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| Tony Jaa ready for action! |
Tom-Yum-Goong is a Thai martial arts movie released in 2005 starring Tony Jaa, Mum Jokmok, Bongkoj Khongmalai, Xing Jin, Damian De Montemas, and Johnny Tri Nguyen. The movie was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, and fight choreography was done by Tony Jaa and Panna Rittikrai. Tom-Yum-Goong is known as The Protector in the United States in an edited version of the movie.
Tony Jaa plays Kham, the last guard of the royal elephants in Thailand. He grew up around elephants, particularly Por Yai (full grown) and Kohrn (baby elephant), who he considers family. These elephants are stolen at the New Year's festival, and Kham's father is injured in the process. It is Kham's responsibility to protect those elephants, so he goes in search of them.He ends up going to Sydney, Australia in his quest to find them. While there, he joins forces with a fellow Thai cop named Mark (played by Mum Jokmok). Tony Jaa becomes falsely accused of a crime and becomes hunted by the police. In all of this, Chinese triad bosses jockey for leadership, which affects Kham's quest.
Admittedly, the plot of the movie is a bit simplistic. Kham wants his elephants back. A lot of people made fun of this back when it was released in America. I didn't have a problem with the story. It was what Kham was raised and trained to do. I guess in the American edit, the importance of the elephants and Kham's true relationship to them aren't really thoroughly explained. In the original version, we see the townspeople praying for the missing elephants. We are shown why the elephants are so important, and why Kham goes through all the trouble he does to get them back.
Then there is the main villain, played by Xing Jin. She is a trans woman, and the other triad bosses don't take her seriously because of it. It is a bit complicated how she is treated in the movie. The rival triad bosses treat her disrespectfully. To Kham, it doesn't matter. To me, it does not seem like she is portrayed as evil because she is trans; she is evil because she is overly ambitious and greedy. I really hope I am reading that portrayal right. The backstories of villains don't interest me much, but hers' is pretty interesting. I will say, the corrupt cop working with her is a dead ringer for an older Andrew Garfield!
The action is really good in this one! Kham's first fight in the movie has one of the best hero entrances ever! The fight in the subway is awesome; a lot of creative choreography and stunts in that one. Then there is the one-shot fight scene, where Kham goes up a flight of stairs fighting off bad guys. Really cool to see a one-shot fight scene like that, and man that must have been tiring to prepare for, film, and perform in! Kham has awesome fights with a capoeira fighter (Lateef Crowder) and a wu shu fighter (Jon Foo). Probably my favorite fights in the film! There is the fight scene where he destroys dozens of guys' limbs and joints with bone cracking submissions, strikes, and holds. At the end he has to fight a bunch of roided up fighters (with Nathan Jones being the main one). It's a good fight scene, creative and hard-hitting, but the roided up guys are not very mobile.
So, do I recommend Tom-Yum-Goong? Yes I do! As I said before, the plot is a bit simplistic, but the action more than makes up for it. Tony Jaa is a dynamo in this! Plus, if you've ever wanted to see a musclehead fling a young elephant across the room, this is the movie for you! Try to watch the full version of the movie, though. It has a nicer pace, and has more scenes expanding on the plot and motivations of characters. Some characters' fates are changed as well (as compared to the American edited version).
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| I watched the Dragon Dynasty DVD release of this movie! |
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| I really need this movie on Blu-Ray! |
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| Disc 1 is the American cut, called 'The Protector'. |
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| Disc 2 has the original cut of Tom-Yum-Goong. |
Reviewed by David Williams
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