Since the Thai’s have taken over the martial arts mantle from large art-house Chinese pictures (despite Donnie Yen/Wilson Yip‘s attempt to bring a more free-form wrestling approach into the genre in Hong Kong) I have had some concern. Tony Jaa brought the house down during the North American premiere of Ong Bak, the main western introduction to Mui Thai as the main thrust of a martial arts film. The story was flimsy enough to string some truly jaw-dropping fight sequences together and the picture was successfully marketed and sold in France, Canada, The United States and elsewhere in the world. But Jaa seems to lack the charisma of Bruce Lee, or the playful spirit of Jackie Chan, or heck, the gravitas of Jet Li. And the screenwriters in Thai populist cinema leave a lot to be desired. Case in point were two of the big followups to Ong Bak pushed internationally, Born To Fight and Tom Yum Goong. With increasingly silly and nonsensical plots there is the temptation to just fast forward to ‘the good parts’ and skip all the extraneous plotting and story. Particularly in the incomprehensible Tom Yum Goong case, or its shorter even less coherent American cut titled The Protector. Albeit there were 3 or 4 stunning set-pieces contained there-in, notably a lengthy single take staircase brawl which is a technical marvel, you take it in from all angles and drool over the scene, but after it is done, the urge to fast forward returns as soon as anyone starts speaking. Um, you, know, like in the pornos.
A couple years on and we were introduced to a slender and talented young girl named Jija Yanin burst on the scene with Ong Bak director Prachya Pinkaew setting up the ‘story’ of a young girl with Asberger’s Syndrome who becomes an autistic super-fighter. The story pushes ludicrousness to a place where there ought to be a new word. Sure the action sequences are fab and many stuntmen look to be damaged in the making of the film (apparently the Thai seal of approval is the abuse taken by the ‘extras’ who are the fighting-fodder for the heroine to really kick around). That film was for no apparent reason titled (in its English language release, Chocolate and while sure, I had a good time watching it on a huge screen with over 1000 enthusiastic fans, the storytelling probably hit a new low for bad plotting and reliance on high-concept (Yes, even more than Jet Li’s The One).
All this is a ridiculously lengthy pre-amble to the latest Thai Action entry starring Jija Yanin called RAGING PHOENIX. Here, and I kid you not, all the fighting and action sequences are done to hip-hop dance styles. Is there a reason for this? I don’t know, because the trailer is not subtitled. I’m guessing it is no more compelling or thoughtful than the Asbergers idea in Chocolate. Will I be getting the urge to tap the fast-forward button to get to the next dance style? Probably.
Trailer **Updated with English Subs, yea, like you need them** is tucked under the seat.
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