Quartile rating: 4.5/10 · 1 rating
Every six years, an ancient order of jiu-jitsu fighters joins forces to battle a vicious race of alien invaders. But when a celebrated war hero goes down in defeat, the fate of the planet and mankind hangs in the balance.
Jiu Jitsu is a low-budget action film with a wildly absurd premise — ancient fighters vs. alien invaders — that sounds more distinctive than it plays out. The plot is threadbare and incoherent, barely holding together scene to scene, earning a 1. Acting is serviceable at best, with Nicolas Cage delivering his trademark eccentricity but the rest of the cast offering little. Cinematography is functional but marred by shaky-cam overuse and murky action sequences. Despite the comic-book origins and alien-martial-arts mashup concept, the execution is generic and derivative of both low-budget sci-fi and direct-to-video action films, so Novelty doesn't stand out. The ending is rushed and unsatisfying, failing to deliver any meaningful payoff to an already thin story.