Bangkok Knockout
From Zanecorpwiki
Worth martial arts film. DVD and BluRay
Summary
The first 20 minutes of this film had me worried. No real action, boring sets, and so-so acting all tied together by something resembling not so much a plot as a random collection of events. In other words, the film is slow to get going and the the setup painfully awkward. The character development is weak, and throughout the movie there's hints of personal dynamics that are played out in lurching dialog and incomprehensible flashbacks that feel like scenes were accidentally deleted from the final cut.
But none of that really matters because this movie is simple martial arts porn, and it's chock full of (metaphorically) XXX quality stuff.
After the initial setup, we're treated to over an hour of pretty much non-stop, excellent martial arts action. The action is well choreographed, well executed, and in such tremendous volume as to make this one of the most impressive martial arts films I've seen. At least judged on the action sequences. It's clear where all the effort in this movie went: right where it should go.
Details and Notes
The director/writer/producer, Panna Rittikrai is a legend in Thailand. He's directed many B movies and is known for churning out fun but unsophisticated fair. His best work, IMO, has been as action choreographer for Ong Bak (he directs the not-quite as good follow ons Ong Back 2 and Ong Bak 3 with Tony Jaa). I didn't know this till I did some research after watching the movie, but based on my impressions of the movie, I was pretty certain this was a case of "action choreographer does his own film". (Panna appears in the film as the chef.)
Minor spoilers. But it doesn't really matter because the plot is more or less immaterial.
There are a number of funny little character development gems tossed in at random. Is Ram Joy's bodyguard? Who knows... Pod and Pom clearly have this rivalry, but the flashback sequence seems like bits of the scene were accidentally cut.
And what's up with the betrayals at the end? It's weird because you don't actually need them at all... like the writers heard of the idea, but didn't bother to really integrate it into the plot.
And the sets... terrible. It's actually OK for the most part because a half-finished disused warehouse-ish kind of place is perfect for a series of random fights. Since that's the bulk of the movie, I can't complain too much, but the first scenes (also in a warehouse) the dinner party (outside a warehouse) and the evil gamblers (in a shipping container) are ludicrously bad. My favorite bit has to be the decoration in the cargo container... high stakes gamblers (supposedly) used to unbounded luxury and excess sitting in a barren box with the following ornaments thrown in as an afterthought:
- black velvet painting of half naked lady
- black and white faux-deco print of a stylized Pegasus
- a large model of wooding sailing ship
It's like the set dresser woke up the day of shooting, dropped by the shittiest garage sale in the world, and bought whatever was left over. It's a minor point, but it brought a smile to my face every time they shot in that location.
