Posted in: Movies, Review, Streaming | Tagged: action movie, arrow, b movie, cleopatra jones, Coffy, Foxy Brown, Jade, James Bamford, Katherine McNamara, Mark Dacascos, martial arts, mickey rourke, shaina west

Jade is a fun B action movie that calls back to classics like Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones that introduces Shaina West as a new talent

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Jade is that increasingly rare thing: an unfussy, unpretentious low budget indie action movie that recalls 1970s B movies like Coffy, Foxy Brown, and Cleopatra Jones with 21st Century slickness and a new female action star who’s the real thing. Shaina West is a London stunt performer with an aspirational real-life story that could make a good movie in itself, but this is a perfectly good showcase for her skills and range.

The plot is just serviceable enough without being dumb: after her brother’s untimely and accidental death at her own hands, Jade (West) swore she’d never pick up another gun. But when she unknowingly comes between powerful businessman “Tork” (Mickey Rourke) and her former gang leader in their urgent search for a valuable hard drive that could single-handedly take down Interpol, she may not have a choice. With the guidance of Reese (Mark Dacascos), an old friend at Interpol, Jade must come to terms with all she’s faced in the past and present to safeguard her growing family’s future.

James Bamford is a prolific action director who has worked on many CW DC superhero series such as Arrow, so he knows how to stage action and where to point the camera, move, and edit when it happens, which already puts him ahead of a lot of other directors of action. Jade is an example of what critic Manny Farber called “Termite Art,” which is a form of low art that’s seemingly disposable but offers surprising and subversive pleasures not found in more prestigious A-list productions. Despite an overlong animated prologue with voiceover explaining how Londoner Jade ended up in America that could have been done with just a couple of lines of dialogue during the movie itself, the movie wastes no time racing through the plot to do what this kind of movie does best: get to the next fight as soon as possible.

Bamford fashioned the movie as a showcase for West and surrounds her with seasoned actors like Mickey Rourke, Mark Dacascos, and Arrow’s Katherine McNamara to provide the acting heavy-lifting. Still, the script doesn’t set out to stretch West’s acting range. However, she’s good at projecting attitude and delivering a quip before we get what we’re here to see: her full-on authentic martial arts moves that combine several different forms and schools of fight that she taught herself and put together on her own, and she delivers. She can shoot, spin-kick, and slice with a katana for realsies and doesn’t need a stunt double – it’s all her, and she has the right kind of charisma to deliver a performance. The twinkle in her eye shows she’s having an absolute ball, and she acts better than many martial arts performers who became straight-to-video action stars. Scott Atkins is the current reigning king of indie martial arts actioners whose stoicism and sardonic humour have made him his own brand. Shaina West could become another in that school or more because she’s fun to watch and a rare new female action star.

Jade is not a world-changing piece of cinema. It’s just fun action that introduces a fun new star who might be getting more and bigger movies after this, and sometimes, that’s all we want for now.

Jade will be out exclusively on VOD starting on February 18th and on Blu-Ray starting on March 25th via Well Go USA.

Jade

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Review by Adi Tantimedh

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7/10

A B movie that recalls 1970s action movies such as Coffy and Cleopatra Jones but really a showcase for rising star Shaina West, who not only brings real flare for her self-taught martial arts and stunt work but also has the London sass, personality and charisma that distinguishes her from most other martial arts actors. This is not world-changing cinema but an introduction to a fun and charismatic new action star with authentic skills and charisma who could go places.

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