Low budget but has some decent fights
Summary
Trouble Man has Michael Jai White beating up opponents on a regular basis; sadly it’s let down by the low budget where it looks cheap and the fact he never loses a fight makes things get a bit stale.
Plot: Jaxen, a former cop turned Atlanta PI, is hired to find missing R&B star Jahari. His investigation uncovers her disappearance is connected to a larger conspiracy, forcing him to question those around him and his own past.
Review: Michael Jai White returns to the director’s chair while also starring in Trouble Man which co-stars Cliff “Method Man” Smith and Gillian White; this is a semi-remake of the 1972 film of the same name.
MJW plays Jaxen, a problem solver who is hired to rescue a singer who has gone missing; unsure who can be trusted he unravels a conspiracy while beating various people up along the way.
Trouble Man clearly doesn’t have a huge budget which is a shame as there are some solid fight scenes and MJW still has the moves. I love watching him fight on screen as there looks like real power behind every punch and kick. My only problem is that he rarely gets injured and is sort of the invincible badass which I enjoy up to a point, but it tends to take away from the stakes.
The tone of Trouble Man is mostly light with a few laughs, so it never takes itself too seriously.
At just under 90 minutes Trouble Man is well paced rarely going more than a few minutes without a fight scene. I also liked Cliff “Method Man” Smith as Money, who works with Jaxen to rescue Jahari from the kidnappers; there is some fun banter between them both although the script could have been tighter.
Overall, Trouble Man doesn’t have a huge budget and at times looks cheap, but it makes up for it with regular fight scenes and the team up of Michael Jai White and Method Man is effective.