This Thai comedy features that county's biggest stand-up comedian, Petchtai Wongkamlao, as a bodyguard who gets embroiled in a war between his employer and a rival businessman. Now, Wongkamlao will be familiar to most Western audiences as the bald sidekick in ONG BAK and the policeman in WARRIOR KING, and here he attempts to reinvent himself as his country's answer to Jackie Chan. While a lot of the surreal humour evident from Jackie's films is evident, and there's a Chan-style chase scene where a butt-naked Wongkamlao is chased through the streets by a gang of gun-toting thugs (just like in THE ACCIDENTAL SPY), Wongkamlao is never going to be success in the West because the humour is just too far out here! Many of the jokes require knowledge of Thai culture and customs and as such they fall flat, and to make matters worse there is a monotonous sub-plot involving the lives of the poor which really drags the movie down.
The comedy is so broad and unusual that you'll be wondering what on earth you're watching. Humour comes from a bad guy henchman with Down's Syndrome and another henchman who keeps wearing the wrong clothes to work and misunderstanding his boss – that's a joke that is repeated about ten to twenty times throughout the entire film. While Wongkamlao does his best to keep up with the humour, he underplays his role and that sits oddly with some of the supposed comedy scenes. Bits involving the supporting cast are entirely dull and the romantic subplot with ONG BAK's Pumwaree Yodkamol only serves to reinforce my impression that she's an utterly annoying actress.
The film is bookended by a couple of decent scenes. The first is a shoot-out in a restaurant which is so over-the-top that it absolutely kicks ass; wirework is used in abundance as Wongkamlao flips, shoots and flies across tables, gunning down the bad guys as he does so. Meanwhile, the film's climax is set in a warehouse, as our eponymous hero battles various bad guys one at a time. There's a Thai boxer, the aforementioned Down's Syndrome guy (who turns out to be super-tough) and a period-set fighter. The comedy here is broad, and cheesy, recalling the type of humour in the SCARY MOVIE series, but at least it's more acceptable and understandable than that found elsewhere. The bit where a naked Wongkamlao has his butt squirted with a water pistol seems to go on for an age and makes for uncomfortable, incomprehensible viewing.
However, the film does throw in some references to other movies which are fun if you're in the know. There's a mad homeless man who keeps saying that Bang Rajan is about to fall, an amusing reference to the ultra-successful Thai historical epic BANG RAJAN which was released in 2000. One fighter at the film's climax adopts Jet Li's style from ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, complete with blatant wirework and OUATIC's theme tune playing over the action, which is very funny indeed. However the best part of the film for most Western audiences will be Tony Jaa's cameo; he plays a supermarket fighter who gets to kick some ass in a few (very quick) fight scenes. Passing Wongkamlao as he leaves, he calls the actor 'Humlae' – Wongkamlao's name in ONG BAK. Wongkamlao's response? "Wrong film, dickhead!". Unfortunately these genuinely funny moments come few and far between and the film as a whole drags, with the whole everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to the comedy quickly becoming tiring.
The comedy is so broad and unusual that you'll be wondering what on earth you're watching. Humour comes from a bad guy henchman with Down's Syndrome and another henchman who keeps wearing the wrong clothes to work and misunderstanding his boss – that's a joke that is repeated about ten to twenty times throughout the entire film. While Wongkamlao does his best to keep up with the humour, he underplays his role and that sits oddly with some of the supposed comedy scenes. Bits involving the supporting cast are entirely dull and the romantic subplot with ONG BAK's Pumwaree Yodkamol only serves to reinforce my impression that she's an utterly annoying actress.
The film is bookended by a couple of decent scenes. The first is a shoot-out in a restaurant which is so over-the-top that it absolutely kicks ass; wirework is used in abundance as Wongkamlao flips, shoots and flies across tables, gunning down the bad guys as he does so. Meanwhile, the film's climax is set in a warehouse, as our eponymous hero battles various bad guys one at a time. There's a Thai boxer, the aforementioned Down's Syndrome guy (who turns out to be super-tough) and a period-set fighter. The comedy here is broad, and cheesy, recalling the type of humour in the SCARY MOVIE series, but at least it's more acceptable and understandable than that found elsewhere. The bit where a naked Wongkamlao has his butt squirted with a water pistol seems to go on for an age and makes for uncomfortable, incomprehensible viewing.
However, the film does throw in some references to other movies which are fun if you're in the know. There's a mad homeless man who keeps saying that Bang Rajan is about to fall, an amusing reference to the ultra-successful Thai historical epic BANG RAJAN which was released in 2000. One fighter at the film's climax adopts Jet Li's style from ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, complete with blatant wirework and OUATIC's theme tune playing over the action, which is very funny indeed. However the best part of the film for most Western audiences will be Tony Jaa's cameo; he plays a supermarket fighter who gets to kick some ass in a few (very quick) fight scenes. Passing Wongkamlao as he leaves, he calls the actor 'Humlae' – Wongkamlao's name in ONG BAK. Wongkamlao's response? "Wrong film, dickhead!". Unfortunately these genuinely funny moments come few and far between and the film as a whole drags, with the whole everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to the comedy quickly becoming tiring.