The Fifth Commandment (2008) User Reviews (16)

Not supposed to be Ong Bak

[k_pocamadre · 6/10 · 26 May 2009]

Kristal, the fifth commandment is "Thou shalt not kill" for the overwhelming number of Christians in the world. There are a few protestant sects that split the First Commandment into two and then combine the ninth and tenth into one. For them the Fifth would end up as "Honour you father and mother". However for Catholics, Orthodox, and other historical churches, the Fifth Commandment it the one that prohibits murder.

That said, this is not a great movie but this isn't supposed to be an epic movie that takes itself too seriously. Instead, it is simply an action film worthy of a couple hours distraction.

Not Bad, Get It On DVD

[chicagopoetry · 6/10 · 20 December 2008]

The Fifth Commandment (TFC) is the real deal. The action is fierce. The tension is explosive. The camera work is dazzling. This highly stylized exploration of ass whoop reminds us of A Better Tomorrow, one of the earliest John Woo films. That one wasn't perfect either, but it is in that imperfection, in that grit, that the beauty of it lies, and through that movie both John Woo and Chow Yun Fat were recognized internationally. The characters in TFC are hilarious in a comic book sort of way. This slam bam thank you ma'am action smack down is a fitting tribute to the great low budget martial arts films of the seventies and eighties. The litmus test for this movie is: did you enjoy Ong Bak? If you did, this isn't quite as good but you do not want to miss this bad ass whack fest. The Fifth Commandment is not quite The Killer or Hard Boiled, but, come one, what movie is. In its own right, this is a heavy duty no holds barred celebration of violence as a choreographed art form. Of course the plot is thin! It's not supposed to be Scent of A Woman, for crying out loud. An assassin hired to kill a Jennifer Lopez look alike doesn't take the job because it would involve killing his own brother so the people who hired him are now out to get him. Duh. Transporter 3, which has a similar plot, is a joke compared to this one. Kill Bill was only making fun of movies like TFC. Too bad it doesn't have a better ending. The last half hour drags on and ruins the entire experience.

Er? it's not the FIFTH commandment

[jonathanportch · 6/10 · 5 March 2009]

It does actually say quite a lot about the movie that they think the fifth commandment is "thou shalt not kill" It isn't. Gives you some idea of the lack of attention involved in producing the movie. As a kick-fest, with guns and explosions thrown-in, it stands with some merit, though the production values are not of the best. The plot is fairly simple, yet made confusing in an attempt to give it depth. The acting is pretty good given the limited script. The sound track is pointlessly noisy in all the wrong places. In all, it gives the feeling of an early eighties effort: a pleasant enough diversion for a rainy day, but don't expect to be blown away.

Exhausted

[kosmasp · 2/10 · 12 April 2009]

I really like Rick Yune and it really isn't easy rating the movie that low. But I just can't rate the movie higher. As another reviewer wrote, you could give Rick Yune an "A" for his efforts. But it might have been better, if someone else would have written the story, someone (many?) would have helped him with the producing part and maybe if the movie had stronger leads.

The acting is way below average, but then again, the script doesn't seem to have anything that anyone could hold onto. The female lead might be beautiful, but is totally misplaced. While I'm writing about all this, some of you might wonder, why I haven't lost a word about the action sequences. After all this is an action movie and the really important part is the choreography of these scenes. I'd say that they save the movie from a "1" rating, but as the time and the stunts have progressed the last year, coming up with stunts like these, won't really cut it. There's Ong Bak, Tom Yum Goong and also Donnie Yen's and Jet Li's latest efforts. Even for a fan of the genre, this won't appeal to you. I hope for Rick Yune, that he finds better projects in the future.

