Cast Member: Tony Jaa

The only reason I can find to recommend it is to see a young Tony Jaa in action, but even this isn’t enough of a reason to sit through all of the surrounding “comedy” sequences.

Entertaining for the most part and certainly packed with fight action, the film unfortunately suffers from muddled execution of its own brilliantly bananas concept.

Competently directed by the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping and utilising a decent budget, ‘Master Z’ is pleasingly straight-forward, action soaked entertainment.

Michael Jai White returns to direct and star in the third instalment of the unlikely ‘Never Back Down’ franchise, and he delivers another solidly enjoyable entry.

Eye-popping displays of martial arts mixed with WWE style chair and table smashing exhilarate the senses.

I’d say if you love your action then you won’t be disappointed but I still can’t shake the feeling that if Tony hadn’t left the set half way through, things might have been even better.

‘Ong Bak 3’ has all the hallmarks of a film rushed into production with a complete disregard for cinematic fundamentals and quality control.

The third instalment in the ‘SPL’ franchise sees original director Wilson Yip return for another dark crime tale that doesn’t skimp on the nihilism or the hard edged fight action.

A worthy attempt to fuse a serious topic with insane action, ‘Skin Trade’ can’t quite find the right balance between the two but rollicks along on the charisma and fight power of its stars.

Sticking with ‘SPL 2’ makes for an overall rewarding experience as director Soi Cheang takes the viewer on a wild, thrilling and at times incredibly dark ride.

While not matching the ambitions of ‘Ong Bak’ or ‘Born to Fight’ in no strings attached mayhem, ‘The Bodyguard’ is continued proof that Thailand’s popular cinema has a secure future.

Some of the fight scenes are truly out of this world and I’m sure that fans of ‘Ong Bak’ will find plenty to appreciate here.