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Cast:
Dan
Chupong
Nappon
Gomarachun
Santisuk
Promsiri
Piyapong
Piew-On
Somrak
Khamsing
Rhattaporn
Khemtong
Amornthep
Waewsang
Suebsak
Pansueb
Kessarin Ektawatkul
Nantawat
Wongwanichsilp
Sasisa Jindamanee
Action:
Panna
Rittikrai
Banlu
Srisaeng
Producer:
Prachya
Pinkaew
Sukanya
Vongsthapat
Director:
Panna
Rittikrai
Score:
 
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BORN
TO FIGHT
AKA:
Kerd Ma Lui
Year:
2004 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
Experiencing
decent action cinema from a new corner of the world is always
exciting and with the emergence of 'Ong
Bak', fans of Martial Arts films looked to Thailand in the
hope that a new champion was on the horizon.
Unfortunately, 'Ong Bak' remained the only real example of
Thailand's action filmmaking to be recognised globally, that
is until the arrival of 'Born To Fight'. Handled
entirely by action choreographer Panna Rittikrai, 'Born To
Fight' promises all the same thrills seen in 'Ong Bak' but the
question is, is it on the same high level or have we all
been jumping to conclusions?
During
the biggest bust of his career, police officer Deuw (Changprung)
manages to capture the most notorious crime lord in Thailand
but at the expense of the death of his partner. This has
serious effects on Deuw and he decides to take time away from
his job by joining his sister on a sports tour of local
villages. His planned rest goes hellishly wrong though
when the group find themselves in a village targeted by
terrorists, demanding the release of the crime lord.
Luckily the skills of the group come in handy as the villagers
rise up and begin to take on the terrorists at that own game,
with Deuw leading the attack from the frontline.
In
the simplest terms, 'Born To Fight' is absolutely outstanding
when it comes to action. I don't often make bold
statements like that as over the years I have become very
critical of all aspects of action cinema but 'Born To Fight'
truly had me captivated throughout. Much like 'Ong Bak'
(although not necessarily an accurate comparison but the only
real one we have), the film continues with the ultra-realistic
brand of action in which the heroes do all their own stuntwork
and every blow struck is cringingly painful. For his
directorial debut though, Rittikrai takes the concept one step
further by just pummelling the viewer with pretty much an hour
or so of solid action, all of which is of the highest calibre.
Sure, some of it is clearly very staged and often laughable in
concept but that doesn't stop it from containing some of the
most refreshing and eye pleasing choreography in quite
sometime. The dexterity of the actors and the jaw-droppingly
dangerous stuntwork is a marvel to behold and watching the
painful outtakes in the finale brings back memories of the
first time you saw Jackie Chan suffering for his art. In
short, this movie is extreme action entertainment and
something that any fight fan must have in their collection.
'Born
To Fight' does however suffer with the most common action
movie flaw in the book and that is a poor and underdeveloped
story, a criticism also levelled at 'Ong Bak'. Both films
were written by Rittikrai so it doesn't really come as any
great surprise but we all know that it is possible to
create a decent story to accompany an action movie and that
clearly isn't the case here. Most of the plot points are
ludicrous and there is very little establishment of the main
characters as the movie really only contains around 20 minutes
of plot before the action kicks in and that's it for the
remainder of the film. This approach does of course
create a fun film to watch with your friends as you can easily
create your own amusing commentary and just sit back and be
astonished by the stunts but it does allow for understandable
criticism. However, at least you know what to expect
from it and which level you should approach the film on.
It's
obvious that 'Born To Fight' is an extremely light film that
will most likely be panned by mainstream critics but lapped up
by the action junkies amongst us. It's basically just
ninety minutes of acrobatic fight sequences, nail biting
stuntwork and laughable plot devices so enjoy!
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