"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.

"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.

"Iron Monkey" Is A Seamless Blend Of Kung Fu Action, Political Intrigue And Humor

"Iron Monkey," from 1993, like several Asian films, is not actually about the perceived main character. This movie serves as an origin story of Wong Fei-hung, a real 19th century martial arts master, acupuncturist and revolutionary. Since his death in 1924 he has become a folk hero and has begun to slip into semi-mythical status as some of the hundreds of film depictions of his life are less than historically accurate. In "Iron Monkey" Wong Fei-hung is a kid, traveling around with his stern martial artist father Wong Kei-ying. The events of this movie influence Fei-hung to become a champion of the people.

The Wongs (The father played by Donnie Yen and the boy played by Angie Tsang - yes, a little girl played a little boy) arrive in a town with an inequity problem. There are many in poverty while the regional governor Cheng (James Wong) hoards all the gold and the best food for himself. But somebody is doing something about it, a Robin Hood-like character in the form of the masked and black-clad Iron Monkey. Yang Tianchun (Yu Rongguang) is the Iron Monkey. He is a respected doctor who often gives free medical service to the poor and charges the rich to pay for it. This is a guy Occupy Wall Street would love. At night he uses his stealthy kung fu skills to take gold from the rich to give to the poor. When he robs the governor the greedy man orders bumbling Chief Fox (Yuen Shun-Yi), his head of security, to apprehend the Iron Monkey. Anybody who is good at martial arts and/or has any association with monkeys is considered a suspect. This leads to some funny arrests like a man who supposedly "sneezes like a monkey."

Wong Kei-ying and Wong Fei-hung are arrested. Kei-ying agrees to help capture the Iron Monkey if the governor will let his son go. The governor says he will only after the Iron Monkey is defeated. Kei-ying finds that most of the locals hate him for cooperating with the despised governor and won't sell him any food. In comes Doctor Yang to the rescue and the plot device of him helping the man who's trying to bring him in and shut him down.

Eventually Wong Kei-ying learns the truth about Yang and why he spends his nights as the Iron Monkey and the two agree to join forces to take down the governor. But a new threat arises in the corrupt Shaolin monk Hin-hung (Yen Shi-kwan), who matches Governor Cheng's spineless greed with an evil disregard for life. Hin-hung is an imperial official who takes over the Governorship and vows to take down the Iron Monkey himself. Hin-hung and his band of frankly ugly, sneering monks and one sword-wielding disfigured nun provide much more of the challenge than the previous governor's men. Chief Fox turns out to not be such a bad guy after all, certainly not the Sheriff of Nottingham-type of character he was in the beginning and secretly and not-so-secretly helps the Iron Monkey. From this point, the fighting action from everybody, including young Fei-hung, builds up to a final confrontation for Wong Kei-ying and Doctor Yang against the evil monk.

The fight scenes are excellent in this movie. But you can expect that from director Yuen Woo-ping, well known in both Asia and the U.S. for his action choreography. The fights are interesting to watch and expertly use the environment of the sets and props, like wooden beams, filled burlap sacks, tile roofs, tables, chairs, fire, clothing etc., as weapons and staging areas. Each fighter also clearly has their own style which also reflects their individual personalities well. This drives home the fact that martial arts is just as much mental as physical.

The humor is weaved seamlessly into the action and the politically-charged plot. Nothing feels too forced. Governor Cheng is a great weaselly, sniveling character, forever complaining about and chasing after his multiple wives. There's a great scene where Yang and his assistant Miss Orchid (Jean Wang) dress up as imperial officials to steal from the Governor. Both are wearing fake-looking beards and talking in funny accents. In one scene, Yang tells a rich patient that he is over-sexed and needs to lay off the shark-fin soup.

The one flaw in "Iron Monkey" is that Miss Orchid could have been developed better. She has some good fight scenes but is still fairly one-dimensional. It seem like her addiction was mostly to provide additional evidence that Doctor Yang is a kind and ethical man, as there is a flashback scene, filmed in an oddly thick blue hue, of him rescuing Orchid from either being raped or killed.

