Jiu Jitsu (2020) Review
Don’t go see Jiu Jitsu if you are going in expecting any of the following: cohesive narrative structure, character arcs, a story that is unique in any meaningful way, believable human dialogue or a film any random person chosen from a crowd would describe as “good.” Do go see Jiu Jitsu if you enjoy: stunningly well shot fight choreography, AAA video game production values (a compliment, to be clear), a million nameless henchmen dispatched in increasingly interesting ways, and a primary antagonist that is paradoxically devoid of any discernible motivation or basic characterization…but so darn cool and bad-ass with a sword and other magical weapons he conjures from thin air that you forget he exists only to punch and be punched. Jiu Jitsu is stunningly dumb and leans into its own absurdity. Director Demetri Logothetis is on to something. The film creates what I will describe as a new action sub-genre: action fiction. I believe it’s being marketed as “action science fiction” (I say believe as I never watched the trailer) but there isn’t a single drop of meaningfully thought out science to be found in this film. It doesn’t need it. What it does have is the magic of Nic Cage at peak Nic Cage even if all his fight scenes have jarringly quick cuts or needlessly wide shots designed to mask the fact that Cage can no longer do action. It’s super noticeable as all other fight scenes lack the rapid cuts. You don’t need to cut around Tony Jaa. I recommend Jiu Jitsu as a sort-of throwback to a time when all an action movie needed was a star for the poster and enough story to justify the fights. Check and Check.
Jiu Jitsu receives a score of 4.5/10 for general audiences and a 7/10 if you want to turn you brain off and watch people getting kicked in the face by aliens that for unknowable reasons practice planet earth Karate.