Take Back (2020) - Gillian White, Michael Jai White, Mickey Rourke, James Russo

[AlbertV]

Real-life couple Michael Jai White and Gillian White have recently completed another martial arts action film, this time in the form of Take Back, which was completed just a week or two ago. The film is directed by Christian Sesma (The Vigilante Diaries, Paydirt) and features Mickey Rourke, James Russo, and Paul Sloan. I spoke with producer Mike Hatton about Paydirt and he told me about this film. Gillian is the lead role with Michael playing her husband.

Gillian and Michael play Zara and Brian, a couple living a peaceful life until someone from Zara's past returns and kidnaps their daughter, forcing the couple to save her. Mike told me it is going to be drama driven, but will have Mike and Gillian using their skills as it is intended to be a martial arts action drama.

I think they're hoping to have it released at the end of the year or early 2021.

[mpm74]

LOL! I wonder if those "on fire cars" are even in the movie. If they are, we know where the budget went.

[One Armed Boxer]

What is it with Jai White & Mark Dacascos making movies with their wives all of a sudden?

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

For fuck's sake, Mickey... just retire already, you look embarrassing.

[mpm74]

On 8/30/2020 at 12:52 PM, One Armed Boxer said:

What is it with Jai White & Mark Dacascos making movies with their wives all of a sudden?

They're trying to do with EYES WIDE SHUT thing. Only problem is they need Kubrick (when all they have is Kaos). 

On 8/30/2020 at 1:16 PM, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

For fuck's sake, Mickey... just retire already, you look embarrassing.

LOL!! He's looked embarrassing for the last 20 years. 

[AlbertV]

31 minutes ago, mpm74 said:

They're trying to do with EYES WIDE SHUT thing. Only problem is they need Kubrick (when all they have is Kaos). 

Actually, Kaos is not involved with this one, but the Whites have been together in Never Back Down: No Surrender and this month's Welcome to Sudden Death.

As for Mickey, he should have just stayed out of the ring. I mean damn!

Edited September 2, 2020 by AlbertV

[mpm74]

3 hours ago, AlbertV said:

Actually, Kaos is not involved with this one, but the Whites have been together in Never Back Down: No Surrender and this month's Welcome to Sudden Death.

As for Mickey, he should have just stayed out of the ring. I mean damn!

I was referring to the Mark Dacascos comment  (but it's not important) lol

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 8/29/2020 at 11:16 PM, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

For fuck's sake, Mickey... just retire already, you look embarrassing.

 

On 9/2/2020 at 2:29 PM, mpm74 said:

LOL!! He's looked embarrassing for the last 20 years. 

"It's all Robert DeNiro's fault that I look like this! I'm going to reveal some devastating secrets about him soon... right after I get another chihuahua."

[mpm74]

Trailer has been released: 

 

[laagi]

Oh boy... I wished I could Take Back the 83 minutes this movie stole from me. But alright trying to stay fair here.

Obviously after a first sighting of the trailer I was already worried but hey what could go wrong with a revenge flick starring Michael Jai White, well honestly a lot.

I'm really surprised that some websites; claiming to be a source for martial arts or action cinema, gave this rave reviews. Especially applauding the "dramatic" approach to the serious topic of sex trafficking.

I'm not sure what they were trying to achieve here. Maybe MJW just wanted to put the spotlight on his wife Gillian Iliana Waters. Well that's what the movie basically does. MJW got exactly one brief scene to show his signature kick and to make matters worse it's poorly edited. Unfortunately like a lot of the movie as well.

Most of the time we're stuck with conversations. Ain't nothing wrong with that but it requires actors to carry these and give them a certain weight. I do have outmost respect for MJW as a Martial Artist but as an actor here he's just bad, plain and simple. Actually his wife outshines him in every scene they share.

Now there is some bloody action but again I'm not sure how much of a MA background GIW has but everything is so badly and quickly edited you can't really tell.

Last but not least we got another selling point in the presence of Mickey Rourke. I don't know what he's been up to lately but he looks bad... I mean really bad! He's delivering his lines as one would expect for a paycheck.

Overall this proves once more a great Martial Artist doesn't necessarily make a great actor. Or in other words without the right direction or talent behind the camera even a guy like MJW can be made look bad. Not recommended!

[One Armed Boxer]

This was absolute trash. I gave it the full review treatment over at COF, check it out below - 

https://cityonfire.com/take-back-2021-review-gillian-white-michael-jai-white-mickey-rourke-james-russo/

On 8/29/2020 at 3:49 AM, mpm74 said:

LOL! I wonder if those "on fire cars" are even in the movie. If they are, we know where the budget went.

