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The Protector

Fri., Sep. 8, 2006 12:00 AM PDT

C+
Hey, you know that evil Thai media mogul and crime lord who holds Sydney, Australia, in her thrall and likes to kidnap elephants so she can decorate their skeletons and steal their souls? Don't you wish someone would finally do something about her?

Thai action star Tony Jaa is on the case, and he's certainly impressive to watch in action. As those who have seen him give live demonstrations can attest, the man really is a living, breathing special effect. So what if his big breakthrough feature, Ong-Bak, had murky cinematography and a questionable U.S. re-edit/rescore featuring the RZA?

Unfortunately, The Protector is equally badly re-edited and rescored, only marginally better in the photography department and features a jarring partial English dub. (Jaa is subtitled at all times, while every other Asian actor is dubbed at least some of the time.)

Still, watching Jaa fight his way to the top of a Guggenheim-like building in one long, uninterrupted take is flat-out awesome, even if most of the rest of the film is far from it.
--Luke Y. Thompson

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