You can't blame the Thais for continuing to make action films like Furious Phoenix. Thailand mainly sells two genres of films - martial arts films and horror films. Everything else is not going very well. Another novelty in the Thai film industry is a female fighter, an amazing Gija Yanin, which “burst” onto the screens last year with “Chocolate” from the director “Ong-Baka” Prachi Pinkaeva. Janine's modest participation benefited the film. We already know how things are with “Furious Phoenix,” so director Rashan Limtrakul and director Panna Rittikrai had to present a new feature - a new style of martial arts, which combines Muay Thai and breakdancing. Or at least that was the idea.
The plot of Furious Phoenix was overstuffed: Dew (Yanin), left unattended, spends her free time playing (badly, I might add) drums in a pop band until she is almost kidnapped while trying to drink herself to death because of your ex-boyfriend. But fate was favorable to her, and Dew is saved by Sanim (Patrick “Kazoo” Tang), who, as it turned out, was nearby when the bad guys came for the main character. Sanim carries her away, simultaneously fighting off the bad guys - base jumpers with blades on their legs. He brought her home, or rather, to the place that serves as his home, where Dew met with two of his drunken comrades. You see, it was not by chance that Sanim encountered Dew: he, along with his friends, was following a gang of kidnappers stealing Thai girls for their vile needs, and was on alert when Dew was drawn into these “showdowns”.
Ultimately, we learn that Sanim and his friends are not just “volunteer rescuers”; they themselves became victims of kidnappers - the scoundrels stole their women. It turned out that Dew can become an excellent bait for villains, but for this she needs to be trained in the art of B-boy fighting. Which, um, is what happens over the next few days. Or for the time that the edited training scenes last. Hand on heart, I’ll say that the ease and speed with which Dew transformed from a bad drummer in a pop group into a very “cool” heroine looks a little stupid. Not only that, she suddenly developed great breakdancing skills, our girl mixed them with some striking moves from Muay Thai. Yes, this is one of those things you just have to deal with.
The highlight of “Furious Phoenix” is that director Limtrakul and director Rittikrai used an original style of martial arts, combining the free rhythms of breakdancing with Muay Thai. And a lot of alcohol. It worked to a certain extent, but for the most part it looks and feels clunky, not helped by the fact that break dancers probably aren't real fighters and, as a result, their punches and kicks don't look very convincing. . How about the fact that the fragile girl actually looks like she knows how to fight, even before she met the secret mysterious source [of alcohol] of the breakdancers who know Muay Thai.
There is no point in expecting anything special from Furious Phoenix. And so it is clear that the acting will be bad, the emotions will be too exaggerated, and the plot is needed only to move the heroes from the first battle to the second, etc. Which, in fact, is what director Rashan Limtrakul did, and, frankly, it turned out to be more than enough. The action moments are worth the money paid for the tickets, and “Phoenix” clearly doesn’t skimp on the goodies. The choreography takes a little getting used to, it's very different from the striking fighting style we're used to seeing from Rittikrai, maybe a direct result of adding stylish breakdancing moves into the mix.
Everything falls into place during the last 30 minutes, when the good guys finally find the secret lair of the “bad guys” (a dungeon, after all) and meet in the final series of almost endless fights. Interestingly enough, it seems that in the second half of the film, Janine's style is almost radically different from Muay Thai, and that speaks for itself. And, if you're probably hoping that there won't be any more surprises in the film, then know that the leader of the villains is an Amazonian fighter with a bikini bra. I'm not kidding you. Two “types” help support her criminal empire - kungfuists, and for what purpose did she kidnap Thai girls? Well, let's just say I've never heard of pheromones being so profitable.
Reviewing films like Furious Phoenix and, of course, most modern Thai action films, cannot be approached traditionally. So I won't bore you with criticism of the acting or the script, but will simply say that if you like the idea of tiny Gija Yanin "flying" all over the screen and dealing with guys, then "Furious Phoenix" is just the thing for you need to. For those who think this is too ridiculous or want an explanation of how a rich girl was able to master Muay Thai to such an extent that she could cope with crowds of villains in a warehouse, I do not recommend watching it.
Author: NIX
Source: beyondhollywood
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: Raging Phoenix, Gija Yanin, Ong-Bak, Panna Rittikrai, Prachya Pinkayu, Rashan Limtrakul
Tags: Raging Phoenix, Gija Yanin, Ong-Bak, Panna Rittikrai, Prachya Pinkayu, Rashan Limtrakul
Thanks, I laughed. Already the first sentence put me in slight bewilderment :) “You can’t blame me,” yeah, let him say thank you that such films exist at all.
Yeah. For such films we shouldn’t blame them, but carry them in our arms...