Triple Threat (2019)

Iko Uwais vs Tony Jaa: ***

Tony Jaa vs Thai Boxer: **

Iko Uwais vs Tiger Chen: ***3/4

Tony Jaa vs Steiner: ***

Iko Uwais vs Jeeja Yanin: **3/4

Tiger Chen vs Michael Bisping: **3/4

Iko Uwais vs Michael Jai White: ***1/2

Tiger Chen vs Michael Bisping: ***1/4

Tony Jaa/Iko Uwais vs Scott Adkins: ***3/4

Tony Jaa vs Scott Adkins: ****





I thought it was interesting how each of the three leads were booked in this movie. At first I thought Iko's character was meant to be the lead but by the end it was clear to me it was Tony Jaa. Iko barely wins any fights in this movie. He has a stalemate with Jaa early on, which makes sense. He then immediately loses to Chen, which is fine. He defeats Yanin (who I wish had more to do in this flick) in a short skirmish, but in his final clash with White is totally dominated. White beats him down and it's only with Chen's help and a convenient spike that he wins. Villains losing to conveniently placed spikes has got to be one of my least favorite martial arts film tropes. I don't understand why Iko couldn't just beat White straight up; maybe the idea of him defeating a man twice his size, who also knows martial arts, seemed unrealistic to folks. I'm so used to Iko being booked stronger than this so it was weird.

Jaa and Chen, meanwhile, win just about every fight they're in. Chen beats Bisping twice and Jaa gets to beat final boss Adkins. This is to be expected for the heroes but it's just interesting to me how much more shine they get compared to Iko.

The fighting gets really good once Adkins gets involved. Bisping is a bit stiff, clearly still new to the art of screen fighting and White is someone I find hit or miss, depending on the level of the fight directors and choreographers he works with. He was good in his clash with Iko. Chen had to carry Bisping, clearly. Adkins was tremendous as usual. His attacks look so powerful and he clearly conveys a sense of intent with his strikes. You totally buy him handling both Jaa and an injured Iko in a 1 v 2 situation.

The grouping of all this talent was neither a major letdown nor a blow away success. I would very much enjoy a sequel, even if the rogues gallery would no longer include Adkins or White. The three leads are talented enough to leave me wanting more. Recommended.

Nightshooters (2018)

Donnie vs Thugs: ***1/2

Donnie vs Asian/White Thug: ***3/4

Donnie vs Asian Thug: ****1/4

Donnie vs Black Thug: ****1/4





There was true suspense in this movie and the setup for the heroes' plight and fight for survival was clever and well reasoned. The stakes felt real as they establish multiple times throughout the movie that a happy ending is not necessarily guaranteed. The villains are charismatic as well as ruthless.

There are little character moments that the actors get that I really enjoyed, which helps because the downside to this type of cat and mouse go-go action style is the characters are not very fleshed out. The sound guy's acting stands out as really good, however. They kind of set up the lead actor character as one to be redeemed but he does almost nothing through the movie.

The highlight is definitely the action and use of explosives. Jean-Paul Ly is becoming one of my favorite modern screen fighters. He looked even better here than in Jailbreak.

Really dug this. Highly recommended.

Vengeance Of An Assassin (2014)

Soccer game: 3.25/5


Warehouse Fight: 3.25/5


Dr. Si Foo vs Assassins: 3.75/5


Garage/Train fight: 3.5/5


Than vs Assassins: 3.75/5


Than vs Pod: 2.75/5



Man, this was disappointing. Well, since this was Panna Rittikrai's last film (as a director) let's start with the positives. The best action scene in the movie isn't rated here by me because it's a shootout. Dan Chupong shoots his way through bad guys through a 4 minute long take with machine guns, grenades and explosions galore. You might be wondering, does Dan Chupong dual wield machine guns through the whole scene? The answer is yes. 

The choreography in the hand to hand action is on point. Panna was a true master at that. Very dynamic stuff, and Nantawooti Boonrapsap outperforms Chupong in that regard. 

The best fight in the whole movie is when the old Chinese Doctor beats up a bunch of henchmen. The henchmen walk into a dark room. The lights turn on, and the old man appears in the middle of them all, and proceeds to punch, kick and palm strike them all to unconsciousness. Save for one guy who runs away. Then the lights go out again, and the old man disappears. Like a kung fu Undertaker. That was awesome. 

Ok, now to the bad stuff. This movie is very fragmented. It doesn't make a lot of sense. A lot of character motivations are nonexistent and each character lacks depth. They're mostly a bunch of archetypes thrown together. The stoic hero, the damsel in distress, the arrogant villain, the valiant young hero, the badass femme fatale, the wise old Chinese kung fu doctor (seriously he is awesome, though). And all of this would be fine if we had any reason to care about these characters. None is given.

Also, the CGI. Oh my God the CGI. I know it's commonplace to complain about CGI in action movies, but this is about as bad as it gets. The fight scene inside the train, is really well done, including Boonrapsap using a chicken bone as a weapon to slice up henchmen. Great stuff. Then they go on top of the train. And the rest of this action sequence is green screened. All of it. It distracts from some of the great choreo and stunt work being done because it's so obvious no one is on a moving train. Thai cinema got attention from practical stunt work, so I have no idea why they do this. The scene gets dumber, when the train ends up colliding with a falling helicopter. There's more details as to why this is really dumb, but just know that it is. 

