Triple Threat (2019) - A Review

 

Look at the cast of this movie!

Triple Threat is an American/Chinese/Thai/French action movie released in 2019. It stars Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Jeeja Yanin, Celina Jade, Michael Bisping, and Michael Wong. The movie was directed by Jesse V. Johnson, with action/fight choreography by Johnson as well.

In Triple Threat, Payu (played by Tony Jaa) and Long Fei (played by Tiger Chen), both ex-Special Forces, help a mercenary group free prisoners in a Thailand village on a humanitarian mission. Or so they think. This group, led by Devereaux (played by Michael Jai White), includes Mook (played by Jeeja Yanin), Joey (played by Michael Bisping), Steiner (played by Ron Smoorenburg), and Dom (played by Dominique Vandenburg), are not good people. In actuality, they are there to free their leader, Collins (played by Scott Adkins) only. A lot of innocent people die in this mission, including Jaka's (played by Iko Uwais) wife. Jaka fights back, but is defeated early on.

After Collins is free, the mercenary crew rig the prison to explode, leaving Payu and Long Fei for dead. Time passes, and Jaka is on a quest for revenge. He encounters Payu and Long Fei in an underground fighting tournament. All three of them decide to team up to find the mercenary group and seek revenge on them. When it seems they are all on the same page, Jaka seemingly betrays them the next day! The mercenary group are on another mission. A mysterious crime boss wants wealthy philanthropist Tian Xiao Xian (played by Celina Jade) dead. The mercenary crew find out from Jaka that Payu and Long Fei are still alive, and immediately search for them to eliminate them. From there, a violent game of cat and mouse commences, with Payu, Long Fei, and Xiao Xian constantly on the run with Jaka pulling the strings.

The cast of Triple Threat is amazing, but they are let down by the story. The story is a bit lackluster, I must say. The heroes aren't really given much of a personality. Iko Uwais as Jaka wants revenge for the death of his wife, but is not trustworthy throughout the movie. Thankfully Tiger Chen and, especially Tony Jaa are likable, so you root for them to overcome the odds. Only Collins and Deveraux have personalities on the villain side. Collins is just a raging a-hole, and Deveraux is a cocky jerk (with good taste in bootleg movies). Michael Jai White is amazing as Deveraux. He can talk some mean crap!

The fight scenes are good, but they are not amazing. When you see all these amazing martial artists in a movie together, you expect to see some incredible fights. As I said, the fights are good. They could have done so much more! I have read that they only had thirteen days to shoot (either the whole movie or just the fight scenes), so I can forgive the lack of amazing fights. Iko Uwais has a nice short fight with Tony Jaa, and then with Tiger Chen. Tony Jaa's fight with Ron Smoorenburg (the kicker from Who Am I) was pretty cool. Iko Uwais vs. Michael Jai White was good too, but it was kind of ruined by the constant inter-cutting with another fight scene. The final fight is pretty good, too. Wish it could've went longer. Jeeja Yanin was totally underutilized in this, though! I wanted to see more of her in this setting. 

So, should you see this? I would say yes, if you want to see all these martial arts superstars in a movie together. The plot is basic, yet kind of convoluted. It visually looks good, too. There is a lot of gunplay in this, if you like that kind of action. I just hope all these actors come together in a movie again, and the story and fighting action live up to their talents. I don't hate this movie, I'm just disappointed in it.

The Blu-Ray I watched for this review.

Back of the slip case.

Blu-Ray disc. No cool artwork or designs, unfortunately.

Reviewed by David Williams

Tom-Yum-Goong (AKA The Protector Unedited) (2005) - A Review

 

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).

 

I watched the Dragon Dynasty DVD release of this movie!

I really need this movie on Blu-Ray!

Disc 1 is the American cut, called 'The Protector'.

Disc 2 has the original cut of Tom-Yum-Goong.

 

Reviewed by David Williams

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003) - A Review

 

One of the many posters for Ong-Bak.

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior is a Thai martial arts movie released in 2003, starring Tony Jaa, Mum Jokmok, Suchao Pongwilai, Pumwaree Yodkamol, and Chattaphong Pantana-Angkul. The movie is directed by Prachya Pinkaew, with fight and stunt choreography by Panna Rittikrai.

 In Ong-Bak, Tony Jaa plays Ting, a skilled muay thai fighter who volunteers to find the stolen head of his village's Ong-Bak statue. The village is small and impoverished, and they give the little money they have to him to help him survive the city they suspect the lead suspect lives in. In Bangkok, Ting meets up with George/Humlae (played by Mum Jokmok), his cousin who has abandoned his humble village's values. One thing leads to another, and Humlae steals the villagers' money and bets it all at an underground fighting tournament. Ting unwittingly enters the tournament and wins his fight easily. This embarrasses Komtuan (played by Pongwilai), the local crime boss, and gets Ting on his radar. From there, Ting and Humlae team up to find the Ong-Bak, with chases and fights galore!

This movie was Tony Jaa's break out role, and it is a showcase for his incredible martial arts and acrobatic skills. In the first chase sequence, you see Tony doing incredible acrobatics to run away from a crowd of thugs. The way he slides under an SUV is amazing. Not only that, he jumps over two moving cars twice in a row, all without wires! Tony Jaa makes gravity his b****!

The fight scenes are choreographed to show off a more traditional form of muay thai, and to show off Tony Jaa's fighting prowess. His second underground tournament fight is hard-hitting, and he takes on three different opponents (including a very Bruce Lee-like fighter). This is his first major fight in the movie, and he impresses! There are other fights with crazy stuff in them, like when he does a knee, then a multi-spin kick to a guy's face...with his legs on fire! Literal fire kick! Of course, the final fights are the best. You see his quickness, his agility, his weapon ability, and the power behind his strikes in these fights! The fights in this movie may not have the incredible choreography of Hong Kong movies, but Panna Rittikrai does a great job showing the power of traditional muay thai and the skill level of Tony Jaa.

The story is a bit simple, I will admit, but there is nothing wrong with that when you have characters and  action scenes that make up for it. Humlae, though a bit of a greedy scammer at the start, is great throughout this movie. You grow to like him. He is really funny, too! Komtuan, the main villain, is a very flawed character. He is very powerful, but he is confined to a wheelchair and has to talk with an electrolarynx. Even so, he is a very proud, greedy, and petty man. What a jerk! As is Don, the guy who steals the Ong-Bak head in the first place! I hate that guy!

The version I watched was the edited version released by EuropaCorp. A subplot involving Muay's sister is apparently edited out, and the final fight between Ting and Saming is shortened. It also has a hip hop/techno soundtrack, as compared to the Thai rock the original had. All in all, three minutes are edited out. Even so, I would like to see the original version. This version is very good, though! I like some of the music in it! I have to get this on Blu-Ray!

So, should you see it? I would say yes! Just keep in mind, the story is a bit basic. If you've never seen Tony Jaa in action, you need to see this NOW! I just hope Tony Jaa will gain that superstardom that has eluded him since. He is way too talented to not be starring in huge action movies!

Front cover of the DVD I watched for this review.

Back cover of DVD.

Disc of version I watched.

Reviewed by David Williams