We all know now that at one point Jean-Claude Van Damme was in the early version of the Predator suit, but he got fired because director told him he didn't want the Predator to do kickboxing... Well it looks like someone remembered that and taught it was a good idea and wanted to make a movie out of it.
I got a mix of opinions on this movie to be honest. First of all there is some very good action. The direction could had been a bit better, i mean camera work, sound effects etc but Tony Jaa, Alain Moussi and Juju Chan are legit on screen martial artists and it show. There some very good choreography in this and even guys like Frank Grillo and Nicolas Cage manage to pull out some very cool stuff. A few special effects tough were horrendous, the kind of CGI that seem to come out of a Youtube video like Angry Joe Show. Like when done as a parody and low level youtube vid, its cool, but in a real movie, it looks so fake and pull you out of the movie. Thanksfully there is not a lot of them.
The bigger problem in my opinion is in the story and how it unfold. First act of the movie is really disjoincted and seem to not really led nowhere, it could had been presented in a much better way. I feel it only serve so we can see some kickass human on human martial arts, wich again those scenes are cool to watch, but its just hard to care much about the characters.
Now the Alien creature. Alright, so the suit is kinda cool, and im not against a kung fu Predator concept, but ultimately the whole concept seem flawed. The creature like to fight those chosen humans with honor and all, but then he has some kind of abilities that kinda defeat the entire purpose in my opinion. I think it would had worked much better if the suit just made him more resistant and he was just stronger and a better martial artist than the humans.
As for the name "Jiu Jitsu", well there is a bit of it in some fights but its mostly Muai Thai, Kung Fu and flips, and the way the movie use the term in defining the protagonist just don't make much sense.
Overall i think this movie has some cool ideas, some good action, but the screenplay really needed more work and the budget could had been a bit bigger. If i can put a little advice in there, cgi fire as low budget just do not work, definately go practical unless you need to blow up entire buildings in big productions. I mean a little bit of powder is not the most costly thing.
Still i salute the director's effort to present us some cool action with a pretty solid cast of martial artists. Its definately not the terrible movie some peoples make it to be if you are use to lower budget direct to VOD/DVD. But its not one you will remember and talk about or want a sequel like Undisputed 3 or such.
I got a mix of opinions on this movie to be honest. First of all there is some very good action. The direction could had been a bit better, i mean camera work, sound effects etc but Tony Jaa, Alain Moussi and Juju Chan are legit on screen martial artists and it show. There some very good choreography in this and even guys like Frank Grillo and Nicolas Cage manage to pull out some very cool stuff. A few special effects tough were horrendous, the kind of CGI that seem to come out of a Youtube video like Angry Joe Show. Like when done as a parody and low level youtube vid, its cool, but in a real movie, it looks so fake and pull you out of the movie. Thanksfully there is not a lot of them.
The bigger problem in my opinion is in the story and how it unfold. First act of the movie is really disjoincted and seem to not really led nowhere, it could had been presented in a much better way. I feel it only serve so we can see some kickass human on human martial arts, wich again those scenes are cool to watch, but its just hard to care much about the characters.
Now the Alien creature. Alright, so the suit is kinda cool, and im not against a kung fu Predator concept, but ultimately the whole concept seem flawed. The creature like to fight those chosen humans with honor and all, but then he has some kind of abilities that kinda defeat the entire purpose in my opinion. I think it would had worked much better if the suit just made him more resistant and he was just stronger and a better martial artist than the humans.
As for the name "Jiu Jitsu", well there is a bit of it in some fights but its mostly Muai Thai, Kung Fu and flips, and the way the movie use the term in defining the protagonist just don't make much sense.
Overall i think this movie has some cool ideas, some good action, but the screenplay really needed more work and the budget could had been a bit bigger. If i can put a little advice in there, cgi fire as low budget just do not work, definately go practical unless you need to blow up entire buildings in big productions. I mean a little bit of powder is not the most costly thing.
Still i salute the director's effort to present us some cool action with a pretty solid cast of martial artists. Its definately not the terrible movie some peoples make it to be if you are use to lower budget direct to VOD/DVD. But its not one you will remember and talk about or want a sequel like Undisputed 3 or such.
