"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.

"The Good The Bad The Weird" Revives The Classic Western In 1930s Manchuria

"The Good The Bad The Weird" is a 2008 Korean western. Yes, you read that correctly. Or rather, though the movie is a tribute to classic spaghetti Westerns, it would be more appropriate to call it a Northeastern as it takes place in 1930s Manchuria.

First of all, a little history lesson. Manchuria was a geopolitical region that now mostly encompasses northeastern China. Parts of it are or have been in Russia as well. It is an ethnic melting pot of sorts as Han Chinese, Mongols, Russians, Koreans and Manchus (whom the area is named after) among others, all live there. In the 30s, the time period this movie is set in, Manchuria was a puppet state of Japan with Puyi, the last emperor of the last dynasty in China, the Machu-led Qing Dynasty, as "Emperor," though he was only a ceremonial head of state. At the same time, the Japanese occupied Korea and forcibly suppressed Korean culture. The Korean independence movement was just as prevalent among Koreans in Manchuria at the time as it was for Koreans in Korea.

From the start this movie let's the viewer know exactly what kind of film it is. Every classic Western trope it utilized and in the beginning the one employed is a train robbery. The Bad, Park Chang-yi (Lee Byung-hun), a gang leader with a crazily intense fiery stare as well as a hipster mullet and emo bangs, is hired to steal something from Japanese military officials on board the train. He doesn't count on two other parties entering the fray. The Weird, Yoon Tae-goo (Song Kang-ho), a pudgy, goofy thief is after the same thing. The Good, Park Do-wan (Jung Woo-sung), a stoic bounty hunter in cowboy hat of the Clint Eastwood type, is after both of them.

The prize the two outlaws are after turns out to be a treasure map made by the Chinese before the Qing Dynasty fell. What the treasure is the map doesn't specify. But since the map was in the hands of the Japanese officials it is believed to be worth a hefty sum. After a heated gun battle aboard the train between the three adversaries, The Weird gets away with the map. A group of Manchu bandits witnessed the train robbery from afar on a hill and want the map to sell on the black market "Ghost Market." After they attack The Weird he attempts to flee into the desert but is caught by The Good. They strike up a deal to find the treasure together though it's revealed that The Good only agrees to root out The Bad, who he believes committed horrible crimes in Korea as "The Finger Chopper." Some of his actions certainly seem to lend evidence that he is that notorious criminal.

The movies is basically one long chase of some kind of another and ends with all parties, The Good, The Bad and his gang, The Weird, the Manchu gang and the Japanese army racing towards the treasure. This scene is somewhat reminiscent of "Raiders Of The Lost Arc" in that there's elaborate gun play on horseback against military vehicles with big automatic weapons and cannons. The Good manages to take a lot of the soldiers out with his twirling rifle and shotgun skillz but they still decimate The Bad's gang and the Manchu bandits. Like any great Western, the movie ends in a classic stand-off showdown between the main adversaries. Revelations about The Bad and The Weird comes to light, like why the Bad has a vendetta against The Weird and why he wears gloves throughout the whole movie. The truth about the treasure is also revealed. In other words, nothing is as it seems. The Weird's sheer dumb luck ends up looking more and more like actual skill as the movie progresses.

A lot of the comedy in this movie comes from the interactions between these two. The Good's matter-of-fact demeaner works as a great jumping off point for the Weird's motor-mouth silliness. Also, The Weird wearing a heavy diving helmet as armor during a labyrinthine urban gunfight is hilarious. Some side characters provide funny moments as well, like the Japanese agent posing as a Chinese opium den proprietor pretending to be a Korean freedom fighter who's sexual proclivities announce themselves following a sword injury to a particular bodily area or a placid forgetful old women who lives among thieves.

The sets and costumes help portray the Western vibe as well. The Good's brim-over-the-eyes cowboy hat and long coat perfectly capture the Western hero archetype. The Bad's slim-fitting black suit and popped collar work for the gangster look and the Weird's ear-flapped motorcycle hat and knee-high pants fit the oddball nature of the character well. Much of the movie was filmed on location in the area of China formerly known as Manchuria. It's nice to see that kind of authenticity. The buildings that make up the urban scenes look appropriately hodge-podge and weathered, as you might expect a frontier Asian town to look like in the early 20th century, one foot stubbornly in the past and one racing too fast into the modern age.

In once sense, there is not a lot of character development in this movie. There is absolutely no back story for The Good and very little for The Bad and The Weird. But in another sense, though, ending twists aside, you don't know these characters' pasts, who they are as people in the here and now is done very well. Each have distinctive personalities that are believable, a testament to the actors' skills. The best way to look at this movie is not a life story for The Good, The Bad or The Weird but as a singular adventure in their lives.

"The Good The Bad The Weird" is writer/director Kim Ji-woon's baby. In an interview on the DVD, he said he always wanted to make a Western but didn't think a Korean Western was possible. He proved himself wrong with this one. The attention to detail, the non-stop interesting action scenes, the archetypal but unique characters and the touch of comedy, history and politics provide a very well-rounded and, possibly most importantly, a very fun movie. Pulling out all the stops could have had the potential to be negatively chaotic and disjointed but the talent of the cast and crew molded this concept into a loving homage, rather than parody, of the Western genre and just a great movie in it's own right despite genre labeling.