Jiu Jitsu (film)

Jiu Jitsu is a 2020 American science fiction martial arts film directed and co-written by Dimitri Logothetis and starring Alain Moussi, Frank Grillo, JuJu Chan, Tony Jaa and Nicolas Cage.[3][4][5] It is based on the 2017 comic book of the same name by Logothetis and Jim McGrath.[6][7][8][9]

Jiu Jitsu
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDimitri Logothetis
Produced by
  • Martin Barab
  • Chris Economides
Screenplay by
  • Dimitri Logothetis
  • James McGrath
Based on
Jiu Jitsu
by
  • Dimitri Logothetis
  • Jim McGrath
Starring
Music byMocean Worker
CinematographyGerardo Madrazo
Edited byDanny McDonald
Production
company
Distributed byThe Avenue Entertainment
Release date
  • November 20, 2020 (2020-11-20) (United States)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[1]
Box office $72,493[2]

Plot

In a jungle of Burma, Jake is running away from flying stars. He ends up on an oceanside cliff, where he is hit by the stars and falls into the ocean, hitting his head and blacking out.

Wylie sees Jake in the water and he is left in the care of two Burmese fishers. They stitch up the cuts Jake sustained from the shurikens and bring him to a nearby military outpost assuming that's where he came from originally. After a foreboding miscommunication between an inexperienced translator and the fisherwoman, Jake is left at the outpost and starts to come to. Puzzled by words of a comet that comes every 6 years and a hole in a temple opening, the operatives get to work on figuring out where Jake came from. A talented Intelligence Officer, Myra tries to interrogate Jake but it appears he has no recollection of the events which led to him ending up in the water where he was found.

After a fight sequence Myra hits Jake with a truth serum, but this has little impact on what he divulges. She decides that it's more likely than not that he actually doesn't remember, but just as this is being discussed with other operatives, Keung begins to work his way through the base, besting fist and gun alike with advanced Jiu Jitsu. As man after man in balaclavas and fatigue uniform is laid flat by an unphased Keung, the noises of gunfire and feet making contact with chests, heads and the like alert Myra and the others that something is indeed up. After more fighting, Keung approaches Jake who he recognizes with a handclasp that appears to come naturally to Jake. "We gotta go" is the only direction Keung has time to offer, and Jake accepts the first opportunity to leave behind those who interrogated and beat him. While we had seen a glimpse of it in the previous fighting, their departure from the base confirms that Jake, too, is skilled in the art of using his limbs to prevent others from doing the same.

Cast

Production

In March 2019, it was announced that Cage and Alain Moussi were cast in the film.[12][13][14][15]

Filming occurred in June 2019 partially in Cyprus and included a glimpse of ancient temples of Bagan in Burma.[16]

Release

Jiu Jitsu was released by The Avenue Entertainment on November 20, 2020.[17] In its debut weekend, the film was the eighth-most rented title on Apple TV and ninth on FandangoNow.[1]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Jiu Jitsu pits an ancient order of warriors against an alien invasion -- yet despite that appealingly bizarre premise and a cast that includes Nicolas Cage and Tony Jaa, it's the audience that loses."[18] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 28 out of 100, based on reviews from 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[19]

Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com awarded the film one and a half stars.[20] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review and wrote that it "has all the barely-motivated action and sci-fi trappings of a middling videogame and, well, at least a little of the dramatic value."[21] Tambay Obenson of IndieWire graded the film a D.[22] Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media awarded the film two stars out of five.[23] Steven Scaife of Slant Magazine awarded the film one and a half stars out of four.[24] Chris Bumbray of JoBlo.com awarded the film with a 5 out of 10.[25]

Fortress of Solitude praised the film describing it as: "An action-packed, 90s-style camp film that’s all about entertainment".[26] Also Flyckering Myth had a positive reaction, with Tom Joliffe writing that: "With a stellar cast, non-stop fights and stylish direction this proves to be an enjoyable throwback that will please genre fans".[27] Polygon defined the film: "extremely satisfying".[28] Dan Jackson of Thrillist gave the film a positive review and wrote "Luckily, Jiu Jitsu gets the most important aspects of a junky movie like this right."[29]

Darren Murray from Martial Arts Actions Cinema gave a rating of 3 out of 5.[30] Brent McKnight on Giant Freakin Robot gave a positive rating to the film.[31]

Rob Hunter from Film School Rejects promoted positively the film noting as: "[...] while it neglects to include any jiu-jitsu (more on that later) it does give viewers plenty of action beats and a few fun thrills".[32]

Kristy Puchko of IGN gave it 6 out of 10 and wrote "Jiu Jitsu feels like a deeply 2020 movie in that it is a barrage of WTF choices that hit without mercy until you either give in and go with the flow or just go mad. Or, hey, maybe both." She also questioned some of the visual design choices in the film, such as the use of animated comic book panels and the saturated color scheme.[33] J. Hurtado of Screen Anarchy gave the film a negative review, calling it "an Adderall addled mess of a film that attempts to scratch a gonzo action itch that would be better served by hitting up a playlist of stunt demo reels on YouTube."[34]

