All that Glimmers isn't Gold
You could say that when you've seen one Steven Seagal movie you've seen them all because as a rule they are very similar. You get Seagal playing the Zen like action figure in each and everyone who battles the bad guys with his martial art skills and that is about it. And that means "The Glimmer Man" is really no different and you get Steven Seagal, this time with a set of love beads, kicking his way through various scenes to get to the bad guys with a little help from side kick Keenen Ivory Wayans.
When a series of ritualistic murders stump the LAPD, New York detective Lt. Jack Cole (Steven Seagal - Executive Decision) is transferred to LA to work on the case with Det. Jim Campbell (Keenen Ivory Wayans). Being complete opposites the Zen like Cole and the wise cracking Campbell don't always see eye to eye, especially when Cole's ex wife becomes the latest victim in these strange murders but together they try to get to the bottom of these killings.
Quite strangely "The Glimmer Man" almost feels like a precursor to the "Rush Hour" movies with Steven Seagal taking on the slightly quirky martial arts role which Jackie Chan delivered and you get Keenen Ivory Wayans playing the wise cracking cop stuck with this new quirky partner doing the same sort of thing Chris Tucker did. But it's no where near as exciting or funny as "Rush Hour" with a completely basic uninspiring storyline and comedy which for the most is flatter than a pancake.
You honestly don't expect to be wowed by a storyline when it comes to a Seagal movie and "The Glimmer Man" is no different as we get an almost rudimentary crime story covering serial killers, dodgy millionaires and of course Seagal's Lt. Jack Cole being central to it all with his mysterious past. As such it goes through the motions delivering various staples of these sorts of movies and then convolutes things with unbelievable twists to try to make it look intelligent.
But the storyline to be frank is not important because you don't watch a Seagal movie for the storyline you watch it for the man himself. As such with "The Glimmer Man" you get Seagal playing Seagal the Zen like action hero who walks around in a permanent state of Zen like tranquillity who kicks butt with a smile when ever the need comes and of course it comes quite often. There's no denying that Seagal does this sort of action hero well but at times it feels like a bit of an ego trip especially when someone comments of Cole that he was better than Bruce Lee when beating up the baddies.
Aside from Seagal you do get Keenen Ivory Wayans playing the generic cop partner who not only wise cracks his way through various scenes but also becomes the butt of various jokes, such as when he is given grinded up deer's penis to stop an allergy, queue spitting it out in disgust. Plus of course there are the rudimentary bad guys with both Bob Gunton and Brian Cox leading the way as 2 dimensional villains along with Stephen Tobolowsky who really might as well not have bothered showing up for his small and pointless part.
What this all boils down to is that "The Glimmer Man" is a completely generic Steven Seagal movie which fans of the action hero will enjoy but for others will be weak and ultimately pointless. It does have some fun moments and of course some snappy martial arts scenes but other than that there is little to impress.
