Just for Kicks

In case you’ve been marking your calendar, waiting for Steven Seagal’s second film (after “Above the Law”) . . .

He’ll play maverick cop Mason Storm trying to nail a villainous politico in Warner Bros.’ action-thriller, “Seven-Year Storm,” due to shoot this spring. Wife Kelly LeBrock co-stars, with Lee Rich exec-producing. Bruce Malmuth (“Nighthawks”) directs.

Although some action buffs didn’t find Seagal all that athletic in “Law,” he’ll again perform his trademark aikido in “Storm.” So we asked Dave Cater, editor of Inside Kung-Fu magazine, to assess Seagal’s martial arts skills.

“In the L.A. community, he’s very well-respected as an aikidoist,” Cater said. “But what he did in ‘Above the Law’ was only a little bit of aikido--and a lot of Hollywood.”

Chuck Norris is still the king, Cater said, but admitted, “Seagal’s much tougher looking and acting than Chuck. If he manages to hang in there, to have some longevity, he just might develop into something.”