A must see...for the wrong reasons

[Heislegend · 2/10 · 26 November 2008]

If for no other reason one should view this movie as a perfect example one two things. First being why you should not let an actor of questionable talent write, produce, and star in his own film. Second would be how not to make a movie...period. I suppose I'll give Rick Yune an "A" for effort seeing as how he wrote the story, produced the film, and starred in it. That's got to take a lot of work. That does not, however, excuse his lackluster performance and the stinted dialogue of the lead and pretty much all characters. Even Keith David, a talented character actor who almost always seems to pick lousy roles, couldn't do much even with the rather limited time he's on screen. In the time Yune spent putting his name all over this thing he could've done things like...oh, I don't know...learned how work with a fight choreographer. The young Chance, played by the ridiculously-named-but-very-talented young martial artist Boo Boo Stewart, wastes his time impressing with his skills early. Then Yune pitches all of that out the window by displaying the martial arts skills of a bag of hammers. What action sequences there are do not come off as anything special and some almost yawn-inducing. Sadly this movie could have been a showcase for the potential of more than just Yune, but it trips out of the gate and just continues falling farther and farther back until you don't even care how it ends. Well, at least I didn't.

Not quite Ong Bak

[krystal-43 · 26 March 2009]

I would just like to point out that the 5th Commandment on the Holy Bible is actually honor thy Father and Mother, not "Do not kill" as the theme song for the movie goes. So the title already sets the mood for the rest of the picture - a bit of a joke. I would like to know who came up with the title as they made a serious booboo? I went to the DVD store to pick out a fighting movie that we could all say "how cool was that?" to, but unfortunately i picked this movie. the cover seemed good but the explanation was slightly off, going into life theories and morals etc - not really describing what is to come. I was seriously disappointed in the acting abilities of the 3 main characters, especially Angel. They might as well have held the script up and read it straight with no emotion, because even no emotion is better than fake emotion. The one single part in Ong Bak where the guy fly kicks the other fighter and says the most cheesiest and random line ever "the mustang has galloped on your face" was still better than the entire 5th/6th Commandment Movie. Krystal

a nice trailer, nothing more

[maitre_des_ombres · 2/10 · 17 March 2009]

When i heard of this movie, it was very promising,like Bangkok dangerous or sort of.But hell no.The movie begins confusing and you actually don't get the right idea of the characters.The the plot goes even more confusing at the concert and keeps it's way of lame events all the way to the end.The boss-fight at the end is total OMG the collateral dmg guy was supposed to use some kind of sharp weapon not a kung fu pan.For those who don't know there are a lot of way cooler weapons in kung fu.By the way i've always thought that the evil mean guy in any movie shouldn't do kung fu, because it's kinda a defensive matrial art and it's philosophy is quite calming and purifying and he is a f**king psycho.The ending is lame as expected.I was expecting some kind of Big Hit ending where "main" hero was supposed to grab the girl after dealing with the mean dude, but no the makers of this had better idea:she keeps on singing some sappy pop-trash and he is somewhere.Rofl really... If after all this you've red you still want to watch the movie better rent it from some tormented soul

Gimme a Break - lil spoiler

[ashsdarr · 2/10 · 27 November 2008]

I was really mentally fatigued so i decided to spend the evening with something mindless, just dribble in fact. It turned out more than i expected but less than what i wanted it to be. Rick Yune if given a chance IE, left the writing to professionals and concentrating his efforts on his acting, has a real potential to be ranked amongst Chow Yun Fat and those type of actors, but his skill has to improve, as well as his close hand combat choreography. They attempted a hand to hand scene trying to pull off the Bourne and Asset fight off in the last movie, but it was too messy and not visually fluid like you would have expected. Clichéd dialogue and plot tears this movie to shreds. I mean Van Damme, Snipes, Lundgren have all exhausted this regurgitated storyline and see what happened to them. I must say the editing was OK for a bad movie. The girls were sexy as in any B movie, but i don't think we will ever see the lead actress (? Ramirez)again as her performance was so unrealistic and paper thin. She is an Ashanti type artist. She carries a 9mm in her stockings while she is in concert, i mean come on. I am an avid movie goer and this movie gave me an opportunity to exercise my movie analytic skills, eg what bad fight choreography looks like, or what a script should avoid etc etc. So much for a mindless evening, ironic isn't it.

