"The feel good Thai-fu movie of the year!" - Joel.... or that's how it would read if i had to sum it up in one sentence.... granted it's not 100% true.... but it has a good heart at the center of all of the action.... and the action is something to write home about.... it's some of the best i've seen in a long time.... and from what i hear about 'Ong-Bak', it seems the Thai have cornered the martial arts movies.... i wasn't even aware....?!?! anyway.... the movie had endless action, a unique storyline and decent acting.... all in all, i left feeling good and was impressed by the martial arts.... and from what i hear there were no stunt doubles.... supposedly the actress was trained specifically for the role as it was written just for her.... that's dedication.... a man and a woman fall in love.... but there in the middle of a Yakuza turf war.... and they're told by the boss to stay away from each other or there would be severe consequences.... but in true Romeo and Juliet fashion, love conquers all.... for a while.... soon the woman finds out she's pregnant and tells the man to go back to Japan where he's from, not telling him about her baby.... she ends up having and raising the baby on her own, but the baby has one thing different than most babies.... she's autistic.... and it would seem she has the uncanny knack to copy anything she sees perfectly.... and her favorite thing to do is watch kung fu movies.... obviously you see where that's going.... soon her mother becomes ill with cancer and her and friend start to try anything to raise money to help with her medication and hospital bills.... after a while they discover a ledger showing a large group of people who owe money to her mom.... so they try to start collecting.... and that leads to the girl resorting to her martial arts to get it back.... and the rest goes on from there.... 
there's a lot of wonderful things about this movie.... granted it feels the same as a lot of other movies.... but it doesn't matter.... it's so enjoyable, you can't help but love it.... the fight scenes are well chorographed.... the acting is the usual over the top kung fu movie style.... there's a great bit in the first fight scene where our heroine pays tribute to one Mr. Bruce Lee.... it's awesome.... this movie is rated R, but i'm unsure why.... there's no real blood or gore.... the fighting is almost in the style of Jackie Chan.... i guess the rating system is held to a different standard in Thailand....
anyway.... i gave it 4 out of 5 stars.... and i wouldn't mind watching it again.... it was a fun little hour and a half romp.... i don't know if it would be included in my collection, but i don't own too many chop sockey movies.... unless Jackie Chan, Jet Li or Chow Yun Fat is involved.... i like em' though.... and i plan to see a few more of the recent classics i've missed.... and my queue is at the ready with at least 4 more.... i'm starting to feel like this review is just getting redundant.... so i'll end it here.... but i recommend if you like good martial arts flicks and want something a little off the beaten path, then this one is for you....
No comments:
Post a Comment