Movie Reviews

Movie Review: “China Salesman” Pits Steven Seagal Against Mike Tyson

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

Based on a true story, CHINA SALESMAN is a film about the dangerous and epic adventure to Africa where a Chinese engineer/salesman comes face-to-face with a corrupt competitor over the contract for the first African mobile telecom technology.

“China Salesman” is said to be based on a true story which takes us on a journey to Africa where Yan Jian (Dong-xue Li), a young Chinese IT engineer, meets a corrupt competitor. Whoever wins the telecom deal is then able to control the communication between north and south Africa.

However, it is less about a telecommunication deal and more about the right to control Africa’s mineral resources. We find that local tribesman Kabbah (Mike Tyson) and mercenary Lauder (Steven Seagal) are on opposite sides with the threat of a civil war brewing in the background. As one might expect, Yan has discovered the plan to steal the mineral rights and he is only the only one that is able to stop this crime.

“China Salesman” does feature several well-known cast members, such as Mike Tyson (“The Hangover”) and Steven Seagal (“Under Siege”). However, I found Tyson’s acting to average at best, while Seagal was, well, typical Steven Seagal.

While I found the idea to have been clever, with a little twist at the end, the conspiracy that results is not explained well enough for any reasonable person to understand, let alone follow throughout the film. As you might imagine, there is a fight scene between Tyson and Seagal, who are on opposite side of one another in this movie. It has been reported that each wanted to be clearly seen as the winner of the fight. So, in order for each fighter to save face, they wrote into the script the fight would come out as a tie. I do not want to spoil it for you, but in my opinion, it wasn’t a tie. However, in a weird way, the chemistry between the two wasn’t all that bad.

The film runs roughly 110 minutes in length, which I personally thought was a little long for this type of story. This is very much an action-packed film that adds a little comedy into the mix as well.

In theaters Friday, June 15th

 

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Doug Hess

Doug Hess attained his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and master’s degrees in Human Resource Development from Indiana State University. Doug is also an adjunct faculty member where he teaches in the School of Business. Among Doug’s other achievements, he co-authored the book, “Gordon Gekko, CEO: Lessons from Wall Street for a Winning Attitude,” which was published in 2012 and has given talks across the country relating to the concepts discussed in his book. Doug just released his second book, "Words To Ponder." Doug is married to Misty and they have two young children (Zack and Drew). He serves on several boards within the community and enjoys reading in his spare time while running the local Little League (President) with his wife.