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Tiger Blade
Directed by: Theeratorn Siriphunvaraporn Starring: Asadawut Luantsuntorn Synopsis: A rebel leader is rescued from a high security prison by a mysterious businessman who wants him to pull off a heist. Super detective Yos, also known as Tiger Blade, must try and stop him and his cohorts – some of whom use black magic to protect themselves from bullets. Yos must obtain the Spirit sword in order to combat them and win... Review: Thai action movies remind me of the frenetic movies that used to come out of Hong Kong – just totally off the wall, loosely plotted between fight scenes and/or outrageous stunts. This movie has a lot of energy to keep the viewer interested, but perhaps too many flaws that break the spell. Now, the Thai version of this movie that I saw has some interesting quirks relating to the censorship issues of Thailand. The overall violence and action was untouched, but anytime a gun was directly pointed at someone’s head, the gun was optically fogged out! Even more bizarrely, the same occurred when anyone smoked – the cigarette was fogged out too! Meanwhile a prostitute is severely beaten and not an eyelid is batted. 
The movie starts off with a well put together action sequence as our hero is interrupted mid-coitus by a gang of gunmen, fighting them off one-handed whilst keeping a towel wrapped around his waist. I’d go as far to say the action overall was excellent – it was the reasons behind the action occurring that is the movie’s problem. The plotting is rather woolly and things happen because they’re cool to watch rather than having any logic behind them. A good example is that towards the end, Yos chases one of the main badguys out of his headquarters, which happens to be a go-kart racing track. The attack on the headquarters occurs at night, but the subsequent chase on go-karts on the freeway is in broad daylight – then once its over, it’s night-time again! But you know what? I’m going to forgive it this “little” inconsistency, purely because of the OMG moment. The moment that the movie made me go “Oh MY GOD!” and rewind the scene and watch it again. I am sure you are all familiar with the stunt in Fast and the Furious, where the cars pass underneath an 18-wheeler as it speeds alongside . Tiger Blade goes one better. The badguy sweeps under the lorry whilst making a U-turn. The goodguy, not only sweeps under the lorry travelling alongside, but also sweeps under another lorry, travelling in the opposite direction. It truly has to be seen to be believed.
Unfortunately, the movie kind of fizzles out at that stage. Although the two leading ladies get to have a pretty decent scrap, the male leads only get to point guns at each other in a Mexican standoff as Yos tries to determine who has betrayed him and who he can trust. And, of course, the guns are fogged out whenever they directly point to someone’s head! One of the golden rules of martial arts movies is to end with a big flourish, and this fails to do so. Verdict: Some very good action, stunts and martial arts on display, but a fuzzy, ill-defined story and some bizarre continuity errors keep the viewer from being totally immersed. 5 Out of 10 (loses a point for the optical fogging) (MikeOutWest)
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