Jade will debut on digital beginning February 18, followed by a release Blu-Ray and DVD on April 8 from Well Go USA.
Well Go USA’s latest release, Jade, had long been on my radar before director James Bamford’s other action thriller, Man With No Past, hit my radar this year. That one was pretty cool, and his successor here, starring actress, martial artist and influencer, Shaina West (The Woman King, Marvel‘s Black Widow), hits about the same, although it wouldn’t be a stretch to acknowlege some of its frills.
West, in the titular role, plays a vagabond whose association with a criminal gang called “The Club” have since resulted in mourning over the death of her brother. After being handed a mysterious package, what she doesn’t know is its contents are precisely the kind of data that crooks from all local corners would kill to get their hands on, setting off an explosive chase involving deadly thugs, a ruthless crimeboss, and dirty cops, and the burning question of just who exactly our leery heroine can trust.
West’s post-pandemic momentum in film and TV makes her a potent candidate for action stardom. Jade certainly puts this theory into positive practice, allowing a space for West to truly standout in the kind of film that accomodates her balletic physicality and screenfighting attribtutes. She brings a ton of pizzazz to the screen for a debut lead role, and she’s fantastic to watch at the behest of a stunt and fight team led partly by the likes of Bamford and fight coordinator Dan Rizzuto of Netflix series “Wu Assassins” fame.
Much of our initial focus is on Jade’s friendship with Layla (Katherine McNamara), and the strain it has suffered under their shared tragic circumstances. Making his entrance is crime boss Tork (Mickey Rourke), the core villain atop the film’s pyramid of antagonistic goons and fall guys alike. Interpol agent Reese (Mark Dacascos) eventually makes his entry well into the second half of the film as Jade’s last option for survival.
Where the movie falls short for the most part is a script that feels underdeveloped at times. The cast here do what they can for the most part to bring some kind of substance to the story, while some of the intended humor feels a little dry while other moments leave you simply waiting for someone to get punched in the face so the story can pick up, and that’s where the film’s saving grace pretty much kicks in.
Additionally, there’s a VO narration that kicks off the film’s animated opening sequence, and you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking that this voice would insinuate an important character whose screentime wouldn’t be so limited, which is kind of befuddling to see how it plays out on screen.
Jade has a largely competent action-directing framework behind it, and a frontrunner in West who deserves every role she can get her hands on. Similarly, the film is a mixed bag that could have done better in a lot of areas. Do with that what you will, but if you suffered a pandemic long enough to spend time on social media glossing over martial arts influencers and stumbling across @thesamurider in your scrolls, and pining for something to happen in a genre that’s long overdue for a black female lead, you can trust that Jade is worth a watch.
