Jade (2024)
22KJade (2024). 1h 28m
“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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJade 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe anime style opening credits really riffs on Westu0026#39;s nickname as The Samurider. She plays the titled character Jade whose afro wig is bigger than her waist.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJade 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 Jadeu0026#39;s brother.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eShe will be next but Jade manages to escape after a Brad Pitt lookalike gets careless.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story is a third rate low budget Robert Rodriguez/Tarantino noirish Sin City type of action thriller, with some cartoonish humour.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt 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?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe ending makes little sense. It leads to a big boss fight but then leaves the villain intact with some redundant twists.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere is scope for more Jade movies but it will need to be better directed. West also needs to become a stronger actress.”
