Jade

Londoner Shaina West has an interesting backstory. After getting injured in a motorcycle accident, finding life at a low ebb. She turned it around by taking up martial arts and became a stuntwoman.

Jade is an attempt to showcase Shaina West as an action star. The film is directed by James Bamford, himself a former stuntman and stunt coordinator.

The anime style opening credits really riffs on West's nickname as The Samurider. She plays the titled character Jade whose afro wig is bigger than her waist.

Jade sports a cockney accent and is abducted by some goons sent by gangster Tork (Mickey Rourke.) He wants a hard drive and has already killed Jade's brother.

She will be next but Jade manages to escape after a Brad Pitt lookalike gets careless.

The story is a third rate low budget Robert Rodriguez/Tarantino noirish Sin City type of action thriller, with some cartoonish humour.

It benefits from plenty of action scenes. Unfortunately some of them are badly staged with too many gimmicks. Why does Jade shoot a baddie repeatedly when she could had sliced him in half with a Samurai sword?

The ending makes little sense. It leads to a big boss fight but then leaves the villain intact with some redundant twists.

There is scope for more Jade movies but it will need to be better directed. West also needs to become a stronger actress.

I hadn't heard about this 2024 action thriller titled "Jade" prior to sitting down and watching it. So I didn't really know what I was in for, nor did I really have any expectations to the movie. And that ultimately meant that director James Bamford had every opportunity to entertain and bedazzle me.

However, I am a bit perplexed how it managed for three writers to churn out something as forgettable and bland as "Jade" turned out to be. Writers Lynn Colliar, Glenn Ennis and James Bamford collectively managed to put together a script and storyline that left me with an overwhelming sense of 'was that really it?' when the movie came to an end. Throughout the course of the 88 minutes that the movie ran for there weren't really any ups and downs, despite of the writers trying to put together a thrilling storyline. But the end result was just a rather bland, forgettable and somewhat pointless movie experience.

The acting performances in the movie weren't impressive either, not even with the likes of Mark Dacascos in a support role, as he had nothing much to work with. I wasn't familiar with leading actress Shaina West, but that particular hairstyle she sported for the movie just didn't really fare well on the screen, as it was difficult to look past it. And then there was Mickey Rourke whom looked like he was just melting a little bit more with each second spent in front of the camera.

There was a fair amount of action throughout the course of the movie and a fair share amount of violence, and that alone is the reason while it was semi-bearable to sit through 88 minutes of bland storytelling.

If you enjoy action thrillers then your money, time and effort is definitely better spent elsewhere, because "Jade" just didn't cut it. It was not an entertaining movie, and it is a movie that will never find its way back to my screen a second time. And come tomorrow I am sure that it will have faded from memory.

My rating of "Jade" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

While Jade is the latest martial arts release from Well Go USA, there is a lot of movie homage' here for movie fans, and martial arts movie fans alike. It blends the elements of 1970's Blaxploitan films with modern martial arts action. On some levels Jade is like Foxy Brown (1973) meets Kill Bill (2003). However, I don't think you need to be a film aficionado to enjoy this as an action, martial arts movie experience.

While this is a low budget, simply scripted, and simply shot movie I think the result is greater than the sum of the parts. Jade really is a fun time.

We start the movie following the accidental death of the main character's brother. The back story, of a young girl whose parents' die, and is introduced into Gang life in an unnamed city starts to unfold and is intertwined throughout the story. We learn, almost collaterally, about Jade and her life and history. As she is coping with her brother's death she becomes entangled in the deadly quest for a hard drive of international significance. While these details are hardly believable, it really doesn't matter. Jade's appeal is not built upon the movie's story; it is built upon its characters and its martial arts action sequences.

Shaina West is the titled character, and the heart of the film. She is as deadly as she is sexy. Most of all Jade is really, really cool. She is cool, from the way she dresses, to the way she talks, to the way she throws her hands and feet. She has a strong moral compass and she is skilled in the art of kicking butt-whether with her hands and with a blade. I think if West did not have the screen presence she commands the film could have been received in a very different way. She sells the camp, but she doesn't oversell it. She is fun to watch throughout this one.

The martial arts choreography, particularly considering the basic way this film as shot is very good. It is also plentiful. There are numerous fight sequences, and gun battles packed into a 90 minute romp. They are well done.

Mickey Rourke has morphed into the quintessential cartoon villain, and that is on full display here. He is perfect for the role.

Mark Decascos is a seasoned martial arts action start and stunt man in his own right. He is good but his fighting acumen is completely underutilized in this film. Perhaps, if there are future film installments featuring West's Jade, we will get to see a little of Mark's martial arts prowess.

James Bamford does an admirable job as the Director. The film is simply shot. He does a good job making the low budget nature of the film seem like it is part of the retro-cool feel, rather than a consequence of stretching limited dollars.

I recommend Jade highly. It does contain violence and is not meant for kids. However I like Jade, both the character and the movie. I hope we get to see more of her in the future.

Not a terrible movie, great fight scenes and choreography in them, nice to see Micky Rourke still has his style. Shania is awesome in her role as the feisty talented keeper of the "drive". She is absolutely beautiful, her physique alone watching her walk and fight and just stand still is such a turn on. She has nice abs and her huge Afro is amazing but because it's so huge it can be a way to make it very hard to hide. This movie is all about a mysterious hard drive which we have no idea what is on it or why all these thugs want it, but on goes the fights, killings, swordplay and a LOT of gore and extreme violence, some foul language, one questionable scene where two girls make out, no nudity ( I wish) would love to see Shania nude. Other than that it's an "OK" watch but it's basically just a bunch of stunt actors made a movie together with a very cute girl.

Honestly this movie is something like a video game with the music and quests in between the fights. The impeccable female lead and storyline is amazing for a production that doesn't cost over millions of dollars. This is a lowkey movie if you are really into action! Shaina West is super hot and plus she does all her own stunts, making her incredible talented actress truthfully. The only con of this is I wish we heard more of her story and why her brother and her was in different gangs to began with. She's like a 5'4 ish Afro-ninja black widow. Best scene hand down is when she killed a thug with her pick ngl.