"The Legend Of The Tsunami Warror" Is A Cross Between "Pirates Of The Caribbean" and "Star Wars"

Cannons, pirates, supernatural powers, sword fights. "Pirates Of The Caribbean"? Try the other side of the world. "The Legend Of The Tsunami Warrior," or the more accurate Thai title of "Queens Of Langkusaka," a 2008 action adventure film, delivers on many fronts established by that certain pirate franchise, among other movies, while keeping a Thai identity. But like many movies of this genre, at times spectacle is valued over a cohesive narrative.

There are several character arcs that the story follows and sometimes, especially in the beginning, it's unclear who the plot is trying to focus on more. This is often a detriment because not every main character gets developed as fully as they could be. Character threads get introduced and all but abandoned for others and so on and so forth.

The movie starts out with a battle between pirates and a Dutch ship carrying a master of cannon building, his Chinese apprentice and some very special, very innovative and very large cannons meant for a small seaside Thai kingdom. Unfortunately for the pirates, the cannons sink to the bottom of the sea before they can successfully steal them.

Cut to several years later. The Chinese apprentice, Lim Kium (Jakkrit Phanichphatikram), is living in a laid back fishing village not far from where the ship carrying him was wrecked. The plot tries to paint him as eccentric because he keeps building inventions like artificial wings and flippers. But other than that, he's not the least bit weird. An orphan boy takes to the inventor and his creations. The lives of both intertwine in action later in the movie. Having shown an affinity for the sea greater than others, the boy's uncle takes him to a master of Du Lum, ocean magic, to be trained. But the master refuses, saying it's too dangerous. Here's where the "Star Wars" similarities begin.

Cut again to several more years later. The orphan boy, Pari (Ananda Everingham) has grown into a handsome young man and is still an expert swimmer and has a rappore with ocean life, again more so than others. Insert "Strong with the Force" line here. Pari and a girl he grew up with begin a romance.

The pirates, led by captain Black Raven (Winai Kraibutr), have allied themselves with rebel prince Rawai (Ake Oree) and have a renewed interest in retrieving the Dutch cannons to overthrow Queen Hijau (Jarunee Suksawat) and her two princess sisters. They and the pirates find out that Lim Kium is living in the fishing village. The princesses, along with swordsman Lord Jarang (Dan Chupong) go to ask him to build cannons for them. But the pirates get to the village first and kill everyone, including Pari's girlfriend, except for Pari and Lim Kium, who were away. The inventor is between a rock and a hard place because the princesses and Jarang are trying to forcibly talk him to come with them but then the pirates violently kidnap him. In the fight it appears as if tom-boyish Princess Ungu (Anna Ris) dies but has actually been whisked away to safety in the ocean by Pari.

The island Pari and Ungu end up on is the same remote rocky crag where the Du Lum master White Ray (Sorapong Chatree) lives. He still refuses to train Pari, who already shows Du Lum skills on his own, because of the corrupting influence of it. The two stay on the island for some time, trying to figure out what to do. Pari encounters Black Ray, an evil version of White Ray, who agrees to train Pari if he will open himself up to anger and hate. Clearly another "Star Wars" moment. When White Ray finds out about Pari's encounter with Black Ray, he finally agrees to train him if only to undue any dark influences. In the meantime, Lim Kium is being forced to build cannons for the pirates, in a very "Iron Man" kind of way, which he keeps sabotaging to stall them. He manages to escape with the help of Pari, Jarang and the princesses.

The final battle is an epic scene involving many swords, arrows, ships, Lim Kium's wing contraptions and the Dutch cannons that the pirates manage to retrieve with the help of Black Ray who has defeated White Ray. Watch the movie to truly understand their connection. And of course there's plenty of Du Lum Aquaman Force powers at work in this fight too. The ending is very final as important characters on both sides die.

While there is some sub-par CGI, a badly developed romance between Pari and Princess Ungu and a generally disjointed plot there are a few bright spots. The costumes are fantastic, from the appropriate sparse coverings of the fishing village people to the elaborate gleaming gold and silver battle armor of the Queen and princesses. The worst thing that can happen with a period film is to make the costumes look too costume-like. In this movie they are believable. The script doesn't give a lot of room for character development but the best acting probably comes from those playing White Ray and Lim Kium. Chatree, as the Du Lum master, expertly portrays a conflicted man desperately trying to hold onto inner peace and Phanichphatikram, as the inventor, does a good job showing a man doing his best to distance himself from weapons making though he knows that's what he's best at.

"The Legend Of The Tsunami Warrior" is a movie with a grand concept that is never quite realized. On paper, many of the characters are interesting but there's not enough time devoted to their development. Even the action isn't exactly mind blowing as you might hope it would be for an adventure movie. Though the look of this movie is still very Thai, if the filmmakers spent less time copying themes from American movies and more time polishing the script better this would have been as strong a movie as it deserves to be.