Jiu Jitsu earned $51,131 at the global office.[2]

References
  1. Brueggemann, Tom (November 23, 2020). "'The New Mutants' and 'Unhinged' Dominate VOD Charts at $5.99". IndieWire. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  2. "Jiu Jitsu (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  3. Ritman, Alex (June 18, 2019). "Nicolas Cage Sci-Fi 'Jiu Jitsu' Becomes First Film to Use New Cypriot Cash Rebate (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  4. "Nicolas Cage joins movie adaptation of 'Jiu Jitsu'". Calgary Herald. March 21, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  5. "Nicolas Cage joins movie adaptation of 'Jiu Jitsu'". Edmonton Journal. March 21, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  6. Kilday, Gregg (March 19, 2019). "Nicolas Cage to Star in Sci-Fi Martial Arts Movie 'Jiu Jitsu'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  7. Fisher, Kieran (March 22, 2019). "Nicolas Cage Will Use 'Jiu Jitsu' To Fight Aliens". Film School Rejects. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  8. Sprague, Mike (March 20, 2019). "Nicolas Cage Will Fight Aliens in Crazy Action Thriller Jiu Jitsu". MovieWeb. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  9. Hamman, Cody (March 20, 2019). "NICOLAS CAGE SIGNS ON FOR SCI-FI MARTIAL ARTS FILM JIU JITSU". JoBlo.com. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  10. Collis, Clark (March 19, 2019). "Nicolas Cage to battle fearsome alien invader in sci-fi martial arts movie Jiu Jitsu". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  11. Pedersen, Erik (June 6, 2019). "'Jiu Jitsu': Frank Grillo, Rick Yune, Tony Jaa & Others Joins Nicolas Cage Martial Arts Pic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  12. McNary, Dave (March 19, 2019). "Nicolas Cage to Star in Martial Arts Actioner 'Jiu Jitsu'". Variety. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  13. Rothberg, Suzanne (March 25, 2019). "Nicolas Cage will kick some serious ass in the new martial arts film 'Jiu-Jitsu'". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  14. Vorel, Jim (March 20, 2019). "Nic Cage to Fight Aliens with His Bare Hands in Jiu Jitsu". Paste. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  15. Beans, Freddy (March 20, 2019). "Nicolas Cage gets wrapped up in JIU JITSU". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  16. "'Nicolas Cage's wild new film trailer teases Bagan-like scape". Myanmar Mix. October 9, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  17. McNary, Dave (September 9, 2020). "Avenue Entertainment Launching With Nicolas Cage's 'Jiu Jitsu'". Variety. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  18. "Jiu Jitsu (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  19. "Jiu Jitsu Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  20. Abrams, Simon (November 20, 2020). "Jiu Jitsu". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  21. DeFore, John (November 18, 2020). "'Jiu Jitsu': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  22. Obenson, Tambay (November 20, 2020). "'Jiu Jitsu' Review: Even Nicolas Cage Can't Salvage This Half-Baked Sci-Fi Mess". IndieWire. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  23. Anderson, Jeffrey M. "Jiu Jitsu". Common Sense Media. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  24. Scaife, Steven (November 16, 2020). "Review: Jiu Jitsu Falls Short of Its Predator-Meets-Mortal Kombat Promise". Slant Magazine. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  25. Bumbray, Chris. "JIU JITSU STARRING NICOLAS CAGE (REVIEW)". JoBlo.com. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  26. "Jiu Jitsu Review – It's Nicolas Cage Crazy Fun!". Fortress of Solitude. November 15, 2020.
  27. with Tom Joliffe (November 16, 2020). "Movie Review – Jiu Jitsu (2020)". Flickering Myth.
  28. "Jiu Jitsu pits aliens against Nic Cage, and it's a killer fight". Polygon.com.
  29. Jackson, Dan (November 20, 2020). "The Nicolas Cage Sci-Fi Action Movie 'Jiu Jitsu' Is a Ridiculous Good Time". Thrillist. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  30. "MAAC Review: JIU JITSU". M.A.A.C. November 16, 2020.
  31. Brent McKnight (November 17, 2020). "Jiu Jitsu Review: Nicolas Cage Fights Aliens With Martial Arts". Giant Freakin Robot.
  32. Rob Hunter (November 16, 2020). "'Jiu Jitsu' Brings the Action But Forgets the Jiu-Jitsu". Film School Rejects.
  33. Puchko, Kristy (November 18, 2020). "Jiu Jitsu Review". IGN. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  34. J. Hurtado. "Review: JIU JITSU, or How to Ruin a Movie About Nic Cage Fighting an Alien". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
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