Coyote Cinema: Tom Yum Goong
Jan. 21st, 2011 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyranoTYG is the 'international' (read: not chopped and edited) version of Tony Jaa's The Protector.
I have not seen The Protector because I'd heard it was a steaming hot pile of I Don't Get It, and the plot made a little more sense in the uncut version. And I will say that, barring the cavernous plot holes, the plot could be followed. The plot boils down to: Symbolic treasure is stolen from small village by callous mercenaries and taken to big city. Which seems to be the boiled down plot of every Tony Jaa picture ever. And usually the plot is not a big deal for a martial arts picture because we're there for the set pieces. Unfortunately, Muay Thai is a very direct and brutal art which does not always lend itself well to showy displays. Also unfortunately, Tony Jaa seems to only really operate in two modes: Tony stands/lies there and gets the shit kicked out of him, and Tony destroys everything everywhere. So even the set pieces don't feel dramatically interesting. The Capoeira fighter in the monastery was *amazing* to watch. The extended steadicam fight scene was fascinating technically. And I laughed at the 'Jackie Chan' cameo, and at the 'Hey! Don't pirate DVDs!' bit. There were enough bits that were pretty or engaging or fun that I'm glad I watched it.
Coyote says three wags.
I have not seen The Protector because I'd heard it was a steaming hot pile of I Don't Get It, and the plot made a little more sense in the uncut version. And I will say that, barring the cavernous plot holes, the plot could be followed. The plot boils down to: Symbolic treasure is stolen from small village by callous mercenaries and taken to big city. Which seems to be the boiled down plot of every Tony Jaa picture ever. And usually the plot is not a big deal for a martial arts picture because we're there for the set pieces. Unfortunately, Muay Thai is a very direct and brutal art which does not always lend itself well to showy displays. Also unfortunately, Tony Jaa seems to only really operate in two modes: Tony stands/lies there and gets the shit kicked out of him, and Tony destroys everything everywhere. So even the set pieces don't feel dramatically interesting. The Capoeira fighter in the monastery was *amazing* to watch. The extended steadicam fight scene was fascinating technically. And I laughed at the 'Jackie Chan' cameo, and at the 'Hey! Don't pirate DVDs!' bit. There were enough bits that were pretty or engaging or fun that I'm glad I watched it.
Coyote says three wags.