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Yesterday saw the final day of the 2nd annual Big Bad Film Fest and with it, fans and media alike have been treated to some of the best that action cinema has to offer ranging from classic films to newer adrenaline titles as well as a host of full throttle short films. One of the biggest bangs at the festival came in the form of the world premiere of the punishing new martial arts action-thriller Bangkok Dog which showcases a next gen star in D.Y. Sao who has quietly been putting out some rad flicks over the past few films. Ranging from supernatural beatdowns like Shadow Master to more modern crime thrillers like Fast Vengeance, Sao is amassing a pretty respectable indie action filmography arsenal that highlights his sick signature skill set. Watching Sao in action is like watching a savage blending of Tony Jaa with a little Bruce Lee for devastating and entertaining results.
Sao’s latest sweat inducing thrill ride comes courtesy of Well Go USA who premiered the film yesterday to rave reviews with this reviewer being one of them. The movie has the awesome title of Bangkok Dog, and it is essentially 85 minutes of blistering, hardcore action infusing the Cambodian style of Kun Khmer (a relation to the Thai art of Muay Thai) with even more traditional styles like Kung Fu, Capoeira and the Indonesian arts with a little dash of combat sport thrown in for good measure. Sao, who is Cambodian by birth, isn’t alone on this venture as he co-stars with Brian Le who turns in a career making performance as the movie’s main villain who is equal to Sao in the fact that he can throw down with the best of them but with Le, he delivers some welcome humorous elements at the same time.
This film also is boasted by the fact that it was made by a few folks that had a hand at turning Tony Jaa into the superstar he is today with iconic Thai filmmaker Prachya Pinkaew producing the film. Fans certainly know of Pinkaew as he is the director responsible for such Jaa hits like the action star’s breakout pic Ong Bak along with The Protector and its subsequent follow up The Protector 2. He also has directed several other action films like Chocolate with JeeJa Yanin and Elephant White starring Djimon Hounsou and Kevin Bacon. To put it simply, Sao is in good company here for his biggest film to date.
Directing all this onscreen chaos is Chaya Supannarat who is a veteran in the film industry producing films like Tekken: Kazuya’s Revenge with Kane Kosugi and Sao’s aforementioned Shadow Master and Fast Vengeance. This is her full-length feature film debut, and she is more than up to the task for delivering a little bit of that savage science that fans want to see from Sao, Le and other known theatrical fighters like Ron Smoorenburg (Art of Eight Limbs, Triple Threat), Bear Williams and Tofan Pirani. This is a man’s man movie and Supannarat has stacked the deck with some of the finest and proves that she has a future in action.
The plot for Bangkok Dog is the tried-and-true trope of an agent going undercover to bring down a ruthless human trafficker and drug lord played by Sahajak Boonthanakit, who was just recently seen as the main baddie in Tiger Style Media’s Art of Eight Limbs but starts to forget which side he is on when the positives of such a hard life make themselves known. Sao stars as elite agent Andrew Kang who along with his partner Kaitly Liu (Jenny Philomena Van Der Sluijs) open up the film on a mission to take down a wanted criminal known as Benz Wu (Le). Things go awry of course, and bullets, fists and feet fly but when the dust settles, Wu is in custody and our heroes are hoping he can lead them to the bigger fish in the pond who is Dominic Mesias (Boonthanakit). a known human trafficker and drung runner, Mesias is the elite of the vile.
The opening features a nifty and bone crunching first match between Kang and Wu which foreshadows more awesomeness to come later in in the movie’s rousing and fan friendly climax. Sao and Le go all in here and it’s just the beginning and the techniques and choreography range from extreme to intricate with blood pumping results and the camera work is essential here and it won me over as you can see everything even with it being at nighttime. I always say that the best action movies open up with a solid set piece and here we are definitely treated to some ferocious action. Van Der Sluijs also gets in on the fun and demonstrates that she has some impressive combat skills of her own as she actually saves after he loses the initial match. No worries though because you know a rematch is scheduled at a later date. when you have such talent to use, it’s easy to just let the camera capture all of the ferocity.
After Wu is in custody, our fearless agents find out that Mesias doesn’t know what he looks like as he has only talked to him on the phone leading Kang to convince his reluctant boss Hunter (Charles Onken, who is always a pleasure onscreen) to greenlight an undercover sting which would see Kang impersonate Wu to infiltrate Mesias’ empire and tear it down from within. Things go off target though as Kang starts to like what he’s doing for the man he has been sent to hunt down and a time will come when he has to make a choice between embracing this new and hedonistic lifestyle or remember who he truly is and take them all down to save the day. It doesn’t help that he bonds with Mesias’ lackey Charn Chai (Byron Bishop) who is a victim of the circumstances he is in and even though he works for Mesias, he’s really not all bad and is even likable. No spoilers but I bet you can guess which one he chooses. Just saying.
From the opening salvo, fans know what kind of film this is, and Sao and company deliver the bone breaking, neck snapping goods in spades as the film is littered with several action sequences showcasing just how insanely good Sao is at dishing out empty-handed punishment. Bangkok Dog makes no excuses for what kind of film it wants to be, and fans will get that action itch scratched from the first few minutes until the final credits roll. Coming from the cast and stunt team behind last year’s Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, one should be able to deduce that this movie will give fans what they are craving for. I could nitpick about all the usual flaws and plot threads that have been done to death in earlier films but why bother when the end result is such a butt kicking good time. Some other reviewers can bore you with negatives. I’m here today to focus on why this movie rocks and to give the unfavorable elements a pass. Sometimes, you just want to watch an action film that spills blood and breaks bones and that’s exactly what I got.
