Jiu Jitsu (2020): Alain Moussi, Nicolas Cage, Tony Jaa, Frank Grillo

[AlbertV]

Alain Moussi talked about the movie with me last night and gave me a little bit of insight on what to expect with Kickboxer: Armageddon

 

[AlbertV]

So I saw the movie and I'll admit it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea but I liked it. Unlike the hulking monsters Kurt Sloane faced in the Kickboxer films we have a Predator-like warrior who can actually fight and in a moment of respect and honor bows with Nic Cage before they engage in sword combat.

There are a few one shot fights where we get to see as part of 1 fight a Hardcore Henry-inspired first person POV from Moussi as he watches Tony Jaa take on some soldiers.

Marrese Crump, Rigan Machado, and Dan Rizzuto make the most of their screen time against Brax and we get to see Jaa and Juju Chan against the soldiers as they attempt to get Jake back to his destiny.

With what they had...pretty good IMO despite a few flaws here and there. 80s American martial arts film fans will most likely enjoy this one. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by AlbertV

[KCN9NE]

Is the blu ray already out?

[Drunken Monk]

8 minutes ago, KCN9NE said:

Is the blu ray already out?

It hits streaming platforms on November 20th. No word of a Blu Ray yet.

[AlbertV]

2 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

It hits streaming platforms on November 20th. No word of a Blu Ray yet.

Exactly. I was able to see the film before its release and took the opportunity to interview both director Dimitri Logothetis and star Alain Moussi (video links in thread) 

[Koravec]

On 10/4/2018 at 10:29 AM, Drunken Monk said:

Let's hope the film isn't as shitty as that horrific Photoshop job.

Incredible level of cheese such as a horrible photoshop may be our best bet for a film like this, no?

[Drunken Monk]

I will hopefully be watching this on Saturday. I’ve heard some pretty bad things so far.

[thekfc]

On 11/18/2020 at 3:21 PM, KCN9NE said:

Is the blu ray already out?

Here in the USA it will only getting a DVD release in December (12/22). 

It is currently available on most of the streaming/on Demand platforms for rent/purchase - Vudu, iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft, Microsoft, Fandango Now, Amazon Prime. 

[ShaOW!linDude]

Okay, so this is on Netflix now. Me and the Mrs. watched it last night. Well, I watched it. She dozed off. (Of course, she's a nightshift nurse, so she was either really tired or just bored.)

I would give this movie a solid "Meh." The choreography is fairly standard, so there are no Wow! moments. I don't feel like the story was really fleshed out, but then that would require some forethought and decent acting. I mean, Frank Grillo and Nicolas Cage are in it. They could have done that heavy lifting.

Fight-wise:

Moussi is alright. He gets to trick a little bit, but it's nothing you've never seen. It almost seems as if he gets his butt kicked more often than not.

Jaa has solid performances, but again it's nothing you've never seen before. The best thing is that he sells his fights.

Grillo...does nothing really except act all gruff and unhappy, and his fight scene (yes, singular) doesn't amount to much.

Cage's stunt double gets a good workout.

Crump is a breath of fresh air. His sole fight scene is one of the best in the film. Somebody needs to cast this guy in a lead feature.

Chan's action sequences aren't bad, and she seems very adept with the nunchucks. 

Brax the alien (played by Ryan Tarran) isn't bad. The character is like a cross between the Predator and the Guyver, which I found kind of interesting.

It's worth watching once to say you've seen it. I've sat through a lot worse, that's for sure. I just think there's more that could have been done here, especially to spice up the action.

[Drunken Monk]

After discovering this was on Netflix last night, I decided to bite the bullet and see just how bad it is. Spoiler alert: it's appalling.

Not only is the plot daft as a brush and the fight scenes drab but this film is technically dreadful. Whoever did the sound design for Jiu Jitsu should be taken outside and shot. The sound effects in this film are laughable. Especially the sounds used for connecting punches and kicks. They're made to sound like love taps and, thusly, none of the action feels like it has any power whatsoever. It's awful.
Then the director tries to make it interesting by using quirky gimmicks and camera angles that bring NOTHING to the table. None of it's cool. None of it's interesting. In fact, the first person to third person stuff is awkward and laughable.

As for the fight choreography, as mentioned earlier it's boring as hell. We've seen it all before and we've seen it done better. And the slow motion! Good god, it's used for every hit. 

Jiu Jitsu is a shambles. The only positivity to come out of it is that it feels like Nic Cage is having fun. Literally everything else is just poor film making on every level.

[Bus]

This was really horrible 

[Koravec]

On 10/14/2020 at 2:17 PM, edher_M.A. said:

The Least you expect to watch with that title is a cyber Predator Alien fighter with swords-shuriken stars, Commandos w machine guns and Power Ranges style of choreography with Nicolas Cage throw in. LoL!

 

This is the right approach! I didnt find it that bad. The creature looks incredible and I love the character design. 

[DrNgor]

I just reviewed this for the site. I think my thoughts line up with @AlbertV on this one. It's not "great" or even "very good," but I had a good enough time watching it.

https://abeautifulfilm.blogspot.com/2023/01/jiu-jitsu-2020.html

[Agent U]

It baffles me that Alain Moussi continues to get lead roles.

Regardless of one's opinion on the guy, it is clear he's got zero marketability, which results on producers having to bring on actual stars to sell their movie. And then Moussi ends up getting like 4th or 5th billing in films he's supposedly the main character.

I mean, this is a common approach when someone is cast in their first lead role, it's not supposed to go on for their entire career.