It's not going to make us forget IP Man

[Unbreakable27 · 2/10 · 3 March 2011]

The previews actually made this movie look much better than it actually is. I popped it in one evening expecting something like The Replacement Killers, Kill Zone or Flash Point. Boy was I sorely disappointed. Who do I see about getting the last two hours of my life back? I would have just assumed took a lit match to my 20.00 bill and felt it would've been better spent.

The plot is nothing we haven't seen before. Rogue assassin suddenly gets a conscience, protects the girl, former allies now after him. At least when Ninja Assassin adopted this recycled storyline, they made it interesting.

And is it just me, or did anyone else find the lead actress totally annoying? If I were Rick Yune's character at some point I'd have grown tired of her and been like 'Screw it go out there and get killed.'

After having watched fight scenes in movies like Ong-Bak, Kill Zone, Ip Man, and Rapid Fire, the fights in this movie are a total snooze-fest. It brings nothing new to fight choreography. Even somewhat dull fights you can make look pretty interesting with the right music score and the right camera work. Rick should stick to acting out other people's scripts, not writing his own.

Surprisingly fun, and some "Chuck Norris"ish scenes.

[TheSoundAndMusicGuy · 7/10 · 12 December 2011]

As a stereotypical action film review, I intend to split this review into "starter, main course, and dessert" for your action enjoyment:

The film really kicks off 13 minutes in where our main man Rick Yune displays exceptional gunplay ability, with a particular penchant for shredding his enemies' legs apart with wave after wave of lead. And this is just for starters...

Take one scene, Bokeem Woodbine lays the smackdown on a group of around 8 assailants, all while being unarmed. Why? Maybe his character is some scientific mash up of Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal. I don't know. In any case, the scene is pulled off with stylish camera work, and some cool looking fisticuffs. This main course is action packed, enjoyable, with a side order of dead bodies. Maybe...close to 100 of them.

And if that hasn't sated your appetite, for dessert, the antagonist (Roger Yuan) is exceptionally brutal and convincing in his attempts to kill everything in between him and his target (Dania Ramirez). The target who is such an arrogant, obnoxious character that at one point I was secretly hoping for her to get gunned into tiny, tiny pieces.

Conclusion: The plot is perhaps nothing to write home about. But the action is solid, the pacing is good, and all the ingredients of a great action movie are here for you to enjoy in some kind of crazy action soup.

(Thanks for sticking with all these food references!)

Not exactly action star status

[jordondave-28085 · 2/10 · 31 March 2023]

Mar 21, 2022

(2008) The Fifth Commandment ACTION

Co-produced and written by Rick Yune who was taken by Max 'Coolbreeze' Templeton (Keith David) in as an orphan after their parents death oblivious by the viewers how with a natural born son, Miles (Bokeem Woodbine) of his own. Both are trained in martial arts but as they both grow older they would go leading separate lives. One works as head of security, while the other goes as a contract killer. Although they become estranged as soon as they became adults, they would eventually collide with one another when the latest hit list is on to a popular singer Angel (Dania Ramirez) Miles was supposed to protect playing in Bangkok.

Good Movie

[kankawin25013 · 8/10 · 13 April 2010]

The Fifth Commandment is an average action movie. Not so good and not so bad. In the good side, its action sequences is quite well at one point. The movie doesn't make suck cinematography like some action DVD movie which make me fretful even the crew has a limited budget. Its drama scene also very good indeed especially between the brothers. Rick Yune and Bokeem Woodbine can make sense to me because of their imperfect lives. The movie is very proper in how to mix action and drama scenes.

Not only that but also how the crew make some thrilling things like the role of Max "Cool Breeze" Templeton. He maybe the bad guy who is the mastermind behind everything but at last, he is the really father who care their child so much! However, in the bad side. The Fifth Commandment has some unreasonable section of its plot. First, Miles Templeton should not died too fast. I actually expect when he died that he would come back surprisingly in the climax to help his younger brother, but my guess is wrong which make me unsatisfyingly.

