Sazar

I have not seen the english version of the movie but I assume those who read this review will know the movie I am speaking off.

It is being brought to US shores by Quentin Tarantino and features Tony Jaa, of Ong Bak fame.

To start, the story is simple and rather crap. There are some minor "twists" if you can even term them that and there are a few attempts at character development. The music is kind of crappy and the acting is not that great.

That's the negatives.

The positive == Tony Jaa. He is a fairly decent actor with a lot of fire and emotion and he exudes this and a sense of vulnerability that belies his ridiculous skills. A Jet Li he is not. A Jackie Chan, he is not.

BUT, neither them, nor Bruce Lee ever filmed about 6 or 7 minutes of un-cut and un-edited footage (i.e. a SINGLE continuous shot) of full fledged action. I work out, I run, I would have collapsed after 1 minute just trying to attempt some of the things Jaa does. Not only does he complete this entire sequence with full-fledged motion and kicking ass, he also

Beyond that, some of the other action sequences are equally spectacular. In the mold of Ong Bak, there are no wires and the sequences are all Tony Jaa at his best.

He is substantially more gifted an athelete than any of the other martial arts stars before him. He may not be as skilled individually (a la bruce lee and jet li) but he is a master of muay thai to a sufficient degree so as to never leave the viewer in doubt that he could take on the entire movie theater and kick some serious ass.

Overall, if you are an action fan, watch this movie simply for Tony Jaa and hope we can see him in a bigger budget production before he gets older like Jackie Chan did before he came across.

2.5/5 OSNN stars. Just coz the movie is rather crap.

But, watch it for Jaa.

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