The Pirates of Langkasuka

I saw the English subtitled version at the Montreal Fantasia festival in a fully-crowded theater. I found it to be surprisingly good and of high quality. "Queens" is a fantasy adventure which tells the story of a small kingdom ruled by a queen with 2 daughters (although they look more like sisters, the movie title is confusing and I don't remember it being clearly explained in the film) who are plagued by pirates and a rebel prince. In the preview, they seemed to be proud announcing it was made for over 20 million US dollars, which might not seem a lot by American standards but probably a huge budget in Thailand. Anyways, the money certainly shows on-screen and the visual effects are overall quite impressive with their computer origins not really showing that much. Despite the title of the film and the importance of the queen and princesses, the main characters are an orphaned boy with the potential for Aquaman-type magical powers and the young bodyguard of the queen.

This is not a super-hero movie by any stretch of the imagination despite the Aquaman analogy. The actor who plays the orphan looked the part (when adult) and showed strong dramatic intensity especially in non-speaking parts. He could have looked ludicrous at certain points but he sells the role and nobody ever laughed at him during the screening. The bodyguard was rather stoic and earnest but had the most impressive sword fighting scenes and you root for him because of his nobility. Let's mention also an hermit water magic master White Ray and his rival Black Ray (not to confuse with Black Raven) who were fascinating memorable characters. The queen and daughters were OK, especially the younger fighting one, but they were overshadowed by the men. The evil-doers, most of them pirates, were appropriately menacing and despicable but one can only wish they had a little more characterization beyond their looks. I refer to Pirates of the Caribbean in the title of this review but there are no undead, nor is this film intended to be funny or amusing.

The water magic powers (called Du Lum) were very cool, especially the "sonic scream" and I loved the underwater scenes that were very well lit and filmed. The sound effects were a bit exaggerated but they helped make the action and explosions more striking. "Queens" is a serious fantasy adventure but at its core it's also a melodrama rife with romance, revenge, tragedy and betrayal (all the good stuff). The audience I was with laughed at 2 dramatic scenes but otherwise didn't laugh so take of this what you will (I think one time was unwarranted, the other was an actress overacting a bit with a booger hanging from her nose). The ending was appropriately epic and exciting but those boats sure didn't move fast. The audience cheered a few times in the last act and applauded at the end of the screening. I found the story interesting but at a little over 2 hours, some might think it feels long (I didn't). This is apparently the talented director's dream project and his love for it shines through. It could have been a corny artificial-looking b-movie mess, it turned out epic yet artful. Overall, I really enjoyed the film and I would suggest catching it if you can.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Calling this an Asian PotC rip off would not be fair, since this movie clearly stands on it's own.

THe movie takes place in Malaysia somewhere (I think) around 1800. The main protaginist is a young amn named Pari who wants to be taught in the magic art of Du Lum, a sort of sorcery that uses water and the sea as it's ain element. At the same time the coast is threatened by a pirate named Black Raven (his English name is used througghout the movie, no idea why). He as well as the defending army are searching for a mighty bronze cannon that sunk to the sea many years ago.

While by no means bad, the script is sometimes extremly messy and confusing, switching from persons and scenes too many times. Especially in the first half I didn't know who was attacking who and for what reason. It's a shame really because the props and production values are amazing.

Watch this movie if you are into nautical adventure movies but don't expect a master piece.

This is not a real review, it should be understood more as a collection of impressions on the film.

This film wants to be a huge fantasy colossal full of action and beauty but it is so packed with stuff that it is ridiculously too confusing, so much so that the viewer loses interest in following the whole film and therefore pays less attention and this only makes things worse because then he finds it even more difficult to follow and ultimately arrives at the end of the film having practically understood absolutely nothing. In conclusion, the film must be followed with extreme attention but honestly it is really an effort to follow it and it's not too worth it.

This film is meant to be serious and that is probably a drawback. It is not funny in the Pirates of the Caribbean sort of fantasy way, yet it has similar characteristics and might even be considered a rip off, if Pirates wasn't already a rip off of a cheesy Disney ride. So put all that aside. The story is epic and full of holes, based on a magical type of martial art where you fight with fish. OK, you don't actually fight with fish, but you use fish as part of your power. Got it? This is serious stuff, fighting with fish. Anyway, people breathe underwater, make sonic screams, and hang out a lot with fish. Just saying, if you like bizarre Thai martial arts films, this is certainly one of the more bizarre. Oh yeah, there's one guy with a sword that really kicks some serious ass.

If you prefer your bizarre Thai martial arts films to be less fantastical, may I recommend "Chocolate?"

THIS MOVIE IS AWESOMEEE.... THe scenery and feeling is very much like Pirates of the Caribbean, although the characters of the movies are a bit more special.The special effects are not that great but i don't think Hollywood could have made it better anyways. The scenes looked very good, The photography is very much different from other Thai movies. The soundtrack annoyed me abit, well so did other action movies soundtrack. Ananda Everingham was great as always. I absolutely loved it. its really shows what Thais are capable of. This movie has lots of action scenes. Non-stop action. Some of the scenes reminds me of movies like Troy, etc. The romance is really cute. The acting was good. Love it!!!