. It's certainly a thousand times better than the film it's a sequel to, The Foreigner, which was a beautiful film to look at but frankly was not all that entertaining. Sometimes sequels are better than the original!