Watching "The Protector" is like getting a knee to the face, but in a good way.
Ever since "Star Wars," the movie industry has come to rely more and more on computers to generate the action in action films.
Luckily, one man has been sent from Thailand to put an end to this. His name is Tony Jaa and he spends most of his screen time as Kham in "The Protector," demonstrating the ancient art of ass-kicking.
The reason Kham is so pissed is a group of Asian gangsters killed his father and stole two sacred family elephants that were to be delivered to the king of Thailand. Armed with only his Muay Thai fighting techniques, he journeys to Australia to get the elephants back - with a vengeance.
If you have seen Jaa's previous film, "Ong-bak," then consider "The Protector" its unofficial sequel. Once again, he must fight increasingly impossible odds and break the arms of every person who gets in his way.
For those not yet exposed to Jaa, prepare for awe-inspiring martial arts that make Jackie Chan look like Keanu Reeves.
Jaa performs all the stunts in the movie without any wires or slings. He may not be another pretty Hollywood face, but he makes violence look both stylish and brutal.
Sadly, Jaa's worst enemy is not any of the foes he goes up against in the movie, but actually the film's poor editing. One minute he's fighting Asian gangsters dressed in biker drag and the next he's racing a speedboat.
It is as if the filmmakers fast-forwarded through all the "boring" parts that do boring things like tie scenes together. They might as well have had the bad guy appear on a roof where a helicopter was waiting for them to escape. Oh wait, that happened.
The voice match-up is also an annoyance in "The Protector." While the Thai is subtitled, English-speaking parts often had unmatched lip movement due to apparent dubbing.
However, the worthiness of a martial-arts movie boils down to the fight scenes, which are top notch. They are especially spectacular in the last 30 minutes of the film as Jaa battles increasingly difficult enemies up several stories of a building in a continuous camera sequence.
Overall, "The Protector" satisfies audience bloodlust, avoids taking itself too seriously and has a thumping soundtrack by Wu-Tang Clan's The RZA - an experience well worth $6.50.
3.5 pitchforks out of 5.
Reach the reporter at: michael.chichester@asu.edu
