By Jason Brown
Tom-Yum-Goong is the follow-up to Tony Jaa's breakout film, Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior. The movie was shot in a similar style as its predecessor, yet fails to achieve anything but blood-thirsty entertainment.
For those unfamiliar, fight scenes in both movies were filmed without wires or stuntmen. This style brings out the raw, real brutality of the fighting that appears in the films.
The movie is about a young Thai warrior named Kham, who goes to Sydney to retrieve his stolen elephant with the help of a framed police officer, Sergeant Mark, and a young Thai woman, Pla.
Story-wise, Tom-Yum-Goong isn't a stretch from Ong-Bak. It is a simple story that fits a movie of this type. In Thailand, elephants are held in very high regard and stealing them seems to have led to an international crime spree. Seeing this on film was a great choice to set up Jaa's character. In fact, the first 10 minutes of the movie are spent introducing Kham, his father, and the elephants with some shots of Thailand's beautiful rivers and forests. The slow pacing and touching interaction here pays off and makes the audience view the elephants as more than just family pets, but as family members. Jaa has obviously taken some acting lessons and does a convincing job with some of the emotional scenes in the movie.
Despite the great setup, once Kham arrives at Sydney the movie falls apart. Sloppy editing and atrocious continuity practices by the director destroy the movie's flow. There are many occasions where the action jumps forward and characters suddenly disappear with out connecting shots. It's as if the director didn't care and forces the audience not to care because of his laziness.
Another horrible decision was to have the Asian actors recite broken English while in Sydney, because it can be difficult to understand them.
Thankfully, Jaa's fights and stunts mesmerize the audience, so that these flaws may not be noticeable without multiple viewings. It is a true testament to how his martial arts can save a mediocre movie. The fight scenes are simply the most amazing fights captured in a movie. Jaa's blend of Muay Thai and grappling lead to some brutal and bone shattering sequences.
The most memorable fight is a four-minute scene where Jaa fights his way to the top of the Tom-Yum-Goong restaurant with no camera cutting. The result is an amazingly choreographed and smooth sequence that martial arts fans everywhere can drool over.
Tom-Yum-Goong is the follow-up to Tony Jaa's breakout film, Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior. The movie was shot in a similar style as its predecessor, yet fails to achieve anything but blood-thirsty entertainment.
For those unfamiliar, fight scenes in both movies were filmed without wires or stuntmen. This style brings out the raw, real brutality of the fighting that appears in the films.
The movie is about a young Thai warrior named Kham, who goes to Sydney to retrieve his stolen elephant with the help of a framed police officer, Sergeant Mark, and a young Thai woman, Pla.
Story-wise, Tom-Yum-Goong isn't a stretch from Ong-Bak. It is a simple story that fits a movie of this type. In Thailand, elephants are held in very high regard and stealing them seems to have led to an international crime spree. Seeing this on film was a great choice to set up Jaa's character. In fact, the first 10 minutes of the movie are spent introducing Kham, his father, and the elephants with some shots of Thailand's beautiful rivers and forests. The slow pacing and touching interaction here pays off and makes the audience view the elephants as more than just family pets, but as family members. Jaa has obviously taken some acting lessons and does a convincing job with some of the emotional scenes in the movie.
Despite the great setup, once Kham arrives at Sydney the movie falls apart. Sloppy editing and atrocious continuity practices by the director destroy the movie's flow. There are many occasions where the action jumps forward and characters suddenly disappear with out connecting shots. It's as if the director didn't care and forces the audience not to care because of his laziness.
Another horrible decision was to have the Asian actors recite broken English while in Sydney, because it can be difficult to understand them.
Thankfully, Jaa's fights and stunts mesmerize the audience, so that these flaws may not be noticeable without multiple viewings. It is a true testament to how his martial arts can save a mediocre movie. The fight scenes are simply the most amazing fights captured in a movie. Jaa's blend of Muay Thai and grappling lead to some brutal and bone shattering sequences.
The most memorable fight is a four-minute scene where Jaa fights his way to the top of the Tom-Yum-Goong restaurant with no camera cutting. The result is an amazingly choreographed and smooth sequence that martial arts fans everywhere can drool over.