Zero Tolerance - Auge um Auge

2 GUNS: ZERO TOLERANCE was originally by all accounts a no-star Thai thriller called ANGELS which did very badly on release. So some money-savvy producers decided to re-edit the movie by bringing in a number of foreign martial artists and re-releasing the film as an action thriller. The problem is, the foreigners in the movie are little more than cameo actors and there's a dearth of action in the film which renders it sleep-inducing to all but the most faithful of movie fans.

The main thrust of the plot is a murder mystery featuring the impassive Vietnamese actor Dustin Nguyen. Somebody murdered his daughter and he wants to find out who, so he goes on a rampage of revenge. Or at least that's what they want you to think. Instead, like most Thai films, this is indifferently acted and poorly shot, lacking verve and vitality in every scene, and the (few) brief fights are so poorly handled as to be worthless. Mostly it's all talk, and poorly spoken English, and dialogue that makes little sense.

Poor old Scott Adkins is given prominent billing on the cover but barely appears in the film - he has about five minutes of screen time in a generic role. Japanese star Kane Kosugi is on screen even less. Gary Daniels is here too, but it feels like all of his scenes were shot in a single day because they don't amount to much. ZERO TOLERANCE is one of the most insipid Thai films I've watched, and a good example of that film's lack of current talent when it comes to basic film-making principles.

This was my first Scott Adkins letdown of a movie, but I think that's because even though he is featured prominently on the cover art for the film, he's barely in it and only has about two fight scenes. The story is basically a DEATH WISH setup that takes place in Bangkok, with an ex-covert operative, Dustin Nguyen (the Asian guy from the original 21 JUMP STREET series) hunting down the people responsible for killing his daughter. I had hopes for this movie since it featured an interesting cast that included martial arts regular Gary Daniels (THE EXPENDABLES), Kane Kosugi, the real-life son of 80s ninja movie mainstay Shô Kosugi (ENTER THE NINJA, REVENGE OF THE NINJA, NINJA III: THE DOMINATION, NINE DEATHS OF THE NINJA, etc.), and also Adkins (ACCIDENT MAN, JOHN WICK 4, who I have been binging on lately. The fight scenes are well choreographed but poorly shot, with too many cuts and not giving the audience a clear picture of what's happening. Unless you're a die-hard 21 JUMP STREET fan or a Scott Adkins completionism, skip this one.

I watched this because I am a huge scott adkins fan. Boy was I dissapointed. Great action but Scott is barely in it.

This movie isn't action movie at all. Sure it has some shooting scenes but theres zero hand to hand combat in it which is usually expected from this cast.

Scott adkins on the cover is highly misleading he plays very small role in this and is not lead. The movie simply did that for promotional purposes.

The premise is not bad but direction is slow, draggy, dull, and overall boring. More I watched, more I got a headache.

Diddn't enjoy this movie and dont think many will.

Director Wych Kaos could only improve after releasing the awful TEKKEN 2, and while he does just that with ZERO TOLERANCE, he's still not making the movie that most viewers actually want to see. Talk about unmatched expectations! This film – a thriller disguised as an action feature - is probably the best movie that Kaos has ever done, but that's still not saying much.

The story: When the estranged daughter of an ex-CIA operative (Dustin Nguyen) turns up dead in Bangkok, he and his ex-partner (Sahajak Boonthanakit) delve into the city's underworld to uncover the young woman's shady past and unmask her killer.

To be fair, I don't think that the movie was ever explicitly advertised as a martial arts feature, but when the names used to promote it include Dustin Nguyen, Scott Adkins, Gary Daniels, and Kane Kosugi, one cannot help but expect a lot of hand-to-hand action. Disappointingly, the film does not even provide the bare minimum. There are two full-length brawls, only one of which counts as an actual karate fight (the Nguyen/Adkins showdown), and neither of them are very good – they could have been shot with anybody, with no need for some of the best on screen fighters to get involved. The action content in general is meager, with only three shootouts to otherwise tide viewers over. One of these – a close-range affair in a crowded room – is pretty enjoyable, but breathtaking action clearly isn't this film's objective.

This is a character-driven thriller, and in that regard, the movie isn't bad. Dustin and his costars all generally excel at playing morally ambiguous characters in a sleazy setting. The movie's pacing is infinitely better than the director's previous picture, and though this is not exactly SE7EN, I felt engaged and anxious to find out who the killer was. The eventual resolution is a serious matter of taste – either you'll find it ironically apt or a complete cop-out – but it highlights the earthy tone of the movie that may turn off people who are used to lighter fare. The subject of prostitution is questionable enough for some folks, but there's an odd, uncomfortable strain of chauvinism running through the picture, with abuse of women by both "good guys" and villains being a common occurrence despite the general anti-trafficking sentiment.

Apparently this movie was edited from an unreleased film, with the footage of Adkins and Kosugi shot a couple of years later. It's integrated pretty well – practically unnoticeable unless you know what to look for. This feat of seamlessness is easily the most impressive part of the movie, which otherwise ends up being relatively unremarkable. ZERO TOLERANCE isn't the debacle it could have been, but it's also not nearly as cool as I'm certain most people were hoping for. Know yourself well before considering anything more than a rental.