Agent Jade Black is a 2020 action film about female operative tasked with capturing a rogue former agent before she can unleash a biological weapon.
Jade Black (Katie Burgess) is a young woman trained as a covert assassin in a secret organization. She’s tough as nails and of course, a bit of a rebel with a reputation. Either way, her latest assignment is to stop a new threat that targets wealthy types wrapped up in human trafficking, seeing their end with a new virus strain that could lead to all kinds of horror. Working with a scientist named Dr. Concotilli (Greg Williams), responsible for manufacturing the weapon, she’s eventually captured by mastermind Damien Hawthorne (Luke Wyckoff), who, much to Jade’s shock, is partnered with Elle (Connie Franklin), a former fellow agent gone rogue. Can Jade stop the plot and save world?
Shoestring budgets and low production value are a mainstay of movies like these, cheaply made and quickly distributed to turn a buck in making more. Director Terry Spears does what he can in making the most of what’s given, putting together a small but earnest little story that looks and feels like a late night TV movie shot on a high quality handphone. He relies heavily on Burgess, cast as the trope-ish runway model-looking super agent ensnared in a mess of global implications that leave he the only one able to make things right.
With ambitions set high, the film tries to emulate many larger studio titles in the genre, but of course, limited by just about everything associated with the film, can’t compete, keeping this a low simmer event that has a good story to tell but no real presence giving it any significance. The cast all treat it like it’s much bigger than it is, taking it all very seriously, which sure, deserves some credit, but given the nature of the production, feels like a missed opportunity in having a little more fun with the age-old themes at play.
Burgess, who has plenty of appeal, isn’t all that convincing as an operative meant to be trained as Black surely is, doing what she can to be an secret agent in high heels. Burgess throws herself into the part and is just about every scene, but doesn’t have the impact the part demands, despite her valiant efforts. Then there’s Franklin, diving head first into the over-the-top good-turned-bad gal, gleefully seeing the potential in her role to loosen things up.
While there is some fun in plot, which feels like a leftover from an old James Bond film, Agent Jade Black swims in shallow waters, holding its own in a landscape awash in the like but unable to elevate itself beyond the bland. That said, the digital shelves are loaded with much worse and for those who enjoy escapism on a budget, this will do what it intends.