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The Protector
ต้มยำกุ้ง
2005 105 min Thailand, Hong Kong, France, Australia R 18+
★6.6
Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director: Prachya Pinkaew
Trailers
Description
A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards.
Budget:
$6M
US Gross:
$12.04M
Worldwide:
$27.17M
Starring
Tony Jaa
Actor
Nathan Jones
Actor
Xing Jin
Actor
Key opinion
Tom Yum Goong is widely celebrated by genre enthusiasts as a landmark achievement in martial arts cinema, driven by Tony Jaa's unparalleled athletic prowess and groundbreaking fight choreography. While the film is consistently praised for its visceral action sequences and technical stunt work, critics frequently dismiss the narrative as primitive, incoherent, or secondary to the spectacle.
| Acting | Tony Jaa demonstrates exceptional physical mastery and stunt capability, solidifying his status as a premier martial arts star. | |
| Direction | The fight choreography is widely lauded for its technical precision, creativity, and the integration of multiple martial arts styles like Muay Thai and capoeira. | |
| Screenplay | The plot is overwhelmingly characterized as simplistic, underdeveloped, or outright nonsensical, often serving as a mere framework for the combat. | |
| Cinematography | The film's technical execution, particularly the long-take sequences and innovative camera movement, is praised for elevating the kinetic energy of the action. | |
| Theme | Opinions on the film's escalation of violence and spectacle are split: supporters see it as adrenaline-fueled artistry, while others find the reliance on unrealistic, bone-breaking brutality and absurd scenarios to be excessive. |