The Outlaw Johnny Black (2023) - Official Teaser Trailer

 The official teaser trailer for The Outlaw Johnny Black dropped today! Michael Jai White wrote and stars in this action comedy, brought to us by the people behind Black Dynamite (2009)! Here is the synopsis:

Hell-bent on avenging the death of his father, Johnny Black vows to gun down Brett Clayton and becomes a wanted man in the process. He goes into hiding, posing as a preacher in a small mining town that's been taken over by a notorious Land Baron.

I first heard of this movie seemingly years ago on Michael Jai White's Instagram. I remember him saying it was going to be more of a family film, at the time. I'm cool with that, as long as we see Michael kicking butt, as only he can, in it! The Outlaw Johnny Black comes out, only in theaters, on September 15, 2023. Can't wait to see this one!

 

MR-9: Do or Die - Teaser Trailer (2023)

 Check out the trailer for MR-9: Do or Die, an action movie from Bangladesh starring ABM Sumon, Michael Jai White, Niko Foster, Frank Grillo, Sakshi Pradhan, Oleg Prudius (formerly known as WWE wrestler Vladimir Kozlov), and Dalip Singh (formerly known as The Great Khali in WWE). Here is the synopsis (taken from the YouTube description):

Based on the highly popular Bangladeshi spy novel series Masud Rana. With a code name of MR-9 (ABM SUMON) is a very highly skilled and veteran spy for the BCI, with a muddled past, he is chosen to join forces with an elite group of International Espionage Agents, set up by the CIA operatives Duke (Michael Jai White) and Taylor (Niko Foster) for a joint operation, including an Indian spy Devi (Sakshi Pradhan) in the mix. Together they race against the clock with the mission to stop an international terrorist attack targeted for Las Vegas, organized by RNR, a high tech corporation run by Roman Ross (Frank Grillo) and his insidious plan to change the current world order.

I don't know, I think this movie looks pretty good! Gives me James Bond vibes (I am a Daniel Craig James Bond fan). I really want to see this one! I hope it's as good as the teaser trailer makes it out to be! MR-9: Do or Die comes out during Eid al-Adha (which is June 28-30, 2023).

Here is the link if it doesn't play on this post: MR-9: Do or Die Teaser Trailer

 

Blood And Bone (2009) - A Review

 

This movie is so good!

Blood And Bone is a martial arts action movie released in the United States in 2009 and stars Michael Jai White, Eamonn Walker, Dante Basco, Nona Gaye, Michelle Belegrin, Bob Sapp, Dick Anthony Williams, Ron Yuan, Julian Sands, and Matt Mullins. It was directed by Ben Ramsey, with fight choreography by J.J. Perry and Michael Jai White.

Michael Jai White as Bone. He is a good guy you do not want to mess with.

In Blood And Bone, Michael Jai White plays Bone, a man just released from prison looking for a place to live in Los Angeles. He finds an apartment run by Tamara (played by Nona Gaye), who rents out a room for him there... as long as he doesn't bring any trouble there. Tamara takes care of 'abandoned' children at her apartment, including a young boy named Jared. Bone does look for trouble, though. He wants to get into the underground fighting circuit in L.A.

Bone becomes friends with Pinball (played by Dante Basco), a local fight promoter. He also meets James (played by Eamonn Walker), a local crime boss and fight manager. Bone is especially interested in James' girlfriend, Angela (played by Michelle Belegrin), which James does not like. Eventually, Bone becomes a sensation, using his martial arts skills to dominantly win his fights.

James wants Bone to fight for him, and he wants him to face the top underground fighter in the world, "Pretty Boy" Price (played by Matt Mullins). James wants to use this fight to elevate his ranking in the Consortium, the shady organization running the underground fighting circuit. We find out Bone is not fighting for fame or money, but to keep a promise. Will fighting for James end up making Bone break his promise...?

Eamonn Walker (left) as James. He is one bad dude. Ron Yuan plays his lackey.

Blood And Bone is one of those movies I've read is really good, but I have never been able to watch it. I finally found it on American streaming site Tubi (as of this review), so I got to see if it lived up to the hype. It did! In fact, it more than lived up to hype. I loved this movie! Not only is the action good, but so are the characters and the story. It goes a little deeper than just an underground fighting tournament movie. We see the street life, we see good people trying to make it in a tough world, we see race and class issues, and we see the best and worst of humanity in this movie.

