Warrior King (2006) Movie Information:

Warrior King (2006) Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew Warrior King (2006) Written by: Prachya Pinkaew Warrior King (2006) Cast: Tony Jaa, Mum Jokmok, Xing Jing

Warrior King (2006) U.S. Distributor: The Weinstein Co. Warrior King (2006) U.K. Distributor: Contender Entertainment Group

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Warrior King (2006) Synopsis:

A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards.

Warrior King (2006) Movie Review:

An offbeat combination of idyllic countryside and urban action, there's plenty to enjoy about this silly thriller--from the sumptuous Thai landscapes to the frenetic fight scenes.

Kham (Jaa) has grown up with an elephant named Por Yai in a mind-bogglingly gorgeous village, but on a trip to town with his father (Rungruaeng), both Por Yai and his calf Korn are kidnapped by gangsters. So Kham follows their trail to Sydney, and a vast underground world of drugs, sex slaves and illicit meat ruled by the aggressive daughter (Jin) of a businessman. Soon Kham and a disgraced cop (Wongkhamlao) are running from all manner of ruthless thugs and a dirty detective (De Montemas) looking for someone to take the fall.

The plot is almost incidental, merely giving Jaa (Ong-Bak) an excuse to indulge in outrageous fight sequences that are clearly shot without wires or stuntmen, although the sound effects guy has a heyday adding bone-splintering crunches. Jaa doesn't just fend off the normal assortment of henchmen; the filmmakers go a little nuts in creating increasingly inventive opponents.

The fights are hilariously energetic, from a gang on wheels--skates, bicycles, motorbikes and even a quad--to a scene in which Jaa takes on what looks like the same 88 fighters Uma Thurman mowed down in Kill Bill. There are also one-on-one battles with increasingly massive, unstoppable challengers in wacky locations like a Buddhist temple that's both burning and flooded. Most of these are absolutely jaw-dropping, even if they're sometimes over-choreographed.

The performers play it for both thrills and laughs; we spend about as much time chuckling as we do wincing at the broken limbs. Perhaps even more fascinating are the film's opening scenes in the lushly photographed jungle village, with people and elephants living in pure harmony--interacting, working and playing together. This colourful approach is maintained as the film transfers into the big city. And through it all there's witty character development that keeps us thoroughly engaged with the characters and what they're facing. Yes, it's all rather cheesy, but it's also great fun.

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Warrior King (2006) review written by: Rich Cline