WATCH THE TRAILER

PREMIERE.COM'S REVIEW (posted 7/10/07)

Released on these shores in 2005, producer Prachya Pinkaew's cult actioner Ong-Bak — along with its rising martial-arts star Tony Jaa — kicked down the door for Muay Thai brawling on American screens, but what was heralded as a refreshing subgenre import may have peaked with that very film. After all, how many times can we be wowed by a guy dropping opponents with just his elbows and knees? As if responding to this limitation, Dynamite Warrior strives for the gonzo gold by supplementing its fight choreography with excessive CGI effects and wire-spinning stunts, all encased in a supernatural, neo-spaghetti western with machete-wielding dwarves, demonic possessions, cannibal henchmen, and a mysterious Robin Hood whose homemade rocket assaults rival the Fourth of July. It's crazed to be sure, but it’s a lot more fun reading about these insanities than watching them unfurl in endless slo-mo flourishes.

In the quickly industrializing Thailand of 1910, the giggly yet nefarious Lord Waeng (Thai pop star Leo Putt) threatens the cattle ranchers' way of life with his new-fangled tractors. Meanwhile, former child monk–turned–vigilante Jone Bang Fai (Dan Chupong, the kickboxing star of Born to Fight) steals buffalo from wicked traders to give to the villagers, a deed that he hopes will lead him to the tattooed man who killed his parents. Paths collide and allegiances form between the good, bad, and ugly, but under the incoherent direction of Chalerm Wongpim (camera operator on his biggest gig prior, The Protector), a clunky dullness sets in whenever the action subsides. That leading man Chupong needed acting lessons before shooting should explain some of Wongpim's issues, but in a whacked-out adventure where virginal menstrual blood holds the key to defeating cursed wizards, it takes some kind of talent to make an audience yawn.

— Aaron Hillis