"Iron Monkey" is a great introduction to a Chinese folk hero portrayed as an adult by such stars as Jackie Chan and Jet Li. This is also a very well-rounded movie that appeals to all types of audiences with it's pleasing mix of fluid kung fu action, political intrigue and comedy. This type of film is a good gateway drug and jumping off point to both the longer, denser and more complex epic, historical period wuxia movies and to the leaner-plotted, fighting-focused kung fu films.

"13 Assassins" As Much Treatise On Samurai Culture As It Is Action Film

Director Takashi Miike is most known for his ultra-violent disturbing thrillers and horror films. 2010's "13 Assassins" is relatively tame by his standards but certainly has plenty of violence and frequent unsettling scenes. This movie manages to mix dark and gritty amidst the simple yet serene beauty of feudal Japan architecture and clothing as well as fluid action choreography.

This is a remake of a 1963 film of the same name and is also clearly an homage to classics like Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai." However, "13 Assassins" doesn't feel like a parody at all. In fact, if more films of this caliber get made, the samurai genre will not have to be lauded only for past successes.

"13 Assassins" takes place in the 1840s. Historically, this was a period of peace but stagnation for the samurai and the Shogun ruling system in Japan that eventually saw to it's collapse. Lord Naritsuga (Goro Inagaki) is the Shogun's half-brother and has gained a lot of power. However, he is sadistic, killing, raping and torturing people at will for little or no reason. His violence against women is particularly heinous, as one scene involving a quadruple amputee shows. Early on it's made clear that Naritsuga has no redeeming value whatsoever. He is utterly evil and sociopathic. Basically, this is a guy Dexter needs to visit.

Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira), a high-ranking adviser to the Shogun, sees that Naritsuga's rise in power is bad news. Fearing that the man's unhinged violence will infect the Shogun system and thus the whole of Japan, he secretly enlists samurai Shinzaemon (Koji Yakusho) to take Naritsuga out. Shinzaemon enlists 11 fellow samurai, including his party animal nephew and his hard-training disciple. Each have special skills and unique personalities, making this a well-rounded group to watch.

Naritsuga and his ontourage are traveling so the newly formed band of assassins follow in hopes of cutting him off and cutting him down in a small rural village. Along the way they meet their 13th assassin, a crude, free-spirited hunter named Koyata (Yusuke Iseya). He helps to provide some comic relief and also serves as a contrast to the strict lives the samurai lead.

The final battle is spectacularly constructed. It takes up around an hour of the film's time but doesn't drag in the slightest because of its uniqueness. The assassins have reached the town they set out to before Naritsuga's party arrives. They pay the entire town to leave but not before helping to construct elaborate traps everywhere that turn it into a deadly labyrinthine maze. At first, the assassins, with their element of surprise, have the upper hand and pick off multitudes of Naritsuga's nameless samurai. But the sheer numbers of them, 200 in total, eventually begin the overwhelm the group.

The final final battle of course involves a direct sword fight between Shinzaemon and Naritsuga but not before his battle with Naritsuga's right hand man Hanbei (Masachika Ichimura), an old sparring partner of Shinzaemon's. These two show the conflicting viewpoints within the samurai structure with Hanbei espousing duty above all and Shinzaemon espousing justice above all. Also, it turns out Naritsuga loves dishing out pain but he's not very good at taking it.

"13 Assassins" makes use of many shades of grey for the costumes and sets. It is also often raining. These two elements do a great job with reflecting the somber mood surrounding the dilution of the samurai ideal and the corruption of the feudal system. Naritsuga always wears pure white, which also helps to contrast his lofty position with his lowdown acts.

While this movie is a great action film and character drama at the same time, some elements might make it confusing for Western audiences. For example, much of the first half of the film concerns the acts, practices and duties of Bushido, the code of the samurai, and how these help and hinder individual samurai on a personal, cultural and political basis. These scenes, despite the good acting, could be tedious to any viewer unfamiliar with samurai history. Though even if these elements are understood, the flow of "13 Assassins" is a bit herky-jerky at times. But you can't accuse this movie of not being thorough.

Samurai movies, and this one in particular, are violent. There's no point denying that. But the bloodbath isn't violence for the sake of it. It is a byproduct of the wonderfully intricate plot, stoic but intense acting and breathtaking sets and scenery. "13 Assassins" refuses to sacrifice substance for style or visa-versa and instead amps up both as far as they can go.