Michael Jai White plays Bone as a stoic, disciplined man doing what he has to do to keep a promise. Eamonn Walker, as James, is also stoic (to a certain extent) and disciplined (he doesn't use bad language), but is also very narcissistic. Bone is genuine in his personality and motives, while James is all show. Dante Basco as Pinball brings a lot of the humor in the movie, and man can he talk! Nona Gaye gives an understated performance as Tamara. Michelle Belegrin as Angela Soto is a sight to behold, but she plays a very tragic character. You feel something for the characters in this movie, and that's a good thing.

The fight scenes in Blood And Bone are excellent!

Blood And Bone has a lot of exciting, hard-hitting fights. Michael Jai White is awesome in this. Not only does he do some impressive high-flying kicks, but he also does some submission work. The movie starts out with Bone being attacked in prison, and in this fight scene we see that Bone does not play around in fights! Of course, the best fight in the movie is when Bone fights 'Pretty Boy' Price. Really good choreography here, and Matt Mullins is an awesome martial artist. He is another guy that should be in more movies (I loved him in Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, an underrated TV show).

There are a lot of martial artist/fighter cameos in this movie! Kimbo Slice, Bob Sapp, Ernest 'The Cat' Miller, Maurice Smith, Erik Betts, Gina Carano, Bob Wall, Fumio Demura, and Gene LeBell (among many others) all make appearances. Watch out for them!

As you can imagine, I highly recommend Blood And Bone. This movie is really good. In fact, I would recommend it to people who are not martial arts movie fans, too. The plot may be the 'basic' tournament fighting story, but there is a lot more to it. Even though the movie is a bit dark and gritty, it is actually very uplifting and inspirational. Plus, the action is excellent! Michael Jai White is a national treasure, and he deserves to be a huge action star. Check Blood And Bone out, you won't regret it!

Reviewed by David Williams

Accident Man (2018) - A Review

 

Accident Man is a fun ride with lots of action!

Accident Man is an action/thriller/comedy movie released in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2018. It stars Scott Adkins, Ray Stevenson, David Paymer, Michael Jai White, Ray Park, Amy Johnston, Perry Benson, Ross O'Hennessy, and Ashley Greene. Accident Man was co-written and produced by Scott Adkins, with Jesse V. Johnson directing and Tim Man choreographing the action. Accident Man is based on the comic strip by Pat Mills and Tony Skinner. 

Scott Adkins as Mike Fallon, the Accident Man.

In Accident Man, Scott Adkins plays Mike Fallon, an assassin who makes the targets of his kills look like they died in an accident. He frequents a pub called the Oasis, where other assassins hang out and they receive their assignments. The Oasis is run by Big Ray, a retired assassin and all of the assassins' mentor. The other assassins who come here are Carnage Cliff (played by Ross O'Hennessy) a big brute of a guy who kills his targets with an axe; Poison Pete (played by Stephen Donald), whose method of killing is self explanatory; Mac (played by Ray Park) and Mick (played by Michael Jai White) military special Ops assassins who make their targets' deaths look like they were victims of street crime; Finicky Fred (played by Perry Benson) who comes up with weird ways and weapons to kill his targets; and Jane The Ripper (played by Amy Johnston), an assassin who seduces her targets before killing them with her sword (it is rumored she has a collection of her victims' 'manhood' but the other assassins are too afraid to find out if it is true). They all get along, for the most part, until...

Mike finds out his ex-girlfriend has been murdered, and when he looks into it, the way she died seems very familiar (let's just say, he is friendly with the killers). With the help of the girlfriend of his ex, Charlie (played by Ashley Greene), Mike goes after who he knows is responsible. With each battle, he gets more information that leads to the person who ordered the hit, and he is determined to make that person pay!

Mike Fallon can more than handle any opponent that comes his way.

It has taken a while, but I finally watched Accident Man! I didn't really have any expectations for this movie; I thought it could end up great or it could disappoint me. Lucky for me, it ended up great! Accident Man is full of interesting characters, some dark comedy, and awesome fight scenes! What more could you want in an action movie? The story moves at a rapid pace, and it is never boring. The dialogue is good, too. Being shady people, most everyone in Accident Man uses very salty language. Scott Adkins is great in his role as Mike Fallon; he is an antihero, but even he has his limits. He just wants to find and kill the person who ordered the hit on the love of his life. How can you not root for him? Of course, Michael Jai White kills it in his role, but more on the acting side of things. He just performs his lines so naturally. He really should be a bigger star. It was great to see David Paymer in this movie. I would never expect to see him in a movie like this! He is pretty funny in this, too.

The fight scenes in Accident Man are so good!

