Sanctuary, The | aka The Warrior’s Path (2009) Review

"The Sanctuary" Thai Theatrical Poster

AKA: Sam Pan Boke
Director: Thanapon Maliwan
Writer: Thanapon Maliwan, Anuwat Kaewsopark
Cast: Michael B., Russell Wong, Intira Jaroenpura, Patharawarin Timkul, Erik Markus Schuetz, Winston Sefu, Lak-Khet Waslikachart
Running TIme: 86 min.

By HKFanatic

As a stuntman for Tony Jaa (“Ong Bak”), Mike B. probably had to learn to take a few hits. Unfortunately, he brings that same philosophy to his own starring vehicle, the Thai martial arts flick “The Sanctuary.” This movie is literally 86 minutes of Mike B. being treated like a human punching bag.

The plot follows a similar formula to “Ong Bak”: some ancient Thai antiques are stolen from the monastery near Mike B.’s workplace by Russell Wong (yes, Russell Wong of “Romeo Must Die” fame!) and of course Mike is the only one who can get them back. Too bad every bad guy that he runs into kicks his ass.

One of the antiques Mike recovers is a mystical amulet which promises to teach him he secrets of Thai boxing, but it never really works. Mike B. gets his ass handed to him before and after peering into the amulet’s secrets. I was having flashbacks to those old Van Damme movies like “Kickboxer” and “Lionheart” where the main villain would beat on Van Damme for twenty minutes until JCVD turned things around and won the fight with a few well-placed spin kicks. But Mike B. doesn’t even have any spin kicks. It’s a shame – if Mike had put up just a little bit of a fight, this could have been a satisfying martial arts movie.

At least Mike wisely populates his movie with a host of colorful bad guys. Russell Wong’s three henchman are a joy to watch – one of them is this ladyboy-in-training who fights like he’s doing an exaggerated pantomime of Catwoman. Another guy looks like he stepped out of the Hitler Youth and his long legs can kick like nobody’s business. Lastly, there’s a dude who looks like he should be in a SoCal metal band but he’s just an all around great Muay Tha fighter. These three guys are fun to watch and excellent at martial arts – basically, the opposite of Mike B. “The Sanctuary” is almost worth renting just to see them in action. I promise action junkies won’t forget about them anytime soon.

The rest of the movie is fairly forgettable, though I was entertained by the cheesy “Engrish” dialogue and the various ‘plot twists’ that occurred. The opening scene is actually set during the 1890’s and features one of Mike B.’s ancestors, who is about a hundred times more bad-ass than him. This sequence is far bloodier than the rest of the movie and a lot of fun. If there are any Russell Wong fans out there (anybody?), you can be rest assured that the actor is still pretty tough in his middle-age. During the finale, he puts the hurt on Mike B. and nearly drowns the poor bastard.

If there’s any consolation, it’s that “The Sanctuary” is far better than Mike B.’s 2007 debut “Brave,” which had the most pedestrian fights and stunts I’ve ever seen captured on film. But at the end of the day, nobody wants to see their hero get the crap kicked out of him, to never once gain the upper hand. Mike B. is sort of like the polar opposite of Donnie Yen or Steven Seagal, who rarely, if ever, let an opponent land a blow on them. I guess “The Sanctuary” is proof that you can actually make an action movie by hiring other, better martial artists to beat you up for 90 minutes.

HKFanatic’s Rating: 5.5/10