Review: Jiu Jitsu

Alain Moussi plays an amnesiac who wakes up in a U.S. military outpost after being attacked by an unseen entity and jumping off a cliff somewhere in Myanmar. Marie Avgeropoulos is the tough intelligence officer assigned to question him. However, before she gets much of anywhere with him, Moussi is whisked away by martial artist Tony Jaa and several other people (Frank Grillo and JuJu Chan among them) who apparently know the guy. Eventually the premise kicks in: Every six years a portal opens and an alien arrives through that portal to battle nine warriors. Nic Cage turns up as a warrior mentor of sorts. Rick Yune is jiu jitsu warrior Captain Sand.

 

I figured at the very least a sci-fi action movie with Tony Jaa, Nic Cage, and Frank Grillo wouldn’t be dull and that a film called “Jiu Jitsu” would contain some actual jiu jitsu. Directed by Dimitri Logothetis (the quite solid martial arts film “Kickboxer: Retaliation”), this 2020 film is barely tolerable at best, and there’s not all that much jiu jitsu until the back half of the film. As scripted by the director and Jim McGrath (also of “Kickboxer: Retaliation”), what there is a whole lot of is low-rent “Predator” rip-off stuff, and half-arsed scenery chewing from Nic Cage. This is typical Nic Cagey-ness but a pudgy, phoned in version of it where you can tell even he’s not having much fun. It’s my least favourite mode for Cage to be in, both self-indulgent and boring at the same time. He’s also not in much of the film, nor are most of the other actors save for leading man Alain Moussi who is boring when not fighting. Actress Marie Avgeropoulos is even worse, she goes way overboard trying to seem tough but just comes across as unnecessarily mean. The director is seemingly trying to turn Moussi into the next JCVD and it’s just not going to happen. Moussi doesn’t have the charisma for it, and Frank Grillo and Tony Jaa are right there being shoved to the sidelines. As for the supposed comic relief of Eddie Steeples (yes, the “My Name is Earl” guy), the less said the better.

 

In regards to the fighting, sadly Logothetis takes what looks like it was probably more than decent action and films it horribly. You’ve got action scenes involving proven fighters Moussi and Tony Jaa, and given it a slow-mo, shaky-cam style that ruins all the potential fun. In particular Jaa’s entrance kicking the shit out of a bunch of soldiers is rendered about half as fun as a result. I liked the director’s “Kickboxer: Retaliation” with Moussi, however even in that film the shaky-cam showed up from time to time. At least there Logothetis varied the action and style up a bit where here he’s just dropped the ball completely. Also, am I the only one who thought it was bleedingly obvious that all of these people could’ve easily attacked the alien at once and defeated it? Is the alien Bruce Lee? The film isn’t exactly bad-looking from a lighting perspective, and occasionally there’s interesting FPS-style photography. However, on the whole I found the camerawork here rendered things a bit hard to watch. Actually one thing is bad-looking, there is such bad CGI/animation in the opener that I thought the production and distribution company logos were still running.

 

This is Tony Jaa’s second “Predator” rip-off after the underrated “Monster Hunter”, and I’ve gotta ask just what the hell is Hollywood doing with such a talented, charismatic guy? He gets forgotten about here after a while. Someone please put him in something interesting and where his fighting prowess is well-captured on screen. Put him in the lead here and it’d still be mediocre but it’d certainly be a bit better. One also has to question why Frank Grillo turns up in so many direct-to-DVD/streaming films as well. Is there a story there with him owing a lot of child support or something? He’s way too talented and charismatic for C-grade junk like this. The best performance is probably from Rick Yune, who gets to play the Sonny Landham, Bill Duke, and Jesse Ventura characters from “Predator” all rolled into one. Sadly, he’s used even more sparingly than Cage, Jaa, and Grillo. Even the alien is underused, though that may be for good reason. The alien is kept off screen for quite a while, but it really is a “Predator” knock-off, using heat sensor vision and when we do get a good look at it, it’s a very bad look. The suit used is the crappiest, most low-rent thing ever. Low-budget surely doesn’t have to mean pathetic.

 

Shaky-cam “Predator” in the Middle East with an amnesia angle. Not a dreadful film, but unoriginal and overly indulgent in irritating camerawork which lessens the fun. A boring leading man and wasted supporting cast add to the lack of fun.

 

Rating: C