Friday, July 28, 2006

WARRIOR KING - awesome martial arts craziness!

WARRIOR KING is directed by the guy who did ONG BAK. For a lot of people that is going to be enough of a recommendation, because ONG BAK was a literally kick-ass Thai martial arts flick that was pure entertainment. WARRIOR KING is also a balls-out entertainment extravaganza. Some might say it's not quite as good as ONG BAK but I think that's just because it doesn't have that shock-value of seeing something so new and fresh from Thai cinema.

WARRIOR KING stars Tony Jaa as a guy who owns two elephants. Yes, yes. The elephants are missing. He must go to Australia and get the elephants back. He must beat lots of people up. He must ask them "Where the hell is my elephant?!" That's it. There is no in-depth characterisation or intricate plotting. But oh my word, those fight scenes! Those crazy-ass steady-cam shots! The old-school proper martial arts! Fight fans will be drooling over the longest (c.4 minutes) no-cut steadicam scene where Jaa just punches the crap out of people over four floors of a brothel. But it's not all mindless violence. There is also an environmental MESSAGE. So everyone's happy.

And no, I don't know why the movie is named after a bowl of hot and sour prawn soup.

WARRIOR KING/TOM YUM GOONG was released in South East Asia in August 2005. It has since been on release in France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Austria. It is currently showing in the UK and opens in the US on August 25th 2006.

2 comments:

  1. I remember Craig and Stoogie were round at my place and we watched Ong Bak. Actually I just skipped all the story parts to get to the fight scenes.

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  2. True dat. To criticise this film on the grounds it has weak characterisation and plot is missing the point. The fighting rocks!

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