...OK, I'll admit it. As much as this ardent fan of the martial arts genre claims to have seen just about everything, from old-school chop socky flicks, to the past two or three decades of the new breed of cinematic martial arts dynamics, as well as the varied and eclectic martial arts superstars, associated with those eras, I...uh, I had yet to formally initiate myself with the reportedly powerhouse presence of the new kid on the block, Thailand's martial arts superstar, Tony Jaa. Granted, for the most part, having always had my ear to the rail, cinematically, I haven't found myself so out of the loop, that I had not heard of the lad, and in fact, considering his impact on the genre...in a relative short time, no less...it has been rather difficult to avoid the varied revelry of his skills and performances, movie-wise. To his credit...early, lesser known roles led to his initial showcase appearance in the first "Ong Bak" film; soon after, having impressed producer/director Quentin Tarantino, Tony impactedly hit the mainstream, with 2005's Tarantino-presented "The Protector". Further reportedly dynamic performances in the continuing "Ong Bak" franchise followed, thus cementing Tony's respectable place in the martial arts genre...
...and despite this viewer having yet to be film-view privy of Tony Jaa's genre-affecting film work to date, yet still cannot help but be blown away by his indomitable presence, by mere virtue of pieces/parts action footage, as well as what has been said about him...by critics, knowledgeable martial arts film aficionados and general audiences alike...along comes his latest, a follow-up to box-office smash, "The Protector". And again, despite this viewer's impression of they guy, even in having not seen any of his previous films...and yet, going into "The Protector 2", despite how dynamically action packed the film is...even I cannot help but feel compelled to ask, "...uh, what happened??"...
...Kham is in the throes of a rather disdaining situation. His elephant...his companion and 'brother', from the first film...has been stolen, and in trying to find & retrieve the beast, he becomes mistakenly implicated in the murder of a local elderly elephant camp proprietor...the body of which he had been discovered with, after he had stopped in to visit the old man, in the midst of his search for his elephant friend. With local law enforcement, as well as the old man's high skilled fighter nieces in hot pursuit, Kham high-tails it from home, in further searching for his elephant 'brother'...
...in the meantime, it seems that Kham's reputation as a skilled fighter, despite his outskirts obscurity, has reached some interesting levels...in particular, that of inner-city gangster, LC (RZA), who through sinister and underhanded means, has demanded an audience with Kham, in order to recruit him into his collected army of top-notch, highly skilled fighters. With the able-bodied assistance of a friend in Interpol, Kham finds himself compelled to dive full-brunt fisted into the fray...thwarting the recruiting efforts of LC...taking on his collection of martial arts warriors & henchmen...staying several steps ahead of law enforcement, until such time he can prove his innocence...and at the same time, finding out what happened to his beloved and trusted elephant friend...
...sigh...where to start, on this one...and we'll gloss over the inane predictability of the story, itself, and it's demandant insistance of the viewer to dispell even the most inkling of logic, 'kay?? And we'll begin with a focused slam on the very reason why we, as devoted martial arts film fans, relished these films: the jaw-dropping action. Only, chop socky ain't all that chop-socky 'jaw-dropping' when the the fight choreography is stutteringly mismatched and lackluster. An eclectic variety of seemingly formidable and highly skilled martial arts dynamos, backed by a veritable army of generic henchmen fighters are a-plenty, herein...but like lambs to the invariable slaughter, waiting for their turn to get torn asunder...falling like dominoes, they appear to offer little to no challenge to the Kham character...like they're pulling their punches, if only to make martial arts actor Tony Jaa look all that more dynamic. It's the classic 'superman' complex, in that if the fight looks too easy for the hero, no matter how well choreographed...if there doesn't seem to be any semblance of challenge, what's the point, right??...
...ya' know?? Once upon a time, even with the most minimal wire works, there were many a proudly daredevil-ish martial arts star, who not only openly and a bit conceitedly relished having done their own stuntwork in their movies, but also, putting their words into action, as they indeed are shown jumping, flying, fighting and bouncing around their scenes, amidst wayward buildings and real speeding vehicles, with nary a visual special effect or stunt double to be heard of (...what was it that Stuntman Mike said about 'real cars, crashing into real cars...with really crazy dumb drivers, driving 'em'??). My, my...have times changed, even for today's breed of martial arts films; in the case of "Protector 2", the action...as inarguably dynamic and breath-taking as it
does look...almost comes off a cartoonish, with Tony Jaa and the rest of the cast, acting and reacting to points in space, which are later replaced by CGI objects, weapons, cars, etc. Kinda 'takes the piss' out of action-packed proceedings, in the long run...
...even the casting of RZA, in the dastardly and sadistic role of LC, seems ordinary...even stereotypical; it's no real secret that the pop artist has a yen for the martial arts film, having assumed a starring role in 2012's "Man with the Iron Fist", as well as duking it out with David Belle and the late Paul Walker, in this year's early actioner, a remake of 2004's "District B13", called "Brick Mansions"; however, as colorful as his performed characterizations have been known to be, in the films he has been featured in, his stint in "Protector 2" can pretty much be pegged as negligible and cookie-cutter generic, with nothing really new explored, as far as villainous roles of this particular flavor...
...for this viewer, it's not entirely certain what kind of impression that "Protector 2" was trying to make on the martial arts genre, especially after the surprise, runaway success of the lackluster film's juggernaut predecessor; whereas the first film might have used a permanent marker, to make such a 'mark', the follow-up film seems content with using the easily quelchable and snuffable markings of the dry-erase type...Go Figure.....
No comments:
Post a Comment