Sometimes I watch a film and I am so enamored by the guff of the whole idea that I find myself wishing the whole affair would get remade with a bigger budget. So for this review, I find myself straddling the fact that the charm in this movie and passion are clearly on the screen. Before we move forward, I should explain this movie is definitely B-movie territory. However, sometimes I found the B-movie qualities and callouts interesting. Other times, it felt like the movie was trying to escape the very same sandbox that I found quite charming.
I mean Agent Jade Black, for me, was like watching Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi, which was the indie film that served as his breakout project. That’s about the closest I can approximate this viewing experience to. Here is a movie that seems like the springboard to larger more satisfying ideas. Much in the same way El Mariachi was retooled into his Rodriguez’s first studio feature film, Desperado. I am not saying Agent Jade Black is not entertaining, but I can totally see Katie Burgess reprising this role in a film with a larger budget. What’s there to hate about a female Jason Bourne-type sex trafficked as a child, only to grow up and hunt down the very same people responsible for the worldwide sex trafficking business? She is a very American Black Widow even.
Here’s the synopsis:
“Rescued from the international sex trade as a young girl and trained as a secret government assassin, Jade Black must go after a rouge former agent with the same background who has developed a biological weapon and plans to unleash it on the world, starting with the wealthy and powerful men behind the very same human trafficking operation that they were both rescued from years earlier.”
I recently did an interview with the star of this action flick, Katie Burgess. I learned several tidbits about the movie, including the fact that the entire film was shot on location in Oklahoma. Former stuntman turned director Terry Spears does a great job with utilizing the locations available. I for sure thought the film was shot utilizing at least a few locations from Europe in the films later half.
The entire thing is shot well enough to be oddly satisfying. I wish the filmmaker’s script allowed Kate Burgess to dig deeper into the B-movie qualities of her character. I swear, it’s like she’s the only straight man in the room during some scenes. There’s one scene where she clearly enjoys the material and it feels like the film is firing on the right cylinders. I mean, who stops partway through a rescue to fire up a cigarette and offer it to the captive? I know who, a character from the badass world of Snake Plisken. I’d really have loved to see a lot more of that in the final movie. All in all, the film is a solid experience if you’re a hardcore action fan, 80’s movie fanatic, or B-movie lover. Physical copies of Agent Jade Black are available now on pre-order at Target now and release January 7, 2020. In addition, the film is available streaming online on Tubi.
FINAL GRADE: C+
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