"The Tiger Blade" International Theatrical Poster
Director: Theeratorn Siriphunvaraporn
Producer: Jirun Ratthanaviriyachai
Cast: Atsadawut Luengsuntorn, Phimonrat Phisarayabud, Pongpat Wachirabunjong, Srungsuda Lawanprasert, Amornrit Sriphung, Chalad Na Songkhla, Annan Bunnak
Running Time: 91 min.
By HKFanatic
Some guys have all the luck. At least that’s how I felt after watching this Thai action movie. I mean, not only does our hero carry the bad-ass codename of “Tiger Blade” but he’s a secret agent who answers to no one, has a way with women, and is a crack shot who can hit a motorcyclist from several yards away. Yup, Tiger Blade is the pretty boy hero who saves the world without fussing his perfectly gelled hair; also known as the kind of poser a lot of action fans can’t stand.
It’s clear from this film’s premise and ending that the producers were hoping to launch Tiger Blade into his own James Bond-style franchise. But here we are six years later and I haven’t heard a peep about a “Tiger Blade 2.” It’s probably because this movie is something of a mess; I doubt I would have understood the story any less if I’d turned the subtitles off.
The plot, so far as I can tell, deals with Tiger Blade trying to round up a dangerous group of thugs, one of whom has tattoos on his body that make him bullet-proof (I’m not making this up). This same band of baddies breaks a rebel leader out of prison, forming an uneasy alliance in order to do…something. It’s not clear what their motive is until the very end of the movie and I won’t spoil it here. Suffice to say, our hero chases them all around Thailand in various action set-pieces as he tries to unravel the murky plot himself.
“Tiger Blade” suffers from that same shoddy editing style you see in many Thai films where scenes seem to transition from one scene to the next without rhyme or reason. I’m not knocking the Thai movie industry because I do love their work but it’s clearly a business that’s still trying to work the technical kinks out. They know how to make a glossy-looking picture that appeals to Western markets; however, the actual mechanics of telling a coherent story sometimes eludes their action filmmakers.
That’s not to say “Tiger Blade” is without its moments. The film’s saving grace is probably its sense of humor, which is in full effect most of the time. During the opening scene, Tiger Blade fends off a group of shotgun-toting attackers wearing nothing but a bath towel (something I thought only Jackie could do!). Later on, he returns to his apartment to find a harem of Thai ladies in lingerie ready to cook him a spicy meal – until his sister shows up to spoil the fun. Add in a clever joke about J-horror and some outrageous stunts and you have a flick that had me laughing more often than not.
The action scenes are plentiful and over-the-top but the fight choreography is way more staged and transparent than in “Ong Bak.” An over-abundance of slow motion must be meant to hide the fact that the cast isn’t really trained in martial arts. There are a few stand-out scenes: I found out what happens when you trap a grenade in someone’s motorcycle helmet and the ending features a bravado highway chase on go-karts(!!). Somehow I feel my life is better now that I’ve seen a Thai stuntman drive a go-kart under a moving semi-truck.
“The Tiger Blade” is worth a rental if, like me, you’re on a mission to watch every single Thai action movie that has been released in the West. Anyone else probably won’t lose sleep if they never find out whether or not this super, super secret agent with a faux-hawk haircut saves Thailand.
HKFanatic’s Rating: 5.5/10
