Deviant Children Productions
in Association with R4films and Tambuli Media
Presents
JUGANDO CON FUEGO
From the director of Black Betty & the Producers of Final Contact & Made in Chinatown comes…
JUGANDO CON FUEGO!
When CIA Agent James Forge finally retired the past wasn’t done with him. Beaten, bloodied, and left for dead, Forge wages war against the man who tried to kill him. Justice becomes Revenge.
From writer/director Nicholas Ortiz comes a hard-hitting action short called Jugando Con Fuego starring Robert “Bobby“ Samuels as James Forge, a CIA agent who has retired but an old nemesis called Tony Lobo (Hector Soria) isn’t letting him go so easily. He and his thugs go to James’s house and attack him and his wife; she is kidnapped while James is left for dead, but he’s got more fight in him than expected and vows revenge.
It’s a straightforward enough tale and only runs around 37 minutes but that’s just fine by me as it packs a lot into the runtime with some innovative fights that could challenge movies with bigger budgets. The fight choreography is a clear highlight especially in the bloody finale with James facing off against two henchmen who are very good with a blade.
Mercy is for the weak in this movie with Samuels proving he still has the skills to dispatch his enemies which he does with vicious efficiency. There are fountains of blood, imaginative kills and Samuels of course making for a sympathetic protagonist and Hector Soria making for a suitably nasty villain. —The Action Elite
In its assembly, Jugando Con Fuego feels like an abbreviated conceptual delivery that probably would have fared well as a ninety-minute feature. There isn’t much filler to wait or sift through in this particular incarnation though, and so you get a story that gets right down to the nitty gritty, highlighting several key story points to include character backgrounds and certain events that help culminate what’s happening as it plays out before the audience.
The project is a bilingual affair as well, which makes the chemistry between Forge and Miguel all the more interesting. You can chalk it all up to a friendship that bodes with more understanding and closeness than some, which is admirable, and conveys an idea about the way filmmakers write characters that isn’t totally far-fetched. Think Shaobo Qin’s portrayal of Yen against a slew of all English-speaking characters in Steve Soderbergh’s Oceans franchise, or other examples you’d welcome in this comparison. —Film Combat Syndicate
Robert Samuels gives one of his best acting and fight performances of his career. I really feel the writer and Director Nicholas Ortiz, gave the character of Jimmy a chance to show his feelings to the audience and Robert did just that. —Asian Movie Pulse
Directed by Nicholas Ortiz (Black Betty, Zato, Power Rangers Fan Film) and screenplay by Nicholas Ortiz is based on the story by Robert Jefferson. Executive Producer’s Mark V. Wiley, Tayari Casel James Santi, Jason Santi. Associate Producers Robert Jefferson, Robert Samuels, Flor Esthela. Starring Robert Samuels, Hector Soria, Roxalinda Vazquez, Tora Aledia, Armondo Blackguard, Salvador Rodriguez, Angel Brophy, Miguel Alexandro Peralta, Manuel Becerra.
