Episode 181 - Jiu Shitsu

We had REALLY high hopes for our two movies this time on the podcast, but to say that they both weren't winners would be a HUGE understatement. Both films are directed by Dimitri Logothetis and feature enormous dudes beating the crap out of each other. We start off with 2018's "Kickboxer: Retaliation" which continues the story that started with Jean-Claude Van Damme's hit film from 1989. VanDamme even reprises his role and serves as a mentor to the film's lead, played by Alain Moussi. It tells the story of an MMA fighter who goes to a Thailand prison where he is groomed to fight Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who played the Mountain, in Game of Thrones. There's other famous faces around, including Christopher Lambert, Mike Tyson and many high-level MMA fighters. It is a lot of dumb fun with some fantastic action set-pieces and a fairly predictable storyline. The second film is where the real trouble begins. We had seen the trailer for 2020's "Jiu Jitsu" and it looked completely amazing! Also featuring Alain Moussi in the lead, it had Tony Jaa, Frank Grillo and Nicolas Cage!!! How could this thing be bad!?!? Well, it turns out that it could be bad in every single way imaginable. With a story that borrows liberally from "Predator" we have a team of elite fighters traveling to fight an alien who comes to Earth to compete against our best in combat to the death. It is dumb, confusing and badly assembled. Really just a huge step down from the first film.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.