Summary

• One More Shot is a nonstop action film that keeps audiences guessing from beginning to end.
• The movie sets itself apart by daring to give viewers no moment to be bored, with exciting and evolving action.
• Director James Nunn adds realism to the film through his directing style and a dedication to perfecting each shot.

One More Shot follows Navy SEAL Jake Harris. When a black site in Poland is attacked, Harris is given a near impossible task. He must deliver one of the prisoners, terrorist suspect Amin Mansur, to Washington D.C. for interrogation.

One More Shot was directed by James Nunn from a script penned by Jamie Russel based on a story by Nunn. One More Shot stars Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Alexis Knapp, Tom Berenger, Waleed Elgadi, Meena Rayann, Hannah Arterton, Aaron Toney, Teddy Linard, Duncan Casey, and Jill Winternitz. The movie is executive produced by Gareth Williams.

Screen Rant interviewed Michael Jai White about his new action movie, One More Shot. He discusses collaborating with Nunn and reuniting with Adkins on screen again. White also shared his thoughts on Hollywood action scenes, how McFarlane should approach the new Spawn movie, and teased his upcoming movie Troubled Man.

Michael Jai White Talks One More Shot

Screen Rant: This film is a nonstop action. Right? It almost feels like a video game where you're following the protagonist, Jake Harris, through the course of all the action that's going on. Tell me a little bit about the character you play, Robert Jackson.

Michael Jai White: Well, I'm a character that's got some secrets. You don't know really if I'm a good guy or bad guy. And of course that depends on your perspective. There's certain secrets to my character that some of it will be shown here, but ultimately there's a hand he's dealing with that almost no one knows about.

The action in this film is nonstop. I'm talking from the beginning of the film until the movie ends, and I feel like it always keeps you guessing. And the way that it's shot is so smart because it feels like it's a handheld camera just following along. How does One More Shot separate itself from other films in the action genre?

Michael Jai White: Well, I mean, it dares to give you no moment to be bored. Any style that seems to kind of evolve in real time is exciting to me, with every movie I've seen like that. So that on top of having action, it makes it a whole different animal.

Absolutely. Now, this film, this story is by James Nunn, and it's directed by James Nunn. What does his directing style add to One More Shot?

Michael Jai White: Man, adds of course realism. Sometimes you get these happy accidents, and I'm sure that's one of the things that he likes to take advantage of. So one of the things that surprised me is that I thought, "Okay, when you get all those elements together and you got your shot and you're kind of carefully stitching it together in certain ways, possibly." Then I figured, yeah, you just move on. Nope. They go again to try to get it perfecter. So it's like, "Hey, I thought since we got everything and it looked great, we'd be done." But no, let's go for the cherry on top. So that was a great way to do it. You have a certain sequence that you know that's your aim for that day, and so you put all that energy in getting the best for your audience.

I feel like action stars nowadays are really you, Scott, Donnie Yen, and Jason Statham. You guys have an incredible fight scene and it's a dream come true for action movie fans like myself. Can you talk about getting to share the screen with Scott in that action scene that you guys had?

Michael Jai White: Yeah. It's always fun, but I think people will be surprised at how little time that we rehearse. They'd be shocked. They'd really be shocked. I mean, this was a scene that was kind of reality based, and so it's supposed to be ugly. On purpose, we're not going super technical. We want to look, and plus Scott has fought like 50 people by the time he faces me, so certain things should suck. So yeah. But yeah, people will be surprised that we got such a shorthand. It's kind of easy for us. I'm looking forward to us doing something that really requires and gives us a lot of time to pull in a whole fight scene from start to finish.

I was just going to say that I can't wait to see you guys share the screen again because I want to see that massive fight. And you're completely right. The realism of that fight, the psychology of that fight was so smart because it blended like this MMA style with this close combat style of fighting, which was perfect for the two of you. And it's crazy because I was going to ask you how much prep time did you guys have because everything was perfect. So to hear that it was very little is shocking to me.

Michael Jai White: Yeah. Scott and will get together and there might be a time that we'll rehearse and we'll just go, "Okay, we'll do this then we'll just figure that part out." And then it's like we know what we can do on the day, so. And Scott, bless his heart, I mean, he's got a reserve. Because when we're rehearsing, it's a day of shooting. It's like during the lunch period. I fly in, they've already been shooting. I was working on something else. So I fly in, I see the choreography right before we rehearse it, put it in my head, and then basically I flew back. Just kind of walk through stuff and then fly back. When I fly back in, there's no time. I got to go straight into it.

I don't want to give too much away about the film, but I certainly hope if there's a sequel, your character returns and see you guys face off. Or I'd love to see him as Batman, you as Bronze Tiger and face off that way too. I'd love to see that as well.

Michael Jai White: I wouldn't mind that.

I do want to talk about some of the films that you've directed because I absolutely love them. Black Dynamite, Outlaw Johnny Black. I know we have Trouble Man coming out soon. What can we as fans expect from Trouble Man and the character you play, Jackson?

Michael Jai White: Well, it's kind of a revisit of Shaft, that type of thing. Where he's very much about the culture and he's cool and the dialogue and all of that. It's something we hadn't seen in a while. So I'm very proud of the movie. And I mean, Method Man is amazing. Mike Epps is amazing. LaLa Anthony, Orlando Jones. It's just going to be a fun ride for everybody.

