Remember Ong Bak? Awesome. Tom Yum Goong, aka The Protector? The perfect follow up. The sequel? Just not quite the same 🙁
If you haven’t caught on, my opinion of this highly anticipated sequel featuring the Protector himself – Kham, played by Tony Jaa was one of much disappointment.
We’ve got the usual story, Kham’s Elephant is stolen so he gets pissed and goes after it. Also, of course, Tony Jaas’s character meets up with Petchtai Wongkamlao’s character as these two are basically inseparable.
This isn’t all necessarily bad and has potential of all kinds of awesome. This time Kham is blackmailed into working for the crims and the whole scenery, characters and feel of the world he is in is dark and pretty damn cool.
So why was it disappointing?
I read several months ago that some ‘tasteful’ CGI and wirework was included to enhance the action. This is the exact opposite of the whole Ong Bak sales pitch – ‘No CGI, No wires’ – so I was very hesitant but tried to stay optimistic.
But this film is without a doubt, the weakest Jaa film yet or maybe on par with Ong Bak 3. Tony Jaa and the team still do some nice stuff and he’s as fit and talented as ever. But the constantly changing nature of the fights is gone, Jaa’s energy seems a little flatter – possibly due to editing to a certain degree.
The biggest let down is the CGI, which is understandable. This movie was made in Thailand which isn’t known for special effects. With Tony Jaa being a big name in their movie industry, it’s a good sign of growth and a possible future for their industry – just a shame it was in a martial arts film. It looks very artificial and cheapens the look of the whole film.
Is there some good in this film?
I hate being negative, I even feel guilty writing this review about one of my favorite on screen martial artists (Tony Jaa and his stunt team) and I have bashed this film so far – but it is really not THAT bad.
The problem is Jaa’s standard has been so high in the past that this film struggles to compare. But take out the high expectation and it’s ‘Ok’.
Jaa’s moves are still nice, the fights are still fast, and Yanin Jeeja is alongside him doing some cool stuff also! It has it strengths which are surrounded by a lot of weaknesses. Some of the fights have very little CGI (compared to other scenes) and are nicely done, such as Kham fighting Number 2 – not bad.
The Verdict?
A lot of good and a lot of bad makes up an average film. Very in the middle really. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on Facebook!
