The Warrior King

The Warrior King, aka Tom Yum Goong, is the follow up to the surprise Thai sleeper hit that was Ong Bak. This film finds the same crew at the helm, director Prachya Pinkaew and star Tony Jaa. Unfortunately unfunny Thai funny man Petchtai Wongkamlao is also along for the ride but more on him later.

The crux of the film is that a jungle lad's elephants get stolen and he nips off to Australia to get them back. Mixed in with this is some sort of story line involving crooked policemen and a Triad family succession drama. It's all a little muddled and by the middle of the film you'll find yourself frowning, wondering who is who and what the fuck is going on. It doesn't help that it is done ineptly, characters that are speaking in English mangle words to the extent that it's laughable, including an all important news reader who acts as a link between scenes. You wonder why they bothered in the first place.

Indeed this film is pretty much a regression from the simplicity that made Ong Bak entertaining whilst the action scenes are thrilling, too much else of the picture jars. From a camera crew following Petchtai Wongkamlao's idiot bumbling policeman Mark around, to the story of the whore he befriends, to the sudden mental breakdown of a taxi driver that picks up Tony Jaa from the airport just as an excuse for a boring car chase. The film also includes a hilarious CGI dream sequence involving ancient Thai warriors and their elephant army.

Thankfully the on screen action makes up for the rest of the movie's failings, including a Police Story type brawl in a warehouse with a bunch of skateboarders and roller skaters. The highlight however is the what seems to be a one-shot, one-take battle up through the baddies building with Jaa smashing and tossing everyone around like paper dolls. Following this scene is a section where he takes on a million guys, one by one, snapping their bones in a variety of moves does get a bit static. It could have done with a bit more verve, Bruce Lee style with guys from all angles. There's also some cheesy one on one brawls with a variety of mad cap goons, from a bunch of huge giants to one of those Brazilian type kung fu dancers. Fun stuff.

Talking of Bruce Lee if Ong Bak was Jaa's Enter The Dragon then this must be his Way Of The Dragon, or indeed if he's the new Jackie Chan this must be his Dragon Lord, lots of good action but lots of shit bits in between. For the Friday night beer n' pizza crew this won't fail to entertain, but die hard action buffs may come away a little disappointed after hoping that the Thai action market was going to offer something new when it seems to be getting stale already. Perhaps if Jaa was to come under the wings of seasoned directors such as Tsui Hark or Ronnie Yu we would get a more focused film? Only time will tell.

Out on the 28th of July in selected cinemas.

Please note folks that this review is taken from a legally imported dvd of the origonal film and the cinema version may differ slightly in its audio or visual format from what I've commented on!

[Jushin Liger]

Aye I've seen the Thai DVD and hoped they would clean up the lines of the George character as they were almost impossible to get first time round.

The holy shit aspect of some of the fight scenes is great and I personally loved the fight with the Capoeira fighter. Plus you get to see just how fucking big Nathan Jones is.

[Charlie Parker]

Is he a wrestler or summat?

[Jushin Liger]

Nathan Jones is a former pro wrestler aye.

He's also tried his hand in strong man contests and has fought MMA. He's the massive bald guy.

[Charlie Parker]

I can imagine him daeing well at strong man shit!

[Charlie Parker]

Out today

[McLeary]

Q: Who would win in a fight between Tony Jaa and God?

A: Trick question. Tony Jaa is God.