Shadow Master (2022) Review

“Shadow Master” Theatrical Poster

Director: Pearry Teo
Cast: D.Y. Sao, Layton Matthews, Brian Le, Craig Ng, Anna Harr, Eric Gay Jr., Luciana Faulhaber, Morgan M. Younge, Dylan Walton, Dezzaray Stephens
Running Time: 90 min.

By Paul Bramhall

It’s difficult to believe it’s been almost 20 years since director Prachya Pinkaew unleashed Ong Bak onto the world in 2003, heralding what at the time was seen as a new era of action with Thailand at the fore. Of course, leading man Tony Jaa was an equal if not more important part of Ong Bak’s success, with Pinkaew returning to the director’s chair for subsequent Jaa vehicles Tom Yum Goong in 2005, and following a falling out, its lamentable sequel Tom Yum Goong 2 in 2013. The sequel is worth mentioning since it represented the final nail in the coffin for audience’s excitement when it came to Thailand’s action output, and with it, once commonplace discussions like what kind of crazy action Thailand would crank out next also dwindled away to nothing.

I mention this, since 2022’s Shadow Master feels like it harks back to that mid to late 00’s era, apparently oblivious to the fact that nobody cares anymore about brutal elbows to the head or flying knees to the torso. It becomes apparent as to why when, in the opening seconds, the credit “Prachya Pinkaew presents…” appears onscreen, milking his name recognition in an executive producer role for all it’s worth. But in all fairness, who can blame him? For those who got sick of seeing Tony Jaa running around after buddha’s heads or missing elephants (twice!) and started asking what it would be like to see him do something a little different, Shadow Master looks and feels like it could have been that movie. Perhaps somewhat ironically, the movie itself isn’t actually a Thai product.

Instead, it’s an American DTV action flick, and the sophomore leading role for the Cambodian born, California raised D.Y. Sao. Like The Rebel’s Johnny Tri Nguyen and Accident Man 2’s Sarah Chang, Sao has represented the U.S. National Wushu Team, and has some serious moves thanks to his training across multiple disciplines, including his native Cambodia’s bokator (which was highlighted in 2017’s Jailbreak), kickboxing, and kung fu. After spending several years as an extra or headlining shorts, Sao seems to have found his partner in crime with Singaporean director and writer Pearry Teo.

Mostly known for low budget horror movies like 2013’s Dracula: The Dark Prince and 2019’s The Assent, Teo’s work within the genre isn’t exactly lauded (and that’s being kind), so in 2021 he decided to take a shot at directing a slice of DTV action instead. The result was Fast Vengeance, which paired up D.Y. Sao with rapper DMX in a tale of brothers seeking revenge. Discounting the fact that as soon as DMX finished working with Teo he passed away (which we shouldn’t take as indicative of what it feels like to work on a Teo movie), there’s no escaping that Fast Vengeance borders on the unwatchable. So it is, in 2022 Teo attempts to combine both horror and action in the form of Shadow Master, this time with Sao front and centre as a brooding drifter who takes up a hospital night watchman job (in what I think is a postapocalyptic version of the U.S., but don’t quote me on that).

The residents of the hospital are terrorised by mysterious figures who appear in the night and take away their children, and Sao takes it upon himself to find out why and put a stop to it. What follows is a tale of pure pulp, as a plot involving the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse (who look like they’ve just walked off the stage from a cenobite themed fashion show), a death god, and some kid in leg braces all converge in what I think has something to do with bringing about the end times. Frankly, the entire narrative is a mess, mixing in themes of Christianity, the Taoist Hungry Ghost Festival, and even the Monkey King in a way which never really feels like they connect to each other. Thankfully, things do eventually become interesting in the latter half, but before that, we’re lumbered with a leading man in the form of Sao who fails to possess any leading man qualities. 

Sao’s reluctant night watchman is clearly supposed to be a brooding antihero, and like many talented martial artists who take on a brooding lead role (see also Eric Jacobus in Dogs of Chinatown and Max Zhang in Invincible Dragon), it’s clearly too much of a stretch for someone who’s not a trained actor. So instead he simply wears a blank expression, and utters lines like “fighting only causes pain” and “can God forgive the devil?” in a low-pitched monotone drone. Combined with almost non-existent pacing full of tensionless silences and oddly paced pauses, the initial third of Shadow Master is a laborious watch, only saved by a sprinkling of flashback scenes which show Sao in action.

Choreographed by Sao himself along with The Martial Club’s Andy Le (Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Luc Van Tien: Tuyet Dinh Kungfu) and Brian Le (The Paper Tigers, Everything Everywhere All at Once), the action is a refreshing throwback to the hard-hitting brutality of the 2000’s ‘Thai wave’. Pinkaew’s influence on the action scenes is clear, and had Shadow Master came out even 10 years ago we’d probably be calling it derivative of Thailand’s output. However things have changed a lot since then, and except for the occasional gem from Indonesia (The Night Comes for Us is already 4 years old), these days we’re mostly left with Chinese web movies for a martial arts fix with their distinct lack of power and overuse of slow motion. To see Sao’s athleticism, complete with Tony Jaa-esque acrobatic flourishes (expect several spins in the air before a kick is actually delivered), is kind of refreshing.

There’s not much that Sao unleashes which we haven’t seen before (on 2 occasions he even imitates Korean super kicker Won Jin’s trademark scorpion stance, crouched down on all fours with one leg arched over his back), but he delivers the choreography with an energy and power that somehow makes it forgivable. The action is complimented in the latter half by a plot which becomes increasingly outlandish, with Sao making a deal with the Death God, a semi-flesh covered skeleton whose touch melts the flesh of anyone he comes into contact with. Played by Teo himself, and given an entertainingly deep demonic growl of a voice by producer Dean Scheske, in the latter scenes Sao has to put up with the Death God’s voice being inside his head and constantly muttering such lines as “now your body is mine!” to unintentionally amusing affect.

Once the gore kicks in with throats graphically slit and entrails falling out of sliced open stomachs, it becomes possible to overlook the weak acting and repetitive score, and instead enjoy Shadow Master for the pulpy slice of B-movie goodness it was clearly intended to be. The highlight though undeniably belongs to a knockdown drag out one on one brawl between Sao and Brian Le, as the 2 go at it in an uninterrupted 5-minute screen fighting masterclass that’s a joy to watch. Sure, we get some slow-motion power move inserts where it’s a little too obvious that the person on the receiving end is just waiting to be hit, however it does little to take away from what’s a fast and furious exchange of crisp and powerful moves. It’s the kind of fight that reminds fans of kung fu cinema why they’re fans of kung-fu cinema, and is a bright point that could, for some, arguably justify checking out Shadow Master for these 5 minutes alone.

In the end it’s hard to call Shadow Master a good movie. Instead, it’s probably fairer to call it a mediocre movie that manages to throw just enough quality action and squelchy gore onscreen for it to pull itself out of mediocrity enough times to keep the audience watching. That may sound like a back handed compliment, and in a way it is, but in the end I found it impossible to dislike Shadow Master. When you have lines like “YOU’RE GOING TO ACCUSE ME BASED ON SMELL!?” yelled completely poker faced, corpse oil, and faces being melted off, Shadow Master’s duller moments feel a little more forgivable. Should we still care about brutal elbows to the head or flying knees to the torso after all? Throw enough energy and aggression behind them, and perhaps that answer could be yes.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 5.5/10