Londoner Shaina West has an interesting backstory. After getting injured in a motorcycle accident, finding life at a low ebb. She turned it around by taking up martial arts and became a stuntwoman.
Jade is an attempt to showcase Shaina West as an action star. The film is directed by James Bamford, himself a former stuntman and stunt coordinator.
The anime style opening credits really riffs on West's nickname as The Samurider. She plays the titled character Jade whose afro wig is bigger than her waist.
Jade sports a cockney accent and is abducted by some goons sent by gangster Tork (Mickey Rourke.) He wants a hard drive and has already killed Jade's brother.
She will be next but Jade manages to escape after a Brad Pitt lookalike gets careless.
The story is a third rate low budget Robert Rodriguez/Tarantino noirish Sin City type of action thriller, with some cartoonish humour.
It benefits from plenty of action scenes. Unfortunately some of them are badly staged with too many gimmicks. Why does Jade shoot a baddie repeatedly when she could had sliced him in half with a Samurai sword?
The ending makes little sense. It leads to a big boss fight but then leaves the villain intact with some redundant twists.
There is scope for more Jade movies but it will need to be better directed. West also needs to become a stronger actress.
