Tom Yum Goong Review

*** A note before beginning - this review is based on a screening of the unsubtitled Hong Kong VCD release of Tom Yum Goong. At the time of writing this was the only legally available version of the film. At present it appears as though the only release to feature the full Asian cut of the film with English subtitles will be the Korean edition. All other subtitled editions of the film are bootlegs. ***

With the massive international success of Ong Bak the pressure is on Thai martial artist Tony Jaa. He's been declared the next great one, the logical successor to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The pressure for his sophomore film could not have been higher. As footage trickled out fan excitement reached a fever pitch but then word began to follow that the script was weak, very weak, a criticism tacitly accepted by the production company when they announced the hiring of an outside scriptwriter for Jaa's third film. And let me confirm it: the script is indeed weak, loaded with excess and fraught with pacing problems. Believe it when I say that international sales agent TF1 did us all a favor when they demanded that cuts be made. But here's the thing: once the action starts you absolutely will not care. You don't go to a Tony Jaa and ask him to tell you a story, you go and ask him to break someone and many, many people are broken here. Jaa and company successfully up the martial arts bar already set impressively high in Ong Bak and all that the viewer can do is sit in amazement, try to keep their jaw from actually hitting the floor and occassionally mop up the drool.

Jaa stars as Kham, a young man raised in a remote Thai village. Since childhood Jaa and his father have cared for a family of local elephants preserving the traditions of the Jaturnugkabart, the ancient Thai royal soldiery who fought side by side with elephants in battle. But the connection between Kham and the elephants goes well beyond cultural preservation. They have formed a deep bond with Kham and his family, becoming beloved friends, and Kham has raised and cared for one of them since its birth. When corrupt village officials cooperate with a Chinese gang based in Sydney, Australia to spirit away Kham's elephants he is enraged and immediately follows after them. Once in Sydney he becomes embroiled in a seedy underground populated with gangsters and corrupt cops with only a photograph to lead the way. He is not even on the scene for five minutes before violence breaks out around him ...

Watching a film like this without subtitles can be difficult, but the simplicity of Tom Yum Goong's story is actually a plus in this case. There's little subtlety, no subtext, just an angry Tony Jaa trying to find his elephant. By the time you reach the half way mark you, too, will be able to ask people "Where is my elephant?" in passable Thai. Making the story even easier to follow is the fact that the bulk of it is set in Sydney and the Australian dialogue is roughly half in English. Even Mum Jokmok, Jaa's comedian sidekick from Ong Bak, gives English the old college try in his role as a Sydney cop working the local Asian community. For those unfamiliar with the VCD format the general rule of thumb is that a well produced VCD will give you slightly better than VHS video quality and this is a good one, the images as crisp and clear as you ever see from the format.

But let's be honest. You don't care about the story. You want to know about the action. Here's the basic run down of ten major action sequences. There are more, but these are the key ones.

1. The film takes slightly under twenty minutes to get to the first action sequence but once it arrives, it arrives with a bang. That insane flying knee in the trailer? That is the first blow struck in the film, Jaa flying in from nowhere to wreak havoc on a party attended by the elephant-nappers. And while he may have kept you waiting a bit before unloading these first blows he makes the wait worthwhile. The speed is blazing and it is immediately clear that Jaa has worked up some new moves, particularly with his feet.

2. After a leap through a window the party fight quickly evolves into a high speed boat chase along a crowded river. Fairly standard fare here, but well done with the highlights being a demolished riverside house and a jump / explode / flaming pilot ejection that tops the similar boat stunt in Face / Off.

From the boat chase the action moves to Australia and it's worth noting an incident in the airport that may or may not be a cameo from Jackie Chan - the video is not quite clear enough to be certain - passing the martial arts star baton to Jaa the same way Schwarzenegger handed off to The Rock in The Rundown.

3. On arrival in Australia Jaa is immediately involved in a car chase designed purely to introduce him to both the ludicrously corrupt police lieutenant - his behavior goes way beyond what suspension of disbelief will cover into just plain silly territory - and Mum Jokmok's character. This then devolves into a foot chase through a series of alleys that plays like a much shorter, minor key version of the foot chase in Ong Bak.