Did I mention, by the way, that The Chinese Doctor only speaks English the whole way through the film? He doesn't even speak Chinese, ever. He's a doctor living in Thailand who can't speak any Thai and only ever speaks English. It's ludicrous. 

I'm sure there were more dumb things but I can't remember them all. This movie reminded me of Furious 7 at times, and that's NOT what I want in my Thai action cinema. I would say skippable, but since it's Panna's last film...give it a shot. 

SPL 2: A Time For Consequences (2015)

Chatchai vs Kit: 3/5


Prison Riot Fight: 3.5/5


Ah-zai vs Cops: 2.25/5


Kit, Wah & Chatchai vs henchmen: 3/5


Kit vs Ah-zai: 3.25/5


Fight in the Dark: 2.75/5


Kit & Chatchai vs henchmen & Ko Chun: 3.75/5



A lot of people compare this movie to The Raid 2. I don't quite see it. The Raid 2 is an excellent sequel to an excellent movie. SPL 2 is a good sequel to a good movie. I guess the tones are similar as well as both movies featuring a cop going undercover and also being in a prison when a prison fight breaks out. But that's about where it ends.

I gotta say, this is the best Tony Jaa movie since Ong Bak 2 (not counting Furious 7). It might even be his best work, overall. As an actor and a screen fighter, he's one of the better parts of the film. Wu Jing is also great. A better actor than Jaa, but towards the end of his screen fighting prime, he carries the film's emotional weight.

There are a bunch of good fights in this movie, but not one truly great fight. There's also some suspect use of wire fu. Considering this is a modern crime film, seeing guys fly through the air can be jarring. Jing and Jaa square off in the first fight and it's solid stuff, if a bit short. The prison fight is also good with a lot of moving parts and long takes. I do slightly prefer The Raid 2's prison fight, though.

The knife vs nightstick fight towards the end, clearly an homage to Wu Jing vs Donnie Yen in one of the best fights of all time from the first SPL, is not in the same league as the original. It's a good fight, it only suffers by comparison. However, when "store the sun" plays in the minutes leading up to that, I got real excited. That's one of the more iconic fight scene themes ever, to me.

Let's talk about Max Zhang, the Big Bad of this flick. He's quite good here. The main problem I have with him, and his part in the finale, is the wire work. A pet peeve of mine is when a character is a lot stronger than the others, seemingly only because he's fighting on wires while they are not. Jaa and Jing are kicking ass the whole movie with straight Muay Thai and Wushu. Zhang's flying around throwing wire kicks. But that's not his fault.

The finale is the best fight in the movie. Jaa taking out the henchmen is some of the better choreography I've seen all year. It's also such a breath of fresh air to see Muay Thai used in a modern, Hong Kong action film. Wu Jing plays such a good hero, night and day from his original SPL character. One thing this movie does well is have the heroes always fighting from underneath. Jing and Jaa are beat to hell by the time they have to take on Zhang.

The best part of the finale is when Jaa squares off with Zhang. Jaa attempts Muay Thai moves he's been using effectively the whole movie and Zhang has a counter for all of them. Such smart choreography. Because of course, Zhang has seen Jaa fight before, so he has that advantage. It devolves after that, though. The 2 on 1 stuff has more wire fu and unfortunately the fight has an implausible conclusion. There's also a weird side part with Jaa's daughter that felt unnecessary.


It's a solid action movie with some really good parts. All in all, Mildy Recommended.

Tom Yum Goong 2 (2013) aka The Protector 2

House Fight: 1.25/5

No. 20 vs No. 31: 2/5

Kham vs Bikers: 2.25/5

Kham vs Sisters vs Thugs: 2.75/5

Kham vs No. 02: 3.5/5

Kham vs Security: 2/5

Kham/Ping vs Thugs/02: 3.5/5

Kham vs No. 02: 3.5/5

Kham vs Thugs: 2.5/5

Kham vs No. 02 on Train Tracks: 3/5

Kham vs No. 00: 2.25/5

End Fight: 2.5/5

Man, how disappointing. There's a really long action/chase scene towards the beginning that just bored me. Jeeja Yanin's character is underutilized, as she's presented as being a tier below all of the top fighters in the movie. There's also an overuse of wires and special effects (which Jaa became famous for not using) and the choreography isn't strong enough to make up for it. The final fights see Rza taking on Jaa, and although Rza looks better here than he did in his own movie (Jaa makes for a better opponent than Batista), it's still underwhelming. 

The only fights here worth watching are between Marrese (No. 02) and Jaa. Marrese is not bad. Their final duel develops an interesting concept in which Jaa and Marrese electrify their own bodies. It might've been cool if it was in a better movie, and also if it wasn't cheapened by internet lightsaber sound effects. Still, all of their fights are good, none of them are great.

As a movie overall it feels less inspired than the first Tom Yum Goong. Jaa fans and hardcore fans should watch, but skippable for everyone else.