Born to Fight

Where ONG-BAK is a traditional martial arts film that strings a series of muay-thai fights and Jackie Chan-style chase scenes together with a simple plot, BORN TO FIGHT is an action film more akin to DIE HARD. That means plenty of John Woo-esquire gun battles and an incredibly high body count, with a sprinkling of brutal stunts. BORN TO FIGHT is not a sequel to ONG-BAK, its not "the next ONG-BAK", its simply a highly entertaining actioner that will keep fans of this director satisfied until TUM YUM GOONG is released.

The opening sequence, featuring people leaping between 2 moving trucks, is reminiscent of similar classic scenes from POLICE STORY. The story then switches gear, seemingly heading towards simple martial arts film territory (our hero is challenged by a local thug over the affections of a girl) before a hail of gunfire signals a massive change in direction. The next portion of the film is a relentlessly brutal slaughter-fest, as the evil villains randomly gun down villagers without a second thought, to levels you would never see in a Hollywood film. Hans Gruber has nothing on these guys! Finally, after a few false starts and a rendition of the Thai national anthem, our plucky villagers rise up, although quite how they manage to slaughter so many villains in revenge despite being outnumbered, unarmed, and constantly being killed in the gunfire is never entirely clear. What is clear is that the ridiculously gimmicky "gymnastics fights" are fun to watch, the ball-kicking guys who fire kettles and things at the heads of their enemies deserve a SHAOLIN SOCCER type film of their own, and there's nothing cuter than seeing a little kick-boxing girl kick the hell out of a baddie.

Our hero has a few moves of his own, but the film's focus is wider than ONG-BAK, concentrating on the efforts of a team rather than a lone individual, nevertheless he is the star of two wonderful gun battles shot in single takes without cuts: forget DOOM's first-person-shooter scene, this is the true visual embodiment of the modern shooter game, a breathtaking yet agonisingly short sequence inspired by similar sequences in John Woo's HARD BOILED and John Carpenter's THEY LIVE.

What BORN TO FIGHT lacks in coherence, it makes up for in energy. This is the modern equivalent of the kind of crazy rule-breaking action films Hong Kong could churn out so successfully in the 1980s. And its the perfect appetiser for TUM YUM GOONG to come.

Well I'm still quite impressed or just stunned with the lengths these guys will go to for a stunt. I wouldn't be surprised if there really were some casualties at the end of the filming. But anyway, as a newcomer to Thai cinema, I can say that the actual fight sequences are choreographed pretty well, the elaborate death blows thrown in the world of Muay Thai are seen here, along with a little different touch as well. As good as the choreography is, the lack of coherency far out paces it though, which leads me to believe that the story is just somehow weaved in-between these high flying fight scenes. Which I think is further shown with the always surprising use of the slow-motion instant replay (for all of us with broken rewind buttons?), which they use for those really sweet stunts. But hey, since when do judge an action movie by it's coherence, that would take out all the fun out of it. While not a great movie it is still quite entertaining, and if you don't actually speak Thai well you can probably skip the subtitles seeing as the dialogue adds little too the movie, just watch these little thai guys running around jumping off stuff and you'll be alright.

cheers

A rookie cop and his experienced partner capture a notorious drug lord, but the older cop is killed. The cop joins his sister, a competitive Tae Kwon Do fighter, and a group of athletes to a small village to deliver donated items they need. While they are there, armed men working for the same drug lord (there's a coincidence) invade the village and demand the release of their boss or they'll kill everyone in the village. Initially cowed by the extreme violence visited on them by their captors, the villagers are roused to patriotic action by their national anthem and the cop, the athletes and the villagers strike back at their captors. This is not a clever movie. The plot and the characters are all about the level of sophistication you would expect from a cheap straight-to-video action flick. What this has going for it is some incredible stunt work and fight choreography. The opening action sequence has some great stunt work involving trucks, but that's nothing compared to the last half hour of this film which is one continuous action sequence. The fight choreography is particularly engaging since the athletes ... gymnasts, soccer players, even a one-legged soccer player ... all use the tools of their sports to fight the bad guys. Not a great film, but a joy if you can turn your brain off and marvel at the stunt work.

First of all, be wary of anyone who gives a score of 1. Only completely objectionable and morally bankrupt pursuits could warrant such a score.

Kerd ma lui is an action film that follows the life of an undercover Thai cop who is ailing from the recent loss of a partner. To salve his pain and to fulfill his duty as his sister's guardian, he decides to take some time to travel to an outlying village on a mission of good will. Whilst there, the village is overrun by murderous terrorist with sinister motives, not least of which being to indiscriminately slaughter innocent villagers for all the world to see.

The story in Kerd ma lui is solid and well paced. The cast of characters are adequate and they all serve their immediate purpose. There's a good deal of nationalism in the film as it does deal with terrorism and nuclear holocaust, but the Thai nationalism was refreshing to me as it offered a perspective that I had never before experienced. It was nowhere as political as the nationalism prevalent in many US films, but it was inspiring never the less.

The real meat of the film is its action. It's a reckless brand of stunt mastery that actually inspires fear and concern for the performers. Each stunt and flawless take seems to tempt fate. For example, trucks perform jumps only to land a couple of feet away from an actor's head. And though some of the choreographed fights between the less skilled performers utilize camera tricks for impact effect, there are some fights with hits that simply aren't pulled--high flying moves full of so much momentum and speed that they need to be slowed down in order to be appreciated. Speaking of slow motion, it's used quite liberally throughout the film. I've heard complaints against this, but it's important to note that some of the choreography would simply not be seen at 24 fps.

Kerd ma lui is a good film that has a lot more going for it than Ong bak. It has a deeper storyline and characters that are likable and interesting. The suspense is more genuine and the fights aren't as repetitive. Comparisons to Ong bak aside, Kerd ma lui manages to be a decent film that is certainly worth a watch and, as always, it provides a glimpse into a foreign approach to the action genre. Without doubt, the Thais have succeeded in creating an action fighter that outperforms many of its counterparts from the west.

Oh, I have an idea. Let's build a village, put some people there and then some evil men who shoot them. But here is the thing: They have athletes among them who will fight. Oh, and in the end let's blow up the village. That way we don't even have to tidy up a set. Let's call it ''Born to Fight''. If you want to see one and a half hour of people getting killed then this is your movie. They didn't waste time for something called a storyline or dialogue. OK given, the stunts are brilliant, probably some of the best ever filmed. But if I only want to see stunts I watch a broadcast of a martial arts tournament. The ''actors/actresses'' have nothing more than a few lines before the killing starts. No character depth, no development and no acting. There are probably 15 minutes without killing, not even done ''nicely''. You can't even memorize the names before the ''action'' starts. Also, I don't call it fighting but killing, on purpose. The movie is like an ego-shooter, like a scene from Rambo. The basic story was actually OK and you could see that the actors/actresses would have been able to act if given the chance. The characters just didn't interact at all with each other. Everyone says hi and that's it. Bum, bam, shot people falling down, an explosion here and there. The End. What a waste.