Written and directed by Johnny Yong Bosch, the direction of thisfilm loops in hurdles that keep the sensations going. Spades hasa brutal start, in a positive context in that it lends itself to the story. It is a path of terror that leads to the present, and a journey that is relentless. When there is a detective race against time, the clock starts ticking. Spades is vibrant and terrific. Filled with brutal violence, the film does have moments that key into why it comes out that way. 

 

The main character is James Bishop, played by Jason Narvy. He is a war-veteran who works nights as a detective. His wife is dead, and his connections with his daughter Lana are limited. Lana is played by Maya Brattkus. James has a partner on the job, Walt Mackland, played by Henry Roe. James suffers from traumas that linger after years of war, and when he is on the job, his vengeance lingers. He soon finds himself on a trail of murderers, traffickers, and a masked vigilante by the name of Spades. Spades is played by Bosch himself, the director, playing the vigilante on both sides of the law. However, he does so in a gritty way.

 

When there is a crime, Spades tells his victims at the scene to choose a card. Many times, that choice leads to death. He has a past that he cannot forget, much like James. However, James finds himself in the scenario of dealing with a crime boss named Saito. Saito is played by Nobuaki Shimamoto. He partners with his son Keiji in all kinds of crimes. Keiji is played by Kaiji Tang. They kill a crime boss to take a bigger piece of the pie, and James is the detective trying to put the pieces together to hold them accountable. As he keeps getting closer, Spades interferes. Spades hurts those who are bad, but he is just as bad as he aims to murder instead of turning criminals into the authorities.

 

The vision of silent vigilantes is cleverly examined from the mind of Bosch, especially since he is the one playing the ghost himself. He is quite brave being the director to put on the mask as the villain. That is a clever twist with all the vengeance lingering in Spades. Much of the film goes through finding all the pieces, then another majority of it is the investigation. Later, expect a lot of gun violence moments with some levels of explosions. There is always a card that is thrown before something happens though—the moment for a literary device or a connection—which is why Bosch is brilliant with the direction of the suspense.

 

A grade A thriller that loops emotions in with actions to the top. A rollercoaster ride on a track that is broken and does not want to quit until it works right.  It keeps running through the tunnels of suspense for an entertaining run. With a masked suspect, deadly operations, and a corrupt detective, I was very sold with Spades. Three-and-a-half out of four stars.