A very feeble cross between a kung fu film and a blaxploitation movie, aimed squarely in the middle of both markets and yet failing as a vehicle for each genre. This is a Filipino-shot movie with the Philippines standing in for Hong Kong, directed by old hand Cirio H. Santiago. Believe it or not, I'm a fan of Santiago's movies – call me a masochist if you will – but even I'll be the first to admit this is one of his worst efforts.
The problem is that the film is boring, despite best efforts otherwise. The plot is slim and of the standard revenge format, but most of the production values are terrible. The fight choreography is very poor and there never appears to be any genuine skill on the part of most of the performers. In particular, Jeannie Bell is terrible, completely failing to cut it as both a fighter and a leading actress; it's painfully obvious that her career background is as a model. Best of the actors is Stan Shaw, later a Hollywood mainstay, who's a pleasure to watch whenever he's on screen.
Unfortunately, TNT JACKSON has to be considered a failure at the end of it all purely because it's so badly made. Sure, there are a handful of decent scenes in here, and one or two scenes that are memorable for all the wrong reasons, but it's not enough to make this come close to resembling a decent movie in any way, shape or form.
The problem is that the film is boring, despite best efforts otherwise. The plot is slim and of the standard revenge format, but most of the production values are terrible. The fight choreography is very poor and there never appears to be any genuine skill on the part of most of the performers. In particular, Jeannie Bell is terrible, completely failing to cut it as both a fighter and a leading actress; it's painfully obvious that her career background is as a model. Best of the actors is Stan Shaw, later a Hollywood mainstay, who's a pleasure to watch whenever he's on screen.
Unfortunately, TNT JACKSON has to be considered a failure at the end of it all purely because it's so badly made. Sure, there are a handful of decent scenes in here, and one or two scenes that are memorable for all the wrong reasons, but it's not enough to make this come close to resembling a decent movie in any way, shape or form.