Trouble Man
review by Bobby Blakey
Martial Arts action icon Michael Jai White has racked up an impressive resume in front of the camera as well as taking on directing duties in numerous films. Now he is doing it once again as both director and star for his latest film Trouble Man co-starring Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Orlando Jones, Gillian White, Levy Tran, Mike Epps, Alani “La La” Anthony. Could this latest action film bring the fury of kicks and punches fans love or will it fail to land a blow?
Trouble Man follows Jaxen, a former cop turned Atlanta PI, who is hired to find missing R&B star Jahari. His investigation uncovers her disappearance is connected to a larger conspiracy, forcing him to question those around him and his own past.
I am a big fan of Michael Jai White, so if he is in it I will usually watch it. Like a lot of the action flicks that come along not all hit the mark, but often if they bring some great memorable action then it helps save the film. This latest film is a mixed bag that works in the action department but stumbles a bit in other places.
The story is pretty straight forward and reminds me of the action movies like this in the 80s and 90s which I love. White is always a great lead and brings his usual confident swag and ass kicking skills to the forefront. Where it struggles is the pacing and tone. Sometime the film is pretty serious as it juggles the action and romance, but then it stumbles into some funny moments that just don’t hit. Not sure if they were meant to be funny but it just derails the main story.
As a massive hip hop fan, I was excited to see Method Man in on the fun as well. Initially he is fine and works for the character he is playing, but in the final act it becomes almost a cartoon with him changing into a new old school
gangster that made zero sense. If they wanted to use this then he should have been using this vibe the whole film to make it mesh with the rest of the film and not come off as a silly joke.
The fights are well done and there are plenty of them. It’s no surprise that White is kicking ass like only he does and hasn’t lost a step, but it made me more pleased that he surrounded himself to people that brought it as well. Often these movies have people that just aren’t that great, or you don’t believe they could hold their own, but here some are as good as him and it elevates the sequences. The final fights of the film are well done despite being on a horrible green screen of some sort that just looks bad.
In the end the film might work for Michael Jai White fans and the hardcore martial arts film obsessed, but outside of that it will likely miss the mark for others. Decide for yourself and check out Trouble Man when it hits theaters on August 1st from Samuel Goldwyn Films.