4. Following the alley chase Jaa recognizes Johnny, a Chinese gangster, from the picture he took from the elephant nappers and sets off in pursuit. Only problem being that gangsters do not respond well to rural Thais interrupting their drug deals with shouts of "Where is my elephant?" This triggers a lengthy eight minute sequence that is sheer brilliance. Largely set in a warehouse this set includes a flying knee delivered from the roof of a truck, the light kicked out of a street light, inline skaters, bmx bikers, and a positively jaw dropping move in which Jaa does a backflip over a chasm, lands balanced on his hands on the opposing ledge and proceeds to hand walk around the corner. Remember here: no wires or CG. He actually did this. This sequence is the best example of Jaa's extreme agility and gymnastic ability and if you had any questions why he was cast to play a monkey god in one of his upcoming films you will be left with no doubts after watching him leap, climb, and just generally scamper his way through tiny confined spaces at breakneck speed, delivering a healthy dose of violence all the while.

5. The next major sequence involves Jaa's one man assault on a gang run restaurant / brothel and is clearly director Prachya Pinkaew's bid to have Tom Yum Goong mentioned alongside John Woo's Hard Boiled and Johnny To's Breaking News. Why? This sequence plays out in a single tightly choreographed four minute take. It begins with Jaa bursting into the brothel half of the building and follows him up three flights of stairs, throwing punches, kicks and - with shocking frequency - villains off of the balconeys. The camera is beautifully fluid, at times following Jaa tightly, at others tracking the flying bodies of his opponents. Beautifully staged and executed and absolutely worth being mentioned in the canon of single take action film sequences.

6. At the top of the stairs is Johnny, the Chinese gangster, a man with some fearsome feet and we get an extended one on one fight. Very nice.

7. A three fights in one sequence, one sampled heavily for the trailers. This one occurs in a still-burning Buddhist temple. Up first is an incredibly acrobatic fighter, the dreadlocked black man in the trailers, who sports the word 'Pray' carved across his chest. Frankly I'm stunned that this is the first time I've seen this man on film before because he is fantastic, blazing fast, very agile, and boasting a unique flipping-kick fight style. Once Jaa has disposed of him we get a sword wielding man, who once dispatched gives way to the hulking monolith of a man that is Nathan Jones. Jones is an absolute monster and he lays a beating on Tony that will not soon be forgotten before being spooked off by the arrival of the police.

9. If there is a non-elephant moral to Tom Yum Goong it is this: Never stab Tony Jaa. When you stab Tony he gets angry. When he gets angry, he breaks bones. Lots of bones. When Jaa finally infiltrates the elephant stealing gang's headquarters he is assaulted by a swarm of goons and, in what must be a tribute to the Crazy 88's sequence in Kill Bill, he breaks every single one of them until he is finally left surrounded by a groaning mass of humanity. This is three minutes of sheer brutality, one of the harshest martial arts sequences ever put to film, far tougher than the Kill Bill sequence which was softened by the cartoonish gouts of blood. No levity here, just a constant stream of cracks, grunts and screams.

10. The final battle, which includes Tony versus Nathan part two. How do you beat a mountain? You climb it, of course. And Tony does, planting his knees firmly in Jones' face. There is one aspect of this sequence that I found a bit gimmicky - it's on one of the posters but I won't mention it specifically for fear of spoiling things - but on the whole tightly wound, brilliantly choreographed and, again, performed to perfection.

Tom Yum Goong is an odd beast. In terms of the production values and - despite the limitations of the script - Jaa's performance, it is a major step forward from Ong Bak. They had more money to spend and they put it where it counts: on the screen. The film is beautifully shot, particularly the sequences in Thailand, and Jaa is clearly not content unless he is pushing himself to new heights physically. The action sequences are plentiful and absolutely stunning, a clear step beyond what was accomplished in Ong Bak. Jaa also shows that he has a very solid presence onscreen even when not involved in stunt sequences. It is also, however, completely lacking on the character front while also missing the goofy stunt sequences that gave Ong Bak a loopy energy that balanced out the violence. Jokmok is largely wasted here and the English speaking actors are universally wretched. Is it a step forward or a step back from Ong Bak? Both, and thus neither. Jaa is ready to explode internationally, but for it to happen he needs better scripts. Tom Yum Goong proves he's ready for them.