Second, the movie is over the top in many point! Not only police in the movie who was killed too easily (Even in the police station!!!) but also the scene which Chance was tortured by the police. Hey! the story occurred in Thailand. Why you put some foreigner in that scene rather than use all of them Thai people? OK! They maybe police at all but that's very corny about some guy who was tortured in Thai police station by Thai police and foreigner police! (I mean those police in the movie only, not in reality.) And the last one, they make Thai police's look so bad! To be killed like a piece of cake and their barbaric action in Chance's torture scene. (I want to complain about that because I'm Thai people!) About the cast, even I feel unsuitable about Rick Yune's leading role because of his look, but I grant him later because his action is fit with the role. Roger Yuan has a fit look as the villain, not too much and not less than the standard. He makes me remember about Mr.Hertz in Shoot 'Em Up who died so hard and looks nasty. Bokeem Woodbine and Keith David also fit their role as well. However, Dania Ramirez's role as Angel is a little hecticness.

For the overall, the movie is OK. It can entertain you better than some action movie which has a suck plot and cinematography. I hope you will enjoy with The Fifth Commandment!

why the low rating?

[kaefab · 7/10 · 29 October 2023]

Why the low rating? And why do people compare this movie to ong bac?

Yes we have seen this kind of movie be done many times before, but in no means does it deserve this low rating.

I been a fan of Rick Yung since I saw him in James Bond die another day and i have been a fan of Keith David since I saw him in John Carpenter The Thing 1982.

Of course its not a movie that is going to win an Oscar but its a great action movie and a great way to pass a few hours.

That action is pretty good, the story is what you expect from this kind of movie an assassin saving a child and training him to be an assassin.

Honestly i really like this movie and it deserves a higher rating.

Low rent Bangkok Dangerous riff

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 26 September 2015]

A US-made movie shot in Thailand, THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT seems to be something of a vanity piece for writer/star Rick Yune. Perhaps he was hoping to break out of the B-movie mould and become a modern-day Bruce Lee or something, I'm not sure, but this cheapjack rip-off of BANGKOK DANGEROUS was never going to do that for him.

In fact, the wooden Yune is one of the most uninteresting things about the whole production. Yune seems to do much better when he's either in support or playing the bad guy, as he has zero charisma as the protagonist here. Still, the supporting cast are better, and there are a couple of nice turns from both Bokeem Woodbine and Keith David, although neither actor gets a whole lot of screen time.

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT is a typical B-movie action flick filled with shoot-outs and fight scenes, and as is usual the storyline comes second to the battles. Yune is a trained assassin who gets caught up in protecting a Jennifer Lopez-lookalike singer from a husband and wife assassin team (shades of MR & MRS SMITH). Sadly, the action is pretty poor, with dodgy choreography making things difficult to see, and there are only a couple of good fight scenes in the whole thing. It's clear to me that British director Jesse V. Johnson should stick to being a stuntman.

Title in Portuguese

[cpedrao · 5/10 · 28 July 2020]

Title ridiculously translated into Portuguese as "O 5o Comando" (The fifth Command) instead of "O 5o. Mandamento"

It is so the 5th commandment

[PesoMemo · 16 August 2009]

For the people above who don't think it should be the 6th commandment, you're obviously not Catholic or Lutheran - for them it is. For the people above who don't think it should be the 6th commandment, you're obviously not Catholic or Lutheran - for them it is. For the people above who don't think it should be the 6th commandment, you're obviously not Catholic or Lutheran - for them it is. For the people above who don't think it should be the 6th commandment, you're obviously not Catholic or Lutheran - for them it is. For the people above who don't think it should be the 6th commandment, you're obviously not Catholic or Lutheran - for them it is.

Sorry for the repeat, but you need 10 lines.