Out now from Well Go USA
When a hard drive goes missing and could be a major problem for Interpol, a woman named Jade finds herself in the middle of it all, needing to make sense of it as much as to save herself.
From a story and scrypt by Lynn Colliar and Glenn Ennis and directed by James Bamford (who also gets a contributing writer credit), this action thriller is one that takes its subject, one that usually leads into the world of espionage, and takes it closer to home for the titular character, connecting her in ways she did not expect. The writing here works and the direction as well. The film has a whole works best when knowing as little as possible about before going in and keeping an open mind without looking to resolve the story before the film does so itself. While not entirely predictable and with a few surprising twists and turns, there is a lot here that we’ve seen before but interpreted in news ways, so more astute viewers will see a lot of the plot points coming. That being said, this doesn’t not take away from the enjoyment of the film whatsoever.
A big part of what makes the film so enjoyable and entertaining is the cast, particularly lead Shaina West who is fantastically great here, showing strength that is both mental and physical, creating a character that is more than meets the eye, and taking that character to just the right emotional places to get and keep the viewer’s attention. This film is about Jade, West is Jade, and she is the film. Joining her in a smaller yet important role is the never-not-great Mark Dacascos whose short screen time leaves the viewer wanting more. He’s solid as usual and makes the most of his few scenes. The supporting cast here is very decent, showing up when needed and showing that, sometimes, a smaller part is all you need to make your mark. Many will notice the name of Mickey Rourke on the cast list and while he is there, his performance is limited in time and, well, in impact. Mr. Rourke can do much better than this but seems to be stuck in these parts lately.
The cinematography here is decent with work from Brett Juskalian and Colemar Nicholls behind the camera. The work is decent, as mentioned, and goes well together to the point that it is not obvious that two people did the cinematography work. Same can be said for the editing by Chris Cordova and Daniel Dinning. The fight choreography here is a lot of fun with fight choreography by Dan Rizzuto and additional fight choreography by director Bamford.
Jade is an entertaining action thriller with one badass leading lady who can kick and punch her way out of anything. The lead actress, Shaine West, is the best part of this film and makes the whole thing. Of course, the rest of the cast and crew are there to support, but she is the one most will see and notice here and they should indeed take notice.