Skin Trade: Merce umana

'SKIN TRADE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Dolph Lundgren co-wrote and co-stars in this martial arts action flick, alongside Thai superstar Tony Jaa; in his American film debut (in a lead role). Lundgren and Jaa play NYC and Thai detectives, taking on human traffickers in S.E. Asia. The movie was directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham and written by Lundgren, Gabriel Dowrick, Steven Elder and John Hyams (doing uncredited rewrites). It costars Michael Jai White, Ron Perlman, Peter Weller and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. For a low budget B action flick it's pretty well-made; but how can you go wrong with this cast (it's an action movie lover's dream)!

When NYC cop Nick Cassidy (Lundgren) kills the son of a Serbian gangster, Viktor Dragovic (Perlman), his wife and daughter are killed, out of revenge, and Nick ends up in the hospital. When he gets out, he goes rogue and tracks Dragovic to S.E. Asia; the mobster runs a human trafficking ring there. Nick is then pursued by a corrupt F.B.I. agent, named Reed (Jai White), and a Thai Detective, named Tony Vitayakul (Jaa); Tony thinks that Cassidy killed his partner. Nick will stop at nothing to avenge his family and put a stop to the human trafficking network.

The movie reminds me, a lot, of old 80s and 90s buddy B action films; most notably 'SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO' (starring Lundgren and Brandon Lee). It's better made though. With a budget of $9 million, the film has decent enough production values and Uekrongtham's directing is more than adequate. Lundgren did a good enough job writing the script and he's not bad as the action lead either (even at 57-years-old). It's great to see Jaa breaking into American action films as well (between this and 'FURIOUS SEVEN'); hopefully it leads to bigger things. With the additions of Jai White, Weller, Perlman and Tagawa, what more can you really ask for?! It's not a great action film, but it is fun.

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"There is no such thing as a bad Tony Jaa movie." Well this could be the exception.

On paper this was a "dream team" movie and I was anxious to see it.

Lundgrin both produced and wrote. That sounded very promising.

Not only is Tony Jaa in the film but he speaks English and his character is named "Tony." Also very promising.

Also starring Michael Jai White. In my review of Falcon Rising I called him "the most under-used action hero" in the business. Very very promising.

But here the total is less than the sum of its parts:

1. Lundgren wrote himself into a part meant for a 40 year old and he himself is pushing 60. Not cool.

2. Jai White is completely wasted (again!) and wears a suit all the time...?

3. The script is weak and the direction is terrible. Even the action scenes seem "off" by a few seconds here and a few seconds there.

Could have been so much more. The opening is the best part and is downhill from there. Perlman is great. but he never gives less than a great performance anyway.

aHere's a movie of it's worn ilk, that comes off better than you think it will, thanks to some nice little plot differences, it's realistic end, a surprise, leaving a kind of sting in your tale. Face it. There's been so many movies on Human Trafficking, almost more than I've had hot dinners. ST is almost a fresh take on these movies. An aging Dolph who heads a task force against human trafficking, butts heads with a slave trade owner (Ron Pearlman, a nice choice of casting) who in an act of family revenge, (think The Punisher) kill's his beautiful half Asian wife (what a waste) and supposedly daughter. Lundgren's not the only aging actor. His boss and friend, is an almost bald Peter Weller, who looks (pardon me) bloody awful. We also don't have a team player in this task force. Lundgren's furious and no holds barred vendetta to kill Pearlman, becomes the driven plot, in what is an engaging and well made action pic, with not just action to boot. Dolph's force is not the only ones with eyes on Perlman. A Japanese task force is also in operation, a female colleague, working undercover as one of the bought girls. Lundgren's rage and wild antics of course, jeopardizes the Asian operation, headed by Tony Laa. When Dolph enters their territory, being mistaken for the guy who shot Laa's partner and close friend, now he too becomes fueled with revenge. Cary Haya Tagawawa co stars as a another corrupt force and we see a familiar Asian face, at the start, we've seen in too many of these movies, again playing a low down pimp. Skin Trade is exciting action entertainment, a few notches better than others in this weathered slave trade/genre. Don't snub it just cause of it's stereotypical appearance.

Obviously just going through the list of names should and will get people excited (who are into the action genre that is and know their favorites). Having Dolph "team up" with Tony Jaa is a great move. Though it doesn't really matter which side of the law people are, based on the decisions they make during the course of the movie. Which also means, there is quite a bit of fighting ahead of you.

Ron Pearlman does a good job with his accent (playing a Serbian) and there is one particular fight scene (about 20 minutes before the movie ends) that is really good. But there are also cuts in the movie that seem to take note on the "jump cut" book, but don't really work. The overall story is easy to tell, the core of it is something that unfortunately is happening all over the world.

Also Tony Jaas English performance was captured a lot better in Fast 7, there are some weird lines he has to deliver here (not convincingly then). Decently made then, but could've been better

"How do you sleep at night. How can you do this?" Nick Cassidy's (Lundgren) family has just been killed by an international criminal syndicate. His quest for revenge leads him to Thailand where he teams up with Tony (Jaa) a Thai detective who is investigating a human trafficking network. When they realize they are looking for the same group they join forces and try to put an end to the all of it. I have said before these are hard movies to review. Movies with Segal, Van Damme or Lundgren are essentially all the same. Same plot, same idea, same acting. This one is no different, either you like these movies or you don't. That holds true for this one. The biggest problem with this one is that is seemed like the middle part of a 3 part series. The movie opens to what feels like halfway through the actual story. There is really no intro to what is going on and you are trying to play catch up throughout. The way the movie ends felt like, we are out of money, if we can't get more funding we will end it here. There is still more that could have happened to tie it all up but it left you hanging. All that said, most people don't watch these movies for the story or acting and the action is decent enough to keep them interested. As for me, this is just another Lundgren movie. Overall, fans of Dolph will like this, otherwise I would avoid it. I give it a C.