Tony Jaa is back! And he is pissed. Perhaps back isn't really accurate as he has shown up in a number of films since his Thai days but I haven't seen any of them and I gather he is often a secondary character. I mean Expendables 4? Really? Or Furious 7? This was the guy who made audiences stand up and cheer in Ong Bak, Tom Yum Goong and The Bodyguard. He singlehandedly put Thailand action films on the map. They feel like a lifetime ago. And then Expendables 4? Part of that was a falling out with his mentors Panna Rittikrai and Prachya Pinkaew and his last Thai film was released in 2013. This is the closest to capturing the ferocity of his Thai films with many of his trademark moves - the leaping crushing elbow to the top of the head, the jumping knee thrust into the chest and muy Thai leg swings. Whatever this lacks in intelligent plotting it makes up with a fusillade of action. Fierce and brutal. Some terrific one on many set-pieces and one on ones and there is Jaa in the middle of them handing out punishment Thai style. Of course, Jaa was almost fifty when he made this, so perhaps he has lost a step or two but if so, they cover it up pretty well.


So, yes Jaa is pissed right from the get-go. No time is wasted on developing any emotional back story - his wife and little girl are already dead - murdered - when the film begins and he is out for revenge. Later on, we get a few tender flashback moments with him and his family but that is for bathroom breaks. In a lot of ways this reminded me of a Hong Kong action film of the 1980s where plot was secondary or maybe even third to the action scenes and dialogue was an after-thought. There are a lot of them - maybe 50% of the film - but dig a bit and you get some basic plot and a little girl thrown in because that always works on the audience's heart strings. A tough little girl in danger.


He wants revenge and has the moves to get it. He starts killing his way to the top. Not John Wick style but old-fashioned kicks to the head, broken limbs, crushed throats and when needed a machete. He is told by one victim that the big boss is Yinghao (Philip Keung) and that his driver always picks up his nine-year-old daughter Ting (Chen Duo-yi) after school every day. The driver is Wu (Junjia Hong) who turns out to be a lot more than first thought. Jaa plants a listening device on the girl and learns that dad is going on a trip and plans to kill him - but a huge band of gangsters gets there first and kidnaps the father.


But the girl runs away with Wu beating the shit out of many of them and having a nice tangle on a moving truck with the femme killer in the film. She shows up a few times - a total psycho who reminded me of Yukari Oshima in one of her evil roles. I think she is played by Wang Chenxin and would love to see her again slicing and dicing. Jaa saves the girl and from that point on both protects her and she protects him. You know, I plan to kill your father. Let's get there first. It is just great seeing Jaa finally used properly. A Chinese production - with most of the actors speaking Mandarin but Jaa in broken English. It all takes place in some imaginary country because this could never of course happen in China.  Directed by Cheng Siyu and choreographed by Guo Yulong.  

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