Urban Justice

Urban Justice
Directed by	Don E. Fauntleroy
Produced by	Steven Seagal Joe Halpin William Steakley
Written by	Gilmar Fortis II
Starring	Steven Seagal Eddie Griffin Jade Yorker Danny Trejo
Cinematography	Don E. Fauntleroy
Editing by	Scott Conrad
Distributed by	Screen Gems/Steamroller Pictures
Release date(s)	November 13, 2007
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$ 12 million

Urban Justice is a 2007 action film starring Steven Seagal and Eddie Griffin that was released on November 13, 2007 in the United States. It was titled as Renegade Justice in the United Kingdom.

The film was shot in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico, November-December 2006 and was directed by Don E. Fauntleroy. Reportedly, Screen Gems was considering this film for a theatrical release. It would have been the first Seagal movie to hit theaters since Half Past Dead in 2002 – the film Machete in 2010 became the first Seagal movie to be in theatres since 2002.

The film was first known as Once Upon a Time in the Hood, but Sony changed it to Urban Justice.

Plot

There is a part of Los Angeles where there are two rival gangs that have been at war with each other—the Hyde Park Gang based on MS-13, led by El Chivo (Danny Trejo), and the East Side Gangsters based on the Crips, led by Armand Tucker (Eddie Griffin).

Vice cop Max Ballister (Cory Hart) is called out one night by someone that he thinks is his informant Gary Morrison (Jade Yorker). When Max reaches his destination, someone pulls up to him and fires a single shot that kills him, leaving his wife Linda (Liezl Carstens) widowed.

Max's angry father Simon Ballister (Steven Seagal), who is a martial arts expert (it is implied that he is ex-CIA), moves to the neighborhood that Max was killed in, at address 1001 North Central, and he starts investigating, with the help of his new landlady Alice Park (Carmen Serano), who runs MG's Grand Liquors.

Frank Shaw (Kirk B.R. Woller) is the detective who is heading the investigation. And what no one knows is that Shaw, who is a dirty cop, has formed a partnership with Tucker.

As Simon investigates, he starts leaving a trail of beat up and/or dead bodies of gangsters. Gary gives Simon a lead on El Chivo's gang. El Chivo runs most of the booking joints that Max went after, and El Chivo has a private club called the Anodyne. Simon goes to the Anodyne, and Chivo tells him that maybe it was Tucker who ordered the hit on Max.

Later, a pair of East Side Gangsters chase Simon via car. After a long chase, Simon causes them to crash their car. One of the gangsters is dead, and Simon, with a gun, asks the other one, Gary's brother Isaiah Morrison (Trantario 'TJ' Jones), who sent them. Isaiah says Tucker sent them. Later, Isaiah talks to Tucker, and Tucker tells Isaiah to kill Simon, or everyone Isaiah cares about will die.

On the next morning, Gary is chased by a group of four racists, and just as they're about to start beating him up, Simon shows up and leaves the four racists in a bloody heap on the ground. In Simon's car, Simon asks Gary if it was Isaiah who fired the shot that killed Max, but Gary is not saying anything. Just before Gary gets out of the car, Simon plants a tracking device on him.

That night, Simon uses the tracking device to follow Gary to a warehouse, and uses some electronic equipment to eavesdrop on the conversation that's taking place inside. It seems to be a meeting between the gangs. After listening some, Simon gets out and plants some more tracking devices. Shaw is there. And then, all of a sudden, gunfire erupts.

When it's over, the men from Chivo's gang are dead at the hands of some dirty cops who work for Shaw, and Tucker and Shaw take the money and drugs. Simon gets back in his car, and uses the tracking devices to follow them. Simon follows them to what looks like another warehouse. Simon silently breaks in and finds the cocaine.

Some of Tucker's men follow Simon back to MG's Grand Liquors, where Simon still has an apartment. Simon uses his tracking device, and notices that the car that the gangsters are in is right outside. Simon and Alice are in his apartment, and Simon tells Alice to hide.

The gangsters start coming into the apartment, and Simon starts killing them with a G36. After killing the gangsters who broke into the apartment, Simon tells Alice to follow him. On the stairway, Simon kills some more gangsters.

Simon and Alice get outside, and Simon starts killing more gangsters. And then Simon gets shot by Tucker, who escapes. Alice takes Simon home with her, and he meets her cousin Winston (Diego Lopez), who works at USC Medical Center. Simon is still focused on taking the gang down.

On the next day, Simon goes to Isaiah's house. Simon beats up Isaiah and two of his friends, and then Gary arrives. Simon forces Gary to admit that Shaw is the man behind everything. It was Shaw who killed Max. Gary explains that he was afraid to talk because Shaw threatened to kill his family. Shaw killed Max because Max witnessed a deal between Shaw and Tucker.

That night, Shaw and Tucker meet with a drug dealer from New York at a warehouse. Simon silently pulls up to the warehouse. Simon gets out, and starts killing gangsters. Shaw kills the New York drug dealer, while Simon continues to kill gangsters. Simon is also targeting Shaw's men.

After killing all of Tucker's men and all of Shaw's men, Simon confronts Shaw. Simon and Shaw engage in a brutal one-sided fight which leaves Shaw badly injured. As Simon has Shaw in a choke hold after giving him a vicious beating, Tucker walks in with a gun and stands there watching as Shaw repeatedly orders him to shoot Simon. Tucker ignores his commands. As Shaw moves towards unconsciousness, Simon fatally snaps his neck. As Simon stands before him unarmed, Tucker sarcastically remarks, "Now I know you ain't dumb enough to bring a fist to a gun fight" The instant Tucker finishes his words, Simon smoothly disarms Tucker, proclaiming "I am." Simon then turns then gun on Tucker stating that Tucker probably believes that he will kill him. However, he tells Tucker that his "beef" is not with him, hands Tucker the gun and walks away. Tucker is visibly impressed by Simon's cool display and delivers the final line of the movie saying, "That's gangster."

Cast

• Steven Seagal as Simon
• Danny Trejo as El Chivo
• Eddie Griffin as Armand Tucker
• Jade Yorker as Gary Middleton
• Carmen Serano as Alice Park
• Kirk B.R. Woller as Frank Shaw
• Liezl Carstens as Linda
• Josh Berry as Detective Brown
• Barry Tolli as Detective Van Pelt
• Jermaine Washington as Rasheed
• Diego Joaquin Lopez as Winston
• Jesus Jr. as Jesus
• Bas van der Zijden as Police officer Randell
• Thomas Wilson Brown as Marcos

External links

• Urban Justice at the Internet Movie Database
• 2007 Article About Urban Justice