The Protector Review by Zara (4 Stars)

The Protector Review by Zara (4 Stars) | MatchFlick

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Movie Details

All Movie Info

Starring:
Tony Jaa, Xing Jing, Mum Jokmok

Directed By:
Prachya Pinkaew

Written By:
Prachya Pinkaew

The Protector (2006)

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Movie Review by Zara

March 9th, 2008

I have no idea why Tony Jaa isn't a bigger star in America yet, other than to guess that his English lessons haven't paid off as quickly as Jackie Chan's did.

While Jaa has a style and fearlessness to him that Chan's movies once held (wireless stunts that he does on his own, choreographing his own fight scenes), he also has the good looks and more smoldering charisma that Jet Li has. Combining the two and letting the man just kick ass should be enough to plant asses in seats.

I can understand why this movie didn't do as well as they'd hoped when it was brought to the US. First, Quentin's name is on it as executive producer, and even though I love the man, there is backlash about him putting his stamp of approval on just about everything and with varied responses. (Q, you and Eli being butt buddies isn't helping anything, catch my drift?)

The Weinstein group also heavily edited the movie for its release in the states, cutting out much of the back story and therefore leaving people wondering why a guy would be going to such great lengths to protect an elephant. (More or less, we were joking in my household: "Jeez, Mowgli looks pissed!") I would recommend that if you go to queue this movie up, make sure that you get the unedited version (on NetFlix, it's listed as the "Additional features" disc that goes with the main one.)

But having the story and understanding how this guy grew up from being a little boy with this elephant, you understand his anger.

And to say that the fight scenes are stunning would be an understatement. There is a fantastic single-shot fight scene with no editing, no cutting away, just Jaa making his way up the stairs and hitting people in vicious ways.

I also liked that there were several different styles of fighting involved, especially the dance-style one where he fights the guy in the temple, amidst water and fire.

Jaa could be a huge star here. All of our other Asian fighting stars are getting long in the tooth. Seriously, I'll learn Thai and teach him English if I have to.

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