From the martial arts choreographer of ‘Ong Bak’ and ‘The Protector’ comes ‘Born to Fight’ - a ridiculously over-the-top stunt-filled piece of Thai action silliness in a film where it wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that maybe director Panna Rittikrai wants to single-handedly wipe out that pesky stuntman problem they have in Thailand.
Panna Rittikrai prides himself on his choreography where he proudly claims that no wires or CGI are being used (I’m assuming more for lack of budget than him actually having a choice) and indeed, some of the stunt work in this film is amazing. Like the Chinese action epics of the 80s, films like ‘Police Story’ where Jackie Chan takes out a whole shantytown (where ‘Born to Fight’ makes a slight nod), this latest offering of Thai action films gets the adrenaline running with pure visceral energy.
Unlike ‘Ong Bak’ and ‘The Protector,’ however, which had the charisma of Tony Jaa and action sequences centered around his more entertaining bone-breaking style of martial-arts to steer us past the wafer-thin narrative, ‘Born to Fight’ is less successful. A quasi remake of Rittikrai’s own film (similar in concept to a film he did in the eighties but with a lower budget if one can imagine…), he had the great idea to cast actual Thai athletes in the action roles instead of having to work his magic with the camera to make believable gymnasts out of actors.
He didn’t seem to bother to teach the athletes how to act so the movie has an absurd ‘Gymkata’ feel to it (Where’s Kurt Thomas when you need him?) which is fun to watch but also in direct contrast to more serious fare like the superfluously violent massacre of a small village that ends up being a tad bit too much for a film where gymnasts use their respective talents to lay waste to the bad guys.
The, um, “story” is as follows. We get a nice slam-bam stunt-filled opening where we meet Dan Chupong as Deaw, a Special Forces officer performing a routine drug bust with his friend and mentor, Major Puntakarn Ritdamrong. As quick as you can say the aforementioned character name, things go awry and Deaw witnesses the murder of his mentor at the vile hands of General Yang (Noppol Gomarachun), a notorious drug baron (or is it gun smuggler?, who knows…). Deaw is able to capture Yang but guilt still hangs heavy.
Needing some time off, Deaw decides to accompany his sister Nui (Kessarin Ektawatkul), an Olympic Tae Kwon Do champion, and a group of Olympic athletes to a small village for a charity event. But wouldn’t you know it? This village is singled out by mercenaries to exact a massacre and hold the survivors hostage to persuade the Prime Minister of Thailand to release General Yang. They also have a nuclear missile aimed at Bangkok as backup (kill everyone in Bangkok or this small village…c’mon, which is it guys? can’t have both ya know). So it’s up to Deaw and the elite gymnasts to rid the village of these mercenaries and save Thailand, nay the world, from the clutches of evil.
The stunts are the name of the game here and really the only reason to take an interest. I doubt that the lack of a story or acting prowess from the cast will prove too much of a detriment for people seeking this film out. The first fifteen minutes alone has a variety of fisticuffs on top of moving semis, explosions, and stuntmen narrowly escaping death under said semi’s wheels. Stuntmen fling themselves off moving vehicles with reckless abandon – its impressive stuff. As the action moves to the small village, the stunts lose a bit of edge and realism but gain a rather goofy fun-factor with the athletes all having their moment to make use of their individual skills i.e. the rugby player basically tackling people, the soccer player kicking anything that gets into close proximity to his feet, etc.
As I mentioned before, the film is surprisingly violent but not in an effective way. Kids cower, arms are blown off, people are shot in the head constantly and then the next scene is a gymnast using ‘gymkata’ to kick a guy in the head…it’s tonally all off. I wouldn’t mind the over-the-top violence (and I’m not talking about the bone-crunching of Tony Jaa but innocent children, women, old people, you name it being killed off with a disturbing glee) if the film took it seriously but it appears the filmmakers just wanted to fit in as much action and violence as they could, continuity be damned. It would be a minor and subjective quibble for most, though.
The film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and is enhanced for widescreen televisions. The 2-disc set under the ‘Dragon Dynasty’ label has a nice selection of extras. Disc 1 includes a full-length audio commentary by Bey Logan, a Hong Kong Cinema Expert, who provides an informative, enjoyable listen for Asian action fans. On the second disc, we have the 60-minute ‘Making-of an Action Epic’ that details the usual production happenings along with a nice look into the crazy stunt work. A shorter behind-the-scenes is provided with ‘Action!: On the Set of Born to Fight’ and the film’s original and U.S. Trailers.
If you take away the outrageous stunts, there’s not much of a film here, but those same stunts is what sets this film apart from most of the CGI and wire-work that’s part of the latest Hollywood “action” film so I can’t complain too much on the lack of story or performances. I had a lot of fun with this film regardless of a few grievances and while it doesn’t compare to ‘Ong-Bak’ or ‘The Protector’, it serves as a nice fix for those of us waiting until ‘Ong-Bak 2’.
Born to Fight (Two-Disc Ultimate Edition) is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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