I love it. I love your films, man. They're incredible to me. Now, what have you learned about yourself as a director on Black Dynamite and Outlaw Johnny Black that you'll be taking with you into Trouble Man?

Michael Jai White: Oh, yeah. A lot. I always do homage to some of my favorites, the things I grew up with. And I just enjoy it so much. It doesn't feel like work to me. It really is a right and a pleasure. I mean, one of the things I love the most is that the comradery and just putting people to work. And it's kind of like I always kind of compare it to here we are a bunch of misfits who ran away and joined the circus and made a living on it.

So that's the biggest celebration to me is that we're all together from different walks of life and here we are. And so I always want to make it an event that people are proud of. So I like to put my all into it and then make it fun. And I want people to say, "I'm glad I was a part of that," and I want the audience to say, "I'm glad I saw that."

You introduced me to the character of Spawn, who you iconically played back in the '90s. Todd McFarlane is rebooting that film with Blumhouse, hopefully. But he says if that deal doesn't get done, he wants to make the film independently. You have experience in making fantastic independent films. What advice would you have for Todd if he does end up going down that route and navigating those waters?

Michael Jai White: You mean would Todd direct it? That's the thing that I don't understand. I'm not too sure of. He's been talking about that for, it is been 25 years or so. So I mean, I wish him all the best of luck, but I know he described something to me at one time that he wanted to do and have Spawn be kind of a shadow, but you don't really see him. I would encourage him not to do that. But I mean, I think it's time to be badass. I think it's time to do a live action that competes with the cartoon. That's what it should be. I think it should be dark as hell and badass and just, I think it should go for the top level. It should push the envelope off the table.

We're talking Hard R, huh?

Michael Jai White: Yes. That's what I want to see. I think that's what most people want to see. These dark superheroes have been rewarded with a lot of accolades. Well, why not make the darkest one the darkest?

You played Bronze Tiger. You were in probably the greatest superhero movie of all time, The Dark Knight, and you voiced a ton of DC characters. James Gunn's rebooting the DC Universe as the DCU. Is there a character you'd like to bring to life for James, either in animation or physically?

Michael Jai White: Well, I think I, honestly, not to be cocky, I think I'd do honor to any of the superhero characters. But the one thing that fans seem to want more than anything else, I believe it's between Bronze Tiger and then Green Lantern.

I'd welcome that completely. Sometimes this industry gets caught up in this Hollywood way of doing things that doesn't, I don't think it applies well to action. They go, "Okay, who's the most popular at this time?" And whatever. And it's like, okay, that may work in comedies and dramas because there's a surplus of comedies and dramas. But when you have action, you have something unique, you need to pick the right person. And so they're always, "Oh yeah, this person's hot," or whatever, but it's like the guy named Vinny that's sitting there having a beer is going to be like, "I'd kick that guy's ass myself." You know what I mean?

Absolutely.

Michael Jai White: And I'm not interested in seeing these little debutantes kicking everybody's ass or these guys who I just don't believe. Because hell, you're not going to get my time. So a lot of that stuff is like, I don't really follow it a lot because I'm like, I just don't buy it. Right? So I think Nolan got it right with Christian Bale, and there's some people that I freaking believe.

And personally I know good damn well you're going to believe me, because I'm almost like the characters themselves. And not to blow my own horn, but it's just the truth. You got to believe somebody will do this for the sake of, I mean, there's an internal thing that drives them that they will risk their lives for others. And that's something that's a part of who I am anyway.

Recently in the box office, we haven't seen the fans really show up for the most current crop of comic book superheroes. What advice would you give to the current crop of comic book storytellers to bring audiences back in?

Michael Jai White: Honestly, I don't really follow that stuff. I've not been a fan of, I mean, I'm seeing it from the periphery because there's not many things that... I don't like CG very much. I like to be brought into it. I mean, the last thing that I loved was Joker. That's my kind of a thing. I love that because that's a drama. That is a character.

I mean, would Joaquin Phoenix be thought of as a normal superhero? But they cast the right guy with that. You know what I mean? And he just brought that character to life. And I thought there was so many levels in that movie. So that's the kind of thing that pulls me in, not the landing in the three point stance and then the one liner. It is like, no, you're not getting me there.

Absolutely. Now, look, you worked with Christopher Nolan, he's finally getting his roses this year with Oppenheimer. Many feel that this is long overdue. Can you talk about your experience working with Chris and what his directing style kind of separates him from everybody else?

Michael Jai White: Yeah. I'll never forget that because I thought, being a fan of his prior stuff, I thought this is going to be one of these eccentric geniuses that you don't really identify with. The guy could be your Uber driver. I mean, honestly, he is that chill and approachable and just normal. It was such a relaxed environment. And guys, I'd ask him questions and he'd be like, "Huh, what do you think?" Ask me back the same. He was nothing that I thought, but it makes a lot of sense because he has that flair that he connects with a common man because he is one. Very important in a filmmaker.

About One More Shot

Following the attack on the black site in Poland, Navy SEAL Jake Harris is ordered to escort terrorist suspect Amin Mansur to Washington D.C for interrogation.

One More Shot is available now on digital.

Source: Screen Rant Plus