I gave this flick a shot because (like many people, apparently) I was suckered in by the trailer. It looked like a big goofy corny ball of kung fu / sci-fi fun. The kind of thing that you can laugh at and just have a good time watching. It was none of those things. It was a badly filmed, too self-serious mess.

So prepare to have you mind blown in an existential cavalcade of the human condition… every six years a comet passed by Earth, opening a portal in a Hindu temple in Burma. Out comes an alien who wants to pick a fight with a super secret team of jiu jitsu masters for the fate of the Earth. With the help of Nicolas Cage…

This is one of the bad movies that lives up to how bad a text synopsis of the movie sounds. It has wildly inconsistent camera work with some terrible shots, unconvincing edits, and some very bad visual FX. The martial arts on display may be performed by experts, but they are filmed and edited poorly. The alien, what with his optical camouflage, turns out to be a budget Predator in an unimaginative Power Rangers costume. The whole movie just feels bored and tired with itself and that’s exactly how it made me feel.

And it’s all wrapped around an overly serious tone that they try to pretend isn’t so serious through comic book panel transitions… and the random inclusion of Nicholas Cage and his unconvincing stunt double. Neither work as Cage just seems to have been told to do or say whatever the hell he wants since they just needed his face and name for the poster and whatever scraped together legitimacy he can bring. Don’t be fooled – the minimalist attempts at bringing the comic thunder doesn’t prevent this movie from being a dour bore.

Skip this one. It’s pretty much trash. How such good martial artists could be filmed and edited so poorly is baffling. This is some Power Rangers level of nonsense (complete with cheap rubber-suited monster).

Score: 56