This movie lives or dies by Sao’s performance, and he virtually puts the whole thing on his shoulders and brings out the best at what he can do in his biggest and most hard-hitting role to date. Sao’s Kang really invokes that mentality of hit first, ask questions later and his knee and elbow combos are a thing of balletic brutality. Sao dazzles in each altercation he is in and whether it’s a smaller scaled scene or the massive finale, he pulls out all the stops and I couldn’t help but think that I was watching a younger Tony Jaa in his prime with a hint of that iconic Enter the Dragon star we all know of and love as he brandishes some cockiness in his fights like Lee was known for in his time.
One sweet aspect in Sao’s combat arsenal is when he poses after he has completely pulverized an assailant. Some might find this a little cheesy, but I found it cooler than hell and an exclamation point to what just happened showcasing the fact that he is just that damn good. His performance is admirable as well as he plays Kang through a character arc that isn’t usually seen in action heroes these days.
Brian Le as Wu is just as good, and he is totally having fun here as he hams it up as the bad guy that ultimately turns out to be the real threat. Known for roles in The Paper Tigers, Shadow Master and the Netflix series American Born Chinese, Le is a true talent of the fight game and his speed is ridiculous as he has a pretty substantial physique. Like I said, Le injects a lot of humor here and one highlight sees his character stand on a stack of pallets, so he is as tall as the huge baddie he is talking to. It’s subtle but it made me laugh and Le gets ample opportunity to have a little fun with the mayhem. When the time comes to bust out the beat stick, Le is a true all-star and compliments Sao with blazing efficiency and technique. Let me not forget to mention that his flying elbow in the final fight is a standout highlight and one of the best I’ve seen.
The action sequences are many and like I said about the initial opening fight, the camera work is spot on and even with the editing involved, they make sure the camera is back enough to where you can see all the moves that are on display. It also helps that Sao and Le were also responsible for the action direction which makes sense because you wouldn’t bring in additional batting coaches to teach Aaron Judge how to hit a baseball would you? The answer is not so why pay someone else to construct fights for these masters as they already know what works and what doesn’t and I’m pretty sure they also know what the fans want to see. To this extent, Sao and Le craft a multitude of jaw dropping, gravity defying, awe inspiring altercations that are brutal, savage and operatic all at once.
Sao has several decent fights including one with veteran bad guy Ron Smoorenburg which utilizes the latter more than his role in the recently released Art of Eight Limbs. I was disappointed to an extent with that film including how Smoorenburg was used but here as Vega, he has a satisfying face off with Sao that spotlights his devastating kicking abilities. It’s a fast fight but a much tastier one.
The finale is as advertised as Sao’s Kang goes into one man army mode and runs a gauntlet of goons on his way to inevitable showdowns with Chopper (Pirani) and, of course, Wu. Kang’s violent altercation with Chopper is another show but sweet affair that culminates in a nasty death for the latter.
The stage is set for a rematch between Kang and Wu, and it is dazzling in its execution and a complete banger. I know there will be some out there that will say “hey this isn’t as good as The Raid!” (Yawn) but it doesn’t have to reach the same plateau as that movie as what is laid out here is premiere fighting talent at its most raw and lethal. Watching these two square off for all the marbles is worth the price of admission alone and they both get more than their opportunity to achieve the upper hand at some point and show the audience what they can really do when a fight sequence is expertly shot, lighted and edited. It’s a real master class featuring two of the best in the business.
If that wasn’t enough, after Kang finally takes out Wu, he also has a beatdown with Mesais which is the icing on the cake. One major nitpick I had with Art of Eight Limbs is that Boonthanakit wasn’t really given anything to do and wasn’t menacing enough but here, he gets left off the chain and gets to tussle as well. We all know that he is older than Sao and less adapt but he performs admirable well in a fight that includes swords, mallets and empty hands. Boonthanakit also gets to have more devious fun here and gets a few moments of chilling villainy to show us that he deserves what is coming to him in the climax.
Overall, Bangkok Dog is the perfect ending to the festival which saw Well Go USA go all out with their titles. This film is the perfect complement to Eye for an Eye 2 and 100 Yards as those movies were period actioners with more of a graceful aesthetic to accompany the brutality. With Bangkok Dog, this is just in your face, punishing, crowd pleasing violence that utilizes the insane talents of those involved. Hopefully with this move both Sao and Le become bigger names in action cinema because they deserve it as they both can effortlessly combine dramatic flair with bone snapping empty handed battle action with fan service to spare. I can’t help but wonder if that other martial arts action movie I mentioned could have been better by adding these talented individuals to the mx. Nothing to take away from that film and the hard work put in but the action in Bangkok Dog was the action I was hoping for in that film.
When Well Go USA finally unleashes Bangkok Dog, do yourself a favor, if you call yourself a hardcore action cinema faithful, and watch it ASAP!
VERDICT: 4 Out of 5 Stars
D. Y. Sao and Brian Le are the legit goods and deliver punishing, take no prisoners ultimate action in Well Go USA’s crowd-pleasing savage actioner Bangkok Dog!