But what about the action? Well, the action in Accident Man rocks! Scott Adkins has exciting fights with most everyone in this movie. Scott throws some awesome kicks in this! In the first fight scene, Mike Fallon fights some guys in a bar who are harassing a woman. Here we learn how brutally ruthless he is as a fighter, because he beats them up bad, breaking their bones in the process. I liked the fight scene where an assassin on a motorcycle attempts to kill Mike. This scene was full of Hong Kong cinema homages, from the assassin wearing yellow and black (like Bruce Lee in Game Of Death, 1978), to Mike Fallon using Richard Norton's famous quote ("Painful?"), to Mike Fallon doing an absolutely wild kick that Jackie Chan did in Wheels On Meals (1984). Great stuff! Scott Adkins takes on Ray Park (Darth Maul and Toad himself) and Michael Jai White (Spawn and Black Dynamite himself) at the same time. Great fight scene, and Ray Park does some awesome moves in this one. Scott takes on Amy Johnston in a hard-hitting fight, that is full of sexual tension. Amy Johnston is an awesome fighter, and she holds her own against Scott in their fight. Hopefully we see more of her on the big screen! The fight scenes are fast, hard-hitting, and exciting. Very Hong Kong-style, which I appreciate. Scott Adkins is the man in this movie.

As you can guess, I highly recommend watching Accident Man. If you are looking for a fun, action-packed movie, this is it! Mike Fallon is such an interesting character, that I hope Accident Man continues as a film series. There is so much they can do with this world. Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday was released in 2022, so it has continued so far (and I've read that it is really good). Scott Adkins is such an underrated action star. He should be proud of what he, Tim Man, and Jesse V. Johnson accomplished with Accident Man. Watch it! Now!

Reviewed by David Williams

As Good as Dead (2022) - Official Trailer

 Check out the trailer for As Good As Dead, the latest movie starring (and written by) Michael Jai White.  Here is the synopsis:

Bryant (Michael Jai White), a man with a mysterious past moves to a small Mexican border-town to start over and live the simple life. While there, he reluctantly befriends a troubled local teen who has recently lost his mother and is being recruited by the local street gang. Bryant keeps the boy on the straight and narrow by introducing him to martial arts and taking on the role of mentor, teacher and father-figure. As the story unfolds we learn that Bryant is much more than a man who moved to Mexico to live the simple life. Bryant is running from a complex, violent past that he believes he left behind. As his past catches up with him, he is forced into a life and death struggle to clear his name, save the boy and get back all that he left behind.

This movie looks pretty interesting to me! I've got to check it out! As Good As Dead premieres in theaters and on digital December 16, 2022 (TOMORROW, as of this posting).

 

Triple Threat (2019) - A Review

 

Look at the cast of this movie!

Triple Threat is an American/Chinese/Thai/French action movie released in 2019. It stars Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin, Celina Jade, Michael Bisping, and Michael Wong. The movie was directed by Jesse V. Johnson, with action/fight choreography by Johnson as well.

In Triple Threat, Payu (played by Tony Jaa) and Long Fei (played by Tiger Chen), both ex-Special Forces, help a mercenary group free prisoners in a Thailand village on a humanitarian mission. Or so they think. This group, led by Devereaux (played by Michael Jai White), includes Mook (played by Jeeja Yanin), Joey (played by Michael Bisping), Steiner (played by Ron Smoorenburg), and Dom (played by Dominique Vandenburg), are not good people. In actuality, they are there to free their leader, Collins (played by Scott Adkins) only. A lot of innocent people die in this mission, including Jaka's (played by Iko Uwais) wife. Jaka fights back, but is defeated early on.

After Collins is free, the mercenary crew rig the prison to explode, leaving Payu and Long Fei for dead. Time passes, and Jaka is on a quest for revenge. He encounters Payu and Long Fei in an underground fighting tournament. All three of them decide to team up to find the mercenary group and seek revenge on them. When it seems they are all on the same page, Jaka seemingly betrays them the next day! The mercenary group are on another mission. A mysterious crime boss wants wealthy philanthropist Tian Xiao Xian (played by Celina Jade) dead. The mercenary crew find out from Jaka that Payu and Long Fei are still alive, and immediately search for them to eliminate them. From there, a violent game of cat and mouse commences, with Payu, Long Fei, and Xiao Xian constantly on the run with Jaka pulling the strings.

The cast of Triple Threat is amazing, but they are let down by the story. The story is a bit lackluster, I must say. The heroes aren't really given much of a personality. Iko Uwais as Jaka wants revenge for the death of his wife, but is not trustworthy throughout the movie. Thankfully Tiger Chen and, especially Tony Jaa are likable, so you root for them to overcome the odds. Only Collins and Deveraux have personalities on the villain side. Collins is just a raging a-hole, and Deveraux is a cocky jerk (with good taste in bootleg movies). Michael Jai White is amazing as Deveraux. He can talk some mean crap!