"Come Drink With Me" Set The Bar High For Future Wuxia Films With Equally Great Action, Sets and Story

"Come Drink With Me" is a wuxia film from 1966 produced by the legendary Shaw Brothers studio. They practically invented the martial arts movie as we know it today and effectively started the Hong Kong film industry in the 1930s. Credit also goes to the talented directors and actors involved in their films. This particular movie is an early example of the beautifully detailed, beautifully choreographed action movie style that clearly influenced the martial arts epics of recent years by directors Ang Lee, John Woo and Zhang Yimou, among others. In Come Drink With Me, sets and story development are just as important as the fighting.

The film opens up on a conflict between a regional governor during Ming Dynasty China (which was a 300-year period beginning in the 1300s) and a bandit gang. They capture the governor's son because the governor has captured the gang's leader. Golden Swallow (played by Cheng Pei-Pei), the governor's daughter, is sent to settle the matter. She stops at the inn the bandits frequent and asks for liquor. Smiling Tiger Tsu Kan (Lee Wan-Chung), a smarmy man who reflects his namesake well, attempts to negotiate with Golden Swallow but the two do not come to an agreement about prisoner hand-over. That's when "the dance" starts. Each of the bandits, all having a particular weapon speciality of course, start to circle up on her, making "distracting" small talk. She doesn't appear armed but the bandits soon learn what she can do with two short swords she has hidden. Incidentally, Cheng Pei-Pei's nickname is "The Queen Of Swords." This battle ends in somewhat of a stalemate.

The inn scene is also where the main male protagonist enters. Drunken Cat Fan Tai-Pei (Yueh Hua), who appears to be a drunken beggar fool, bangs on the inn door, trying to get in as the fight is going on. As the movie progresses. his true nature begins to show itself. In barging into Golden Swallow's room and expertly stealing her weapons through slight of hand, he gets her out of the room before the bandits can capture her. Then he doles out secret messages in song with a chorus of kids.

Golden Swallow learns that the bandits make their headquarters at a Buddhist monastery. While praying there she encounters the bandit's leader Jade Faced Tiger Yin Chung-Yu (Chan Hung-Lit), a man who's pure white robes contrast with his cruelty (earlier in the movie he kills a young monk with a poison dart to the eye). His face is also covered in white make-up making him look like a cross between David Bowie and The Joker. There's an excellent creep factor with this guy. This encounter leads to another fight but with more bandits this time. Golden Swallow even loses her weapons at one point but a hidden Drunken Cat secretly throws them back to her. Jade Faced Tiger hits her with a poison dart and she barely manages to escape the monastery.

More revelations about Drunken Cat surface when he finds Golden Swallow and nurses her back to health. He has a connection to the corrupt abbot of the monastery and needs to defeat him in the name of justice and honor, which is the reason why he has been helping Golden Swallow. They agree to work together to accomplish each other's goals. Drunken Cat's arc exemplifies the story within a story element common in Asian cinema.

The next big battle happens when the prisoner exchange doesn't go as planned. Golden Swallow and a band of other female fighters take on the bandits, including Jade Faced Tiger and Smiling Tiger, while Drunken Cat settles his score with Abbot Liao Kung (Yueng Chi-Hing) and shows off his impressive kung fu skills. This is also the point where the movie gets a bit cheesy. Drunken Cat and Lioa Kung have chi powers which manifest themselves as what appears to be icy wind from their fingertips. Since the Force in "Star Wars" is modeled after things like this it's impossible not to think of it as such. The 1966-level special effects don't look that great. You can see the chi powers coming from nozzles in their sleeves. This really isn't necessary to the plot or even the action because the two adversaries easily distinguish themselves through hand-to-hand fighting. It kind of takes you out of the movie a bit because there's no indication of an fantasy-like elements in the rest of the film.

Like any good action movie, the good guys defeat the bad guys. The contrast between the more one-on-one fight of Drunken Cat and the Abbot and the pitched battle between multiple forces with Golden Swallow and her warriors versus the bandits provides a nice well-rounded conclusion.

One calling card of wuxia films as opposed to some other martial arts movies is the attention to detail in the world outside the fighting. This is probably due to wuxia's origin as literature. This movie is not the expansive epic of say "Red Cliff" or the emotion-filled "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" but you do get to know most of the characters as people and not just as fighters. "Come Drink With Me" is clearly an influence on and important precursor to the modern wuxia movie like the aforementioned films. Director King Hu had a background in set design and it shows in this movie. The buildings, inside and out, are both intricate and look used. Their fully-realized nature enhances the viewing experience and transports you into the Ming Dynasty. Nothing feels too much like a set. Also, the costumes each character wears are distinctive and reflect their personalities. Possibly the most important triumph of this movie is that there's a strong female protagonist in Golden Swallow. This was not something seen much in 1960s films of any genre.

Despite the hiccups, the half-baked chi powers and an altogether poor subtitle translation that lends an air of confusion to certain scenes (which really isn't the movie's fault itself though),"Come Drink With Me" is a great movie. The vastness of it's scope for the time period it was made in, plus the fully-formed plot and the great kung fu and sword-fighting action, make for a film where all the pieces fit.