Kirk Gillock
Rebel with a cause
This is the same Thai team that brought us the amazing Ong Bak. Unfortunately it's not as amazing. It's the same basic story as Ong Bak but, instead of a stolen Buddha statue, it's a stolen elephant. Blah.
There is a lot of English in the movie (90% of the movie takes place in Australia) but the English actors were HORRIBLE!!! Seriously, the english dialogue from the Thai actors sounded more natural than from their Australian counter-parts. The story, the dialogue, the fake news reports, it all hurt so much to watch and listen to.
But that's not why you go to see a movie like this, you go for the action and there was plenty of it. The best scene in the movie is an amazing "single shot" steadicam miracle. (Pookie would be proud.) Basically, Tony Jaa starts at the bottom floor of a 5 story building (yelling, "Where's my elephant" - I'm not joking) and fights his way to the top floor (because that's where you'd keep an elephant), using the stairs and clearing each level of evil first. (There's an indoor atrium so you can see each floor) It's a 4-5 minute non-stop fight scene and the camera follows him every step and never stops or cuts. I can't imagine running up 5 flights of stairs, much less, fighting dozens of people along the way. I don't know how they choreographed it, but they should win an award just for accomplishing the impossible.
There was a funny cameo from Jackie Chan. He bumps into Tony Jaa at an airport and they both react as though they're going to fight, but then just smile and go on their way. Other than some gratuitous fight scenes (one involving X-sports style stunts, a boat race, etc.) there's not much to say about this flick. It was a let down.
pk
There is a lot of English in the movie (90% of the movie takes place in Australia) but the English actors were HORRIBLE!!! Seriously, the english dialogue from the Thai actors sounded more natural than from their Australian counter-parts. The story, the dialogue, the fake news reports, it all hurt so much to watch and listen to.
But that's not why you go to see a movie like this, you go for the action and there was plenty of it. The best scene in the movie is an amazing "single shot" steadicam miracle. (Pookie would be proud.) Basically, Tony Jaa starts at the bottom floor of a 5 story building (yelling, "Where's my elephant" - I'm not joking) and fights his way to the top floor (because that's where you'd keep an elephant), using the stairs and clearing each level of evil first. (There's an indoor atrium so you can see each floor) It's a 4-5 minute non-stop fight scene and the camera follows him every step and never stops or cuts. I can't imagine running up 5 flights of stairs, much less, fighting dozens of people along the way. I don't know how they choreographed it, but they should win an award just for accomplishing the impossible.
There was a funny cameo from Jackie Chan. He bumps into Tony Jaa at an airport and they both react as though they're going to fight, but then just smile and go on their way. Other than some gratuitous fight scenes (one involving X-sports style stunts, a boat race, etc.) there's not much to say about this flick. It was a let down.
pk