The fight scenes are good, but they are not amazing. When you see all these amazing martial artists in a movie together, you expect to see some incredible fights. As I said, the fights are good. They could have done so much more! I have read that they only had thirteen days to shoot (either the whole movie or just the fight scenes), so I can forgive the lack of amazing fights. Iko Uwais has a nice short fight with Tony Jaa, and then with Tiger Chen. Tony Jaa's fight with Ron Smoorenburg (the kicker from Who Am I) was pretty cool. Iko Uwais vs. Michael Jai White was good too, but it was kind of ruined by the constant inter-cutting with another fight scene. The final fight is pretty good, too. Wish it could've went longer. Jeeja Yanin was totally underutilized in this, though! I wanted to see more of her in this setting. 

So, should you see this? I would say yes, if you want to see all these martial arts superstars in a movie together. The plot is basic, yet kind of convoluted. It visually looks good, too. There is a lot of gunplay in this, if you like that kind of action. I just hope all these actors come together in a movie again, and the story and fighting action live up to their talents. I don't hate this movie, I'm just disappointed in it.

The Blu-Ray I watched for this review.

Back of the slip case.

Blu-Ray disc. No cool artwork or designs, unfortunately.

Reviewed by David Williams

Black Dynamite (2009) - A Review

 

This movie is ridiculous, in a good way!

Black Dynamite is an American action comedy movie released in 2009. It is a parody of the blaxploitation films of the 1970's. Black Dynamite stars Michael Jai White, Salli Elise Richardson-Whitfield, Tommy Davidson, Kym Whitley, and Kevin Chapman among many other amazing African American actors. Scott Sanders wrote (along with Michael Jai White and Byron Minns) and directed the movie, while Ron Yuan is the action director. 

Michael Jai White plays Black Dynamite, a strong, proud black man who is a former CIA agent and a Vietnam War veteran. Dynamite's younger brother gets killed by a mysterious organization at the start of the movie. Black Dynamite finds out and vows to avenge his death. Black Dynamite's former CIA partner, O'Leary (played by Chapman) reinstates Dynamite into the CIA to avoid him leaving the streets soaked in blood. As Dynamite investigates his brother's murder, he teams up with his friends and militant Black power activists to clean up the streets, as heroin has become a problem in the city. This all leads to Black Dynamite and crew figuring out what the real plan of this evil organization is, and just who is in charge of it all (and it is a doozy of a reveal)!

DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!

Black Dynamite is one funny movie! It parodies those classic blaxploitation flicks perfectly. You see continuity errors, flubbed lines, boom mics in the shot, accidental full contact hits during fight scenes, and more. The plot is humorous as well! The sinister plot that Black Dynamite uncovers is just so ridiculous (in a good way). The characters are very funny, and it is so cool to see all these cameos.

DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!

The man.

Michael Jai White is amazing as Black Dynamite! He gets to be a powerful, strong, hero who has great fashion sense, martial arts skills, and a way with the ladies. One of the best scenes is when he is flirting with Gloria Gray (played by Richardson-Whitfield). One of the best lines I've ever heard in a movie! We see that Black Dynamite cares about his community, and cares about orphans. His treatment of women, though... is not so good. He has female allies, but he is actually kind of domineering towards them. I guess that's how it was back then... We see his treatment of women change throughout the movie, though. Progress!

DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!

It was great to see Tommy Davidson in this, as well as the other cameos!

 As this movie takes place in the 70s, there is a lot of potentially offensive material in it. There are a lot of racial stereotypes and racial jokes in it. The n-word is used in this movie as well. There is a lot of unnecessary gratuitous nudity (female and male). There is a rather graphically animated sex scene. Still, the racial stuff isn't done in a hateful way, it is done in a way to make fun of it. It also makes you realize how far we've come when dealing with race relations, and how far we still need to go.

DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!

The fight scenes in Black Dynamite are actually very good! I would say they are better than the fight scenes in the blaxploitation movies back then! Michael Jai White gets to show off his skills in this one. The choreography is really good! My favorite fight scenes are spoilers, but just know that these surprise fights rock! Who knew a certain political figure had such high level martial art skills?

DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!

Should you watch Black Dynamite? I would say yes! It has a ton of laughs, great action, and style for days. I really hope there is a sequel, Black Dynamite is a character that needs to be in more movies!

Reviewed by David Williams

The Commando Trailer, Starring Michael Jai White & Mickey Rourke

 Here is the trailer for The Commando, starring Michael Jai White and Mickey Rourke! Michael Jai White is the man, and it will be very interesting to see Mickey Rourke in this type of role. Can't wait to see this!