Nascido para Lutar

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.

In 2003 Thailand produced one of the most jaw dropping action films in recent years in ONG BAK, a throw back to the reckless stunt choreography of Hong Kong cinema. 2004 continues the tradition with BORN TO FIGHT, a film that maintains the philosophy of doing stunts with no special effects, no wires and no stunt doubles. Keanu Reeves need not apply.

The plot of BORN TO FIGHT is very simple. A cop (Choupong Changprung) and his partner are working undercover to capture a drug kingpin/mercenary. The cop succeeds in an over the top opening sequence that leaves both a town and his partner blown to pieces. To get over the loss of his partner, the cop decides to accompany his sister with a group of gymnasts on a humanitarian mission to a small village. But as cinematic bad luck would have it, the thugs of the aforementioned crime boss shows up, take the village hostage and threaten to detonate a nuclear missile unless their leader is released. It is then up to the cop and the villagers to stop them.

The basic premise of BORN TO FIGHT is so standard that it could easily be used for any American action film ("DIE HARD in a village!" is what the execs would call it). What sets it apart from a majority of its action genre brethren are the astounding stunts and fight scenes. Both this film (and ONG BAK for that matter) take me back to the time when a stunt would make me audibly wince in pain for the guy on the receiving end. Knowing that person actually took the bump rather than standing in front of a green screen and being digitally made a bad ass is far more satisfying to me. The adrenaline-pumping trailer, which made the internet rounds during the summer of 2004, contains only a fraction of on screen mayhem contained in this film. The last half hour, where the villagers fight back, is a non-stop battle.

Director Panna Rittikrai, who was the fight choreographer on ONG BAK, utilizes a number of Thai athletes as the heroes. By doing this Rittikrai is able to incorporate their various athletic abilities such as gymnastics, soccer playing and the Thai sport of sepak takraw (which utilizes a hard ball that becomes a formidable weapon). This helps substantially in the film's pursuit to "one up" each previous stunt. However, that is not to say that regular action staples such as gun battles and car chases are left out of the mix. The film contains lots of bloody shootouts, including one done in a long take a la Woo's HARD BOILED. And the vehicular mayhem is ever present with a number of motorcycle stunts that qualify as the most dangerous I have ever seen in a film. In a nod to their influences (particularly Jackie Chan), the filmmakers end the closing credits with footage of the stunts as they happen. Surprisingly, the most dangerous looking ones result in the stuntmen jumping up and signaling they are okay.

With ONG BAK getting a lot of (deserved) hype leading up to its North American theatrical release, it is refreshing to see that the Thai film industry isn't resting on that film's rep. While this film may lack the plot dynamics and production value of ONG BAK (it probably cost half of that), it still manages to deliver on the promise of non-stop action. BORN TO FIGHT is a must see for anyone who was once thrilled to the sight of Yuen Biao kicking a coconut, Sammo Hung getting into a stick fight or Jackie Chan destroying an entire shanty town.

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.

I will start out by saying that "Born to Fight" is an action movie in every sense of the word. It is full of adrenaline and martial arts. However, the movie does suffer from a fairly mediocre storyline.

The story in "Born to Fight" is about a drug bust going awry, when Deaw's boss is killed in an explosion. Upset with the situation, Deaw joins his sister and a group of Thailand's top professional athletes to go to a village to do charity work. However, the village falls prey to terrorists demanding the drug lord released, while they plan to blow up Bangkok with a nuclear missile. But Deaw and the athletes do not sit idly by and let this happen.

There is a lot of action sequences in the movie, and they are really nicely executed, plus filmed in great angles as well. Plus there is a lot of martial arts as well. And they even implemented ways to bring in gymnastics, rugby and soccer into the fights, which for most parts worked out nicely enough. Personally, I think the scenes with the soccer and ball-kicking during gunfights was a little bit too much, it just didn't seem all that plausible.

"Born to Fight" had an impressive array of athletes on the cast list, each displaying some impressive stuff from their given fields of expertise. Dan Chupong (playing Deaw) is a great newcomer to the Thai martial arts movies, and I think we will see more great martial arts movies from him in the future. Acting-wise, well not the best of performances in this movie, but it is not the acting you watch these movies for, it is the sheer, brutal action.

However, the storyline in "Born to Fight" was very predictable, you knew immediately how the movie would end. Plus it was something that didn't bring anything particularly new to the genre. Sure there were new stunts and fights, but the plot in general was generic and stereotypical, which was a shame, because it did bring down the movie a bit. And also, for a Thai action movie, then "Born to Fight" didn't fully bring what you'd expect from it. It had a lot of great action, but in other Thai action movies, you just get that one extra length, which was missing from this movie.

The fighting in "Born to Fight" was great. I, personally, really love watching Thai martial arts movies, because they are so raw, brutal and direct. You can see how feet and hands impact with whatever they are striking, and you can see that it is forceful and hard hitting. Lots of contact with knees and elbows to various parts of the body. And in "Born to Fight" you also have a lot of scenes where people bang against various physical objects; wooden fences, poles, etc. and you can see that it is real and there is a lot of speed and force behind those impacts, which makes you either cringe and curl your toes in sympathy pain, or makes you go 'wow, that is just awesome'. And that is one of the great things about Thai martial arts movies; no wires, no silken gloves, just sheer, pure action.