Elephant boy action

At MBK Centre yesterday, I wandered past a music and video store that was heavily promoting a Thai action movie. A poster covering the entire storefront, television screens playing the movie continuously, even a PC video game and plastic action figure on sale. So of course I had to see it. How could I skip a movie in which a fellow picks up an elephant with his bare hands and tosses it aside? Even if it was only a baby elephant?

The VCD cover was all in Thai. No DVD until next year, the store clerk said. “But what about subtitles?” “English speaking, Thai subtitles,” he said.

The movie’s name is “Tom-Yum-Goong”. No, seriously, that’s the name. It was also the name printed on the cup of noodles I had in the morning. I took the disc home, played it, and discovered it was in Thai after all. However, I didn’t need to know any Thai to understand it. I could have been deaf for all that it mattered. The storyline was straightforward: boy grows up with elephants, elephant gets kidnapped, boy goes on killing rampage ending with destroying the abductor’s empire, or at least all the henchmen it was built of. Simple.

The action choreography, however, was excellent. Well worth 140 minutes. Better than any Jackie Chan movie. Even Chan himself makes a cameo appearance.
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    arucard2 — Dec 1, 2005 11:04:40 PM — #

    :) you should watch the hit movie by the same guy "Ong Bak".
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      ravi — Dec 2, 2005 12:10:20 AM — #

      ahh, the ong bak dude rocks.
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        ravi — Dec 2, 2005 12:10:46 AM — #

        though it might be useful to note that the movie itself sucked serious ass.
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    tsk1979 — Dec 2, 2005 8:18:33 AM — #

    Action choreography was Jet Li-ish or kill bill-ish?
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    eh_donia — Dec 2, 2005 9:45:01 AM — #

    Haan... so this post has cheered my Fri morning blues! :P
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    latelyontime — Dec 2, 2005 12:51:25 PM — #

    I hope you took a picture of that poster. I know soup will absolutely adore it. You can come back and talk chinky cinema to him.

    you seem to be having fun.
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Dec 2, 2005 3:57:10 PM — #

      Didn't, but will go back and take a picture. I think it was painted, not stuck up. It certainly looked like a well done job.

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