A new tool in martial arts cinema THE PROTECTOR (the heavily edited U.S. version of TOM YUM GOONG) is another Thai action flick that features the trademark collaboration of director Prachya Pinkaew, stunt/fight choreographer Panna Rittikrai and of course, Tony Jaa in cutting-edge action that took off in ONG-BAK: THE THAI WARRIOR. This time, you get to see more of Jaa's combat specialties that rely on Muay Thai kickboxing, acrobatics, grappling and other martial art forms.
Jaa plays Kham, a young Thailand native and caretaker of elephants who goes to Australia in search of his two elephants that were kidnapped by a crime organization led by an evil sinister named Madame (Xin Jing). He's forced to use his martial arts skills to take out thugs and corrupt cops with the help of Mark (Petchtai Wongkamlao- ONG-BAK), a righteous cop who happens to have more trouble in his hands when a corrupt Australian cop frames him for murder.
Upon Kham's (Jaa) arrival in Australia's Thai town, Sidney, his search leads him to the organization's headquarters where Madam has her operations in the 'Tom Yum Goong' Thai restaurant. He fights his way through a long line of thugs with close-range attacks and arm-bending takedowns while throwing them through balconys, tables, flower vases and other equipment before facing off against Johnny (played by stuntman and Wu Shu martial artist Johnny Tri Ngyuen) in a one-on-one martial arts brawl. Mark and Kham find themselves working together after a senior policeman, linked to the organization, frames him for the murder of another corrupt policeman and a business executive.
Like ONG-BAK, this movie has a simple plot which was made to allow room for non-stop fights. This time, instead of traveling to recover a stolen statue, Jaa sets out to recover his two pet elephants. As a result, director Panna Rittikrai and Jaa determined to overwork the action sequences to please their fans the way Jackie Chan puts his life on the line for his.
Speaking of Jackie Chan, there's one sequence, set in a wherehouse, that comes close to CITY HUNTER and RUMBLE IN THE BRONX where Jaa encounters a gang, equipped with BMX Bikes, Rollerblades, 4-wheelers and foes who wield florescent bulbs at him. This allows Jaa to showcase his stunts, martial arts and acrobatics on furnature, cars, fences and other equipment that will appeal to Chan movie lovers.
Pinkaew also salutes Jackie Chan in a scene where Jaa arrives at the airport and accidentally bumps into a man who turns out to be a direct look-a-like of Chan that will have you thinking twice.
The film is packed with loads of spectacular fights to check out. One fight concerns Jaa being challenged by three skilled fighters in a burning Buddhist temple, flooded with water. The first one is played by Zero Gravity Stunt Team Member and gymnast Lateef Crowder, who puts on an incredible display of Capoeiria. His second foe is played by Jackie Chan Stunt Team member Jonathan Foo, who engages in Wu Shu kung-fu and uses traditional swordsmanship. Jaa's third challenger is played by Australian wrestler Nathan Jones, who out matches Jaa by size, weight and strength. Jones is probably best remembered as the wrestler who fought Jet Li in FEARLESS, he battled Brad Pitt in TROY and even wrestled in the WWE years earlier for a short time. Jones delivers a variety of wrestling moves and leaves the battle unresolved, at least until the finale.
Some of the most notable fights take place in a five-story circular room where Jaa battles countless bad guys from the bottom floor to the top, and the finale where he uses freestyle martial arts against 50 henchmen with some bone-crushing grappling moves, close-range takedowns and a variety of combination attacks.
Some mixed events fall in place during the film as Mark and Kham hide out from the police while Kham continues his one-man martial arts attack on the operators of Tom Yum Goong. Madame takes over the family business by killing off the owners. Kham comfronts her and her army of henchmen as they go out to do battle while Mark goes out to rescue his kidnapped sister who's also a victim of Madam's evil doings.
The overall rating of THE PROTECTOR was a downfall because of the solid story but thankfully, it can be overlooked with the trademark tools of Jaa, fight choreographer Panna Rittikarai and director Prachya Pinkaew who help put the film in the shape of a cutting-edge martial arts piece that can be appreciated without being framed as a bad National Geographic nature program on elephants.
It was good to see ONG-BAK co-star Petchtai Wongkamlao, remembered as the humorous con artist, re-team with Jaa and make people laugh with his comedic humor and jokes. Johnny Tri Ngyuen delivered some of his martial arts skills against Jaa but it should have been a longer fight. He deserved more screen time and his supporting role revealed him as a talented actor that will hopefully give him bigger roles in future projects.
Hopefully, Jaa's next movie will improve on some of the flaws that THE PROTECTOR suffered from and his proteges will create better character development for his acting and a creative plot to go along with it so he won't be looked at as only a martial artist. The results of his screen fighting expertise can possibly put him in the category with his heroes Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li as America's next action star.
The good news about this film is that distributor 'Dragon Dynasty' gave it the ultimate treatment on DVD and included the original uncut TOM YUM GOONG version to unravel all the missing material not shown in the American version along with it's original dialogue that will definitely please the fans (familiar with the original).