Reviews of The Protector and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
by Patrick Vuong

The Protector

Starring: Tony Jaa, Johnny Tri Nguyen and Petchtai Wongkamlao

Director: Prachya Pinkaew

Tony Jaa stars as Kham in Prachya Pinkaew’s The Protector. - PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WEINSTEIN CO.

The new Thai action film, The Protector, which should hit theaters by the time you read this, reminds me of what I miss about being a kid. As the youngest of Generation X, I lived in the golden age of martial arts media.

I witnessed the ninja fad permeate pop culture, watched Chuck Norris on Walker, Texas Ranger, and paid to see Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme kick butt in theaters. But since the turn of the millennium, things have changed. Jet Li has reportedly retired from martial arts movies, and Jackie Chan has returned to Hong Kong and now rarely makes Hollywood flicks.

Fortunately, a relatively unknown actor—at least unknown in Western households—is generating some genuine buzz for martial arts movies. His name is Tony Jaa, and he stars in The Protector (called Tom Yum Goong in Thailand and the rest of the world). Jaa is basically a walking stunt reel the likes of which we haven’t seen since Chan in the 1980s. His mix of flashy muay Thai, aerial taekwondo, bone-busting grappling and high-flying gymnastics is revolutionizing the genre.

Jaa plays Kham, a young elephant herder who tracks a Vietnamese gangster to Australia after Kham’s father is killed and his elephants stolen. In Australia, Kham has to take down dirty cops, the thug’s henchmen and a Chinese syndicate before he can rescue his pets.

Like most films of its ilk, The Protector is predictable, with a cliché-riddled script. The characters are cardboard cutouts with nary a motivation. Thankfully, Jaa’s on-screen fights more than make up for the flaws.

In the first big set piece, Kham knees one opponent’s roundhouse kick, sending him flying, then delivers his own elbows, knees and kicks that propel more thugs through the air. Later, he brawls with a capoeira expert, a wushu stylist and a hulking wrestler. It’s devastating choreography that uses familiar muay Thai moves in innovative ways.

The Protector - PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Not all the fight staging by Jaa and stunt mentor Panna Rittikrai is flawless. At the climax, Kham battles dozens of bad guys, taking them out of commission with awesome aerial kicks and brutal joint breaks. The scene is breathtaking the first time, but after he snaps an ankle, elbow and wrist for the 10th time, it gets tedious. Later, when Kham straps elephant bones to his forearms to defeat four hulking strongmen, the movie plummets into an illogical cheese fest.

Prachya Pinkaew’s direction has vastly improved from when he filmed 2003’s Ong-Bak (which also starred Jaa), partly because of his growing knowledge of Hollywood and Hong Kong aesthetics. In one Brian De Palma-inspired scene, Pinkaew has Kham busting into the thug’s hangout, climbing up a huge spiraling staircase, destroying furniture and throwing guys over banisters—all in a single, apparently unedited four-minute Steadicam take.

It’s a shame, though, that the fight between Kham and the villain is so short. The main heavy is played by Johnny Tri Nguyen, a former U.S. Wushu Team member and a Spider-Man stunt double. With stunning spin kicks and growing acting talents, he should have more screen time and a more developed character. Still, he and Jaa do the best they can with the script they were given.

Overall, The Protector’s illogical moments shrink in comparison to Jaa’s amazing stunts and killer choreography. This is definitely a film worth watching, and hopefully it’ll revive an age of action cinema that hasn’t been seen in years.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Platform: Sony PlayStation Portable
Players: 1-4

Rating: Teen

Now you can take the highest-grossing film of the year home—and become a part of it. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest for the Sony PSP adapts the action blockbuster, letting you play Capt. Jack Sparrow as he tries to escape his blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones.

The game offers plenty of swashbuckling and sword-fencing fun. You can slice and dice all manner of undead sailors while using alternate weapons like throwing knives, hatchets and pistols. Plus, you can exploit the environment—for example, by dropping rocks and chandeliers on your enemies.

About the author: Patrick Vuong is a journalist, screenwriter and martial artist based in Orange County, California. To contact him or to read more of his work, visit http://www.blackbeltmag.com and click on Community, then Black Belt Authors.