Spades - Review

Maybe this time I will finally learn. I have said multiple times about my prejudgment of films based on the poster alone, and how much that approach has been completely unfounded for how much I end up enjoying the film. That has been the case for both the positive and the negative. In the case of Spades, it was for the positive. I was not convinced by the poster that it would be for me, but the description intrigued me enough to give it a try, and I am glad that I did. While not every aspect of this film worked for me, I overall feel like it was a really intriguing mystery that then resolves itself in an emotionally satisfying and surprisingly action packed conclusion.

Detective James Bishop (Jason Narvy) has returned from active duty a changed man. His wife is dead and his daughter is not the child she was when he left. He struggles to reintegrate with his past life, with so much changed, and so much left in his mind that lingers over him. That all gets a little worse when the string of homicides he investigates begins to seem connected, all by a familiar calling card, and also a literal card. These murders culminate in his daughter's kidnapping, leading Bishop on a more personal mission to save her, and get to the bottom of who’s behind it all.

To me, this is a film of two halves, it plays out as a mystery film with some action elements and a quite somber story of a broken veteran and his struggles with processing what he has witnessed. The second half then takes on a new style, with a lot more action, less of a mystery and a showcase of the bonds that people create while in such intense combat scenarios. There is a good transition between these two parts too, not just a flip from one side to another. Both parts contain elements of the other, but less and more. To nitpick on the introduction of this killer, I would have liked some smaller hints to them before we are fully introduced to them, but it didn’t completely remove me from the narrative.

What did remove me from the narrative at times was the technical aspects. So much of it is great, with some really strong props, costumes and camera work. Then on the other side, the colour grade is so inconsistent, having some weird looking filter on some of the outdoor scenes, or just pushing a look that doesn’t really align with the neo-noir mood. Similarly, with some of the sets, it cheapened the look of what otherwise is a very impressively crafted film. There are select scenes that seem to take place in a black box that has the necessary dressing for the space to be vaguely believable. While some of the bold and interesting lighting choices made these sets more forgivable, the highs and lows of these sets made them stand out more than they would have if the rest of them were just fine.

I was very impressed by the acting in this, with James Narvy as Bishop putting in a very strong lead performance. He doesn’t do an overly exaggerated version of a character that you could quite easily interpret more dramatically. Bishop's daughter (Maya Brattkus) was the standout for me though. She isn’t in the film for a huge portion but towards the end of the film, her inclusion becomes one that not only holds the tension but also sells the finale, carrying a lot of the emotional climax. The antagonists are a little cartoony in comparison to the more grounded or believable action hero performances put in by the main cast. They aren’t supposed to really have much redeeming qualities to them, which is forgivable when the main conflict becomes internal for Bishop, but they would have been more interesting with some depth.

I did want to touch on the action a little bit, because it was so much more than I expected from it. This film has a staggeringly low budget for how polished the fight scenes are. They are choreographed and paced really well to keep the tension building, while taking enough time to understand that it can’t just be mindless action, sprinkling in the dramatic stakes of the story. These action scenes work for both hand to hand combat, and the gunfights that are throughout. I have mentioned the props, but I think the gun props are the most impressive, with a variety of gun types, configurations and setups based on the character or the scene.

Spades does a lot with a little, and that is very exciting for the prospects of Johnny Yong Bosch as a filmmaker. They understand action, tension and the importance of a story in these films. I can see them helming a bigger budget action film that not only has more impressive set pieces, but centralises its characters to leave the viewer with something more than just a gasp. I didn’t love every element of the film, but none of the aspects that I didn’t get along with were deal breakers that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Some technical approaches were less impressive than others, which is highlighted in comparison, so with an improvement on those, I could genuinely see Spades being a main line action drama. Either way, in my opinion, this is very much worth your time, and Johnny Yong Bosch is a filmmaker that I hope is afforded the opportunity to keep creating interesting films like this, with higher budgets and even better resources to support his impressive storytelling ability.

Spades is available on VOD on Amazon now.