Born to Fight

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

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.

Reviewer Niz sums this movie up really well, but I have to add that some of the fighting was so bad it had me laughing. A lot of it actually. The inclusion of "Gymnastics Battle Bad Guys" was a really bad idea and had me laughing the hardest. The weapons a drug kingpin could buy in 2004 is amazing and the few cgi effects weren't really passable, but fit in with this movie as a throwback to the 80's.

I did feel a little guilty from the laughing as you could see they put a lot of blood, sweat, effort, and little money into making this film and some of the scenes worked really well (the first gun draw at the beginning, etc..) but the cheese scenes are grade A. I didn't see any wire work and some of the stunts made me cringe as I know they had more then one "ouchee" through this shoot and they used slow-mo a lot so you could feel the pain for yourself.

Watch the end credits to see some for yourself.

A lot of films try to trick you into buying/watching a movie based on some names attached and may not live up to the hype. This movie is similar in the sense it attach's tag lines such as "from the creators of Ong-Bak and The Protector" .however this movie lives up to those movies in many ways and if you loved those movies, this ones for you. Although it's a bit mindless, just look at what these guys do best and thats inventive action scenes. which include awesome fights, insane stunts. They deliver a fast paced, adrenaline fuelled movie. Iv'e watched it several times and is a must watch for action fans. Take it for what it is and don't think too much, just sit back and enjoy the action.

Overall 7/10

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.