| Beware: THIS NOT A TONY JAA FILM!!!
A somewhat mediocre Muay Thai martial arts action film, often interrupted by excessive, quirky moments of comedic interlude. Fortunately, it's not totally corny, so there IS hope!
Nice story and overall good production quality for a low budget film, though the action scenes in the first 20 minutes or so needed to be more explosive, with better martial arts performers who know how to work in front of a camera, and a D.P. who knows how to shoot action properly; It could be an issue of the miscasting of extras, and possibly, the film's lead actor, Thun Thanakorn, who needs to sharpen his technique of he wants to do another action movie of the same calibur or higher.
The film also throws in a little bit of English dialogue for those who don't necessarily speak Thai, so that's also a plus if you don't like reading subtitles too much.
Look out for martial arts performer and stuntman, Tim "Tin Man" Man, who literally kicks the film into high gear after about 30 minutes. And stay tuned for a rather impressive villainous performance by someone who appears to look A LOT like Dan Chupong...hmmmm...dunno, I'll be checkin' up though. ;-)
My advice: Buy this one simply for the action...and whatever you do, don't be an idiot and look for this to be a "Tony Jaa" movie, or you'll cause yourself to have an Aneurysm.
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS: "The 36 Chambers Of Shaolin", "Snake In The Eagle's Shadow", "Born To Defense", "Born To Fight", "Only The Strong", "Fearless: HK Director's Cut", "Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing" (look out for "Undisputed 3" which is rumored to be in production right now), "Asian Cop High Voltage", "Born To Fight", "King Of The Kickboxers", "No Retreat No Surrender", "No Retreat No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers", "Superfights", "Muscle Heat", "Fighter In The Wind", "Arahan: Urban Martial Arts Action", "The Red-Wolf", "Fatal Contact", "Dragon Tiger Gate", "The Avenging Fist", "Tom Yum Goong", "Chocolate", "Dong Mau Anh Hung: The Rebel", "Shamo", Ron Smoorenburg's directorial debut, "Bangkok Adrenaline", and the upcoming Tony Jaa film, "Ong Bak 2".
And please look out for Sammo Hung's latest upcoming film, "Wushu", co-produced by Jackie Chan!!! |