/ Critic
/ Spades (2026) | Dir. Johnny Yong Bosch
/ ★★★☆

Indie action, big swings, and a vigilante who refuses to stay in the shadow

Ghost Rider, Tyler Durden, Butcher Billy and Jesus Christ walk into a bar owned by a former Power Ranger…

They take a drunk selfie in a Photobooth…

… Leave cryptic messages on bathroom doors and…

 … are the last ones out. Asking for free shots anyway.

The bar owner turned that legendary night’s chaos into inspiration to create an action character for independent films.

This gig is obviously pure pop riffing, but the references of most of those names show up one way or another in Spades (2026), directed by Johnny Yong Bosch.

Maybe the bathroom stories paid off…

Bosch (better known to ’90s kids as the Black Power Ranger) has worked extensively as a voice actor. Now it’s time to make his debut as director, screenwriter and executive producer through his independent studio Vox Rocket Studio. Spades is the result: a 116-minute neo-noir action film made for $50,000.

The film is now available on Amazon Prime and has already picked up several festival awards: Best Feature Film at the BOCAS Film Fest, Best Independent Film in New York and Los Angeles, and a string of awards at festivals in Chicago, Seattle and San Diego.

We follow the return to work of Detective James Bishop (Jason Narvy), a war veteran haunted by PTSD trying to get back to normal life when a series of brutal murders shakes the city. All of them with the same signature: a playing card with the spades symbol and a skull. When Bishop’s daughter Lana (Maya Brattkus) disappears, he uncovers a human trafficking ring connected to the crimes. Director Bosch himself plays Spades, the masked vigilante who is both the hunted and the mirror of Bishop.

Actor Jason Narvy is another name from the classic Power Rangers cast in the film. Except he was Skull (one half of the school misfit duo Bulk and Skull).

2026 is really delivering these reunions before they go stale…

Back to the film. 

Spades surprises with its production quality. Executing fight scenes, shootouts and chases is difficult at any budget… doing it on $50,000, it’s genuinely impressive. Bosch nods to the action classics that clearly shaped him: John Woo in the choreographed shootouts, Michael Bay in the emotional scale of the sequences, and Chad Stahelski in the slow-noir school introduced in John Wick.

Visually, the film works. The dark smoke surrounding Spades and the eyes that simulate a cat in the dark are choices that land without forcing themselves. The leather, the cars, the city reflections, the green/red neo-noir glows… it all builds a consistent aesthetic.

The script has serious holes. Bishop is believable even in the excess of his problems… the traumas connect and make sense. The problem is his dynamic with Jimmy: that relationship doesn’t hold up dramatically and creates instability in the second act.

The mask choices for villains and heroes also wear thin. At a certain point, it feels more like a paintball match than a high-stakes showdown. The film has good effects but stumbles on some inconsistencies: in the warehouse shootout scene, characters take cover behind cardboard boxes from bullets that are tearing chunks out of concrete walls.

There’s also a flirtation with religion that doesn’t resolve. Is Spades a film with a religious character or not? The doubts that sustain that question are raised but not answered. Religious characters defending guns and elevating vigilante justice to the divine and supernatural status may create real discomfort for 2026 audiences.

A lot of red flags together that aren’t treated with the depth they deserve.

As an independent production and a studio debut, Spades is a solid calling card. Imperfect, ambitious, and more honest about its limitations than most action films with ten times its budget. Johnny Yong Bosch proves he has the instinct for aesthetics and action rhythm. What’s still missing is script control: knowing when an idea is strong enough to carry the weight he puts on it.