They're not, and I'm not sure this movie even had a budget after watching it!

On 4/1/2021 at 6:54 AM, laagi said:

Last but not least we got another selling point in the presence of Mickey Rourke. I don't know what he's been up to lately but he looks bad... I mean really bad! He's delivering his lines as one would expect for a paycheck.

I've been clamoring to reply to your comment as we actually watched this at the same time, but since our version was the Shout screener tied to the U.S. release (out on June 18th for anyone that wants to torture themselves!), there was an embargo on posting reviews until a week before release. When you review enough, you come to understand that any request to hold off on posting reviews to as close to the release date as possible is a sure sign we have a clunker on our hands!

Completely agree with all of your comments. Rourke was actually the highlight here, since his performance was so bizarre and lazy that the only time I felt 'Take Back' became mildly interesting was when he was onscreen. The dialogue between him and Jai White's daughter is hilarious, and that final stream of mumbling in the desert was something else.

 

[laagi]

@One Armed Boxer glad you enjoyed it as much as I did

Shame you didn't get MJW for an interview to promote this masterpiece.

Tell me about Mickey... His whole presence in the movie was surreal to say the very least. Wouldn't be surprised if he was under the influence.

And while I'm not promoting it. For anyone eager to still watch this garbage you might consider putting yourself in a mildly toxic state before indulging yourself.

BTW, this kind of got me thinking what was the last movie with MJW that I or anyone would consider entertaining? Eversince Blood & Bone and Undisputed it gotten real quiet around the man. The Martial Arts talent is certainly and hopefully still there.

Edited June 11, 2021 by laagi

[One Armed Boxer]

13 hours ago, laagi said:

BTW, this kind of got me thinking what was the last movie with MJW that I or anyone would consider entertaining? Eversince Blood & Bone and Undisputed it gotten real quiet around the man. The Martial Arts talent is certainly and hopefully still there.

The guy definitely cranks out more crap than quality.  For me his most entertaining roles in the last decade have been his supporting ones where he plays more of a bad guy - stuff like 'Skin Trade',  'Accident Man', and 'Triple Threat'.

I know he's also headlined some flicks that seem to have their fans, the likes of first 2 'Never Back Down' sequels and 'The Hard Way', but personally I haven't seen them.

Like you @laagi I think the top 3 must-see Michael Jai White flicks will always be 'Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing', 'Blood and Bone', and 'Black Dynamite'.

[ShaOW!linDude]

On 6/11/2021 at 7:20 AM, laagi said:

Eversince Blood & Bone and Undisputed it gotten real quiet around the man. The Martial Arts talent is certainly and hopefully still there.

You might enjoy MJW in Falcon Rising. Solid MA throughout for the most part, and I personally enjoyed the finale.

[laagi]

1 hour ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

You might enjoy MJW in Falcon Rising. Solid MA throughout for the most part, and I personally enjoyed the finale.

Pretty sure I already watched that one. But apparently it didn't really stick with me. The only one I'm missing is Black Dynamite which all things considered seem to be one of his better efforts. I'll seek this out next after digesting this garbage.

Edited June 12, 2021 by laagi

[Kwok Choi]

Black Dynamite is a spoof and homage to "Blaxploitation" movies. If this is your thing then fine, if not look for another title personally I like Blood and Bone and Undisputed ll. I think Falcon Rising is okay. It wasn't a waste of time for me.

[laagi]

16 hours ago, Kwok Choi said:

Black Dynamite is a spoof and homage to "Blaxploitation" movies. If this is your thing then fine, if not look for another title personally I like Blood and Bone and Undisputed ll. I think Falcon Rising is okay. It wasn't a waste of time for me.

I think most will agree that Blood and Bone was probably his best (leading man) effort to this date. Also it had some amazing fights. Especially the one in the prison bathroom. Re-watched countless times!

Edited June 13, 2021 by laagi

[AlbertV]

I finally saw the film and yes, it was disappointing to say the least, but keeping an open mind, I did think its intention was clear. TBH, given the right projects and not anything like this, I see potential for Gillian White as a female action hero (she should give a shot at projects away from MJW to help with that). Oh and MJW is also her martial arts trainer IRL. Mickey Rourke playing with his dogs and his speech to Paul Sloan, where it looks like he could have looked at from across a table only to see Sloan at the door (social distancing folks), it looked so out of place. And don't get me started on the finale. 

Rourke played the main villain in this year's Adverse (released in March) and he did a much better job there as a mastermind than he does here. It was like opposite sides of the spectrum.