“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 Continue reading →
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