Vengeance of an Assassin (2014) - Panna Rittikrai's Final Movie, Starring Dan Chupong

[ShaOW!linDude]

Most reviews, so far, imply this is a lot like "Bangkok Knockout": big, silly and plotless. I'm embarrassed to say I like "BKO" a lot more than most so, hopefully, I'll really like this one too.

Don't be. I like it, too. And if this is comparable to that movie, then it's all good with me.

[D1 Ma]

Agreed, though I think Jaa has potential to direct/choreograph. He proved as much with Ong Bak 2, but at the time he'd bit off more than he could chew. He's had some time to mature. I'd like to see him take another crack at it. He can take what he learned from Panna and build on it.

Jaa is a capable fight choreographer, no doubt. I'm not sure about his skills as a stunt coordinator.

Plus, as I understand, Panna had his own stunt team, he was raising a new generation of stuntmen. I'm sure he knew the right people to get the funding to lift his projects off the ground. Almost all big action movies had Panna involved in some way. Without him we get some messy crappy movies

Somehow, I don't think TJ is interested in working behind the camera, let along working in Thailand, especially after his experience on Ong Bak movies. Maybe, down the road, but I doubt it's gonna happen in the next few years. Glad to be mistaken, though

[AlbertV]

My review is up on the main page...Rittikrai entrusted his stunt team to choreograph the film. Seng Kawee was actually listed as the action supervisor with Thana Srisuke as action director with Banlu Srisaeng and Ooi Teuk Huat (who played Dr. Si Foo) as choreographers.

[VenomsFan]

Anyone touting the genius Gareth Evans' freshman project a great martial arts film must now say Vengeance of an Assassin is an awesome martial arts film.

Like most of you, I am a martial arts film fanatic, so I watch and own all of them. Thanks to The Raid, which raised the bar, this last batch has been a breath of fresh air. Post Ip Man to include Brick Mansions, Rise of the Legend, Rurouni Kenshin, Once Upon a Time in Vietnam and also a time in Shanghai, The Raid 1 and 2, even Statham's latest Wild Card not to mention Keanu Reeve's John Wick which have all been positively influenced by this redux on the martial arts genre.

Last year I posted I would be anticipating this as it was not only Panna's last film but his first project since the Raid. Some highlights:

* Dragon Lord opening hackie sack martial arts match mirrored by the opening Soccer match

* John Woo Hard Boiled gun shootouts (heck add the Killer) has been replaced by the gun shootouts in this film indefinitely

* Matrix gun shootout and slomotion effects has been improved upon

* Forget Bruce Lee's missing saw in the head scene, we have license plate in the arms and a whirling fan to the face!

* Grappling, gunkata and even a great display of Chinese Martial arts (Si Foo) unarmed vs armed assailants

I see posts here about cheap production and plotlines but this is held up by great performances especially by uncle Thom. As for production, the set pieces couldn't be more alive with extreme attention to detail.

There is no shortage of action but its the level of expertise Panna displays here. It's better than The Raid and is the number one film for gun shootouts in the action or ma film genre. Period.

And of yeah, the end tribute pic says it all. This man was a fan and influenced by Bruce Lee before any of us - fans, actors or directors were even alive to enjoy martial arts film.

Show your respect.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Jaa is a capable fight choreographer, no doubt. I'm not sure about his skills as a stunt coordinator.

Good point. Hadn't thought of that.

Somehow, I don't think TJ is interested in working behind the camera, let along working in Thailand, especially after his experience on Ong Bak movies. Maybe, down the road, but I doubt it's gonna happen in the next few years. Glad to be mistaken, though

Too true, especially with recent news that Sahamongkolfilm Co. is preventing the release F&F7 because they want $47 million, claiming that it's lost revenue due to the under-performance of TYG2 and the fact that Jaa's contract expired, but they're arguing that he still has 2 yrs with them.

[FrankBolte]

watched it .... great movie,lots of action and very brutal if not gory.

But it cant touch movies like the raid but it doesnt have to... there are tons of fights and shootouts, awesome stunts...story and logic was a bit neglected but who cares....

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

My brother just mention this movie being a complete bad ass. I haven't watched a lot of Thai movies since god knows when??? Is it really that bad ass???

[BaronK]

Didn't hate it. Didn't really care for it though. Was an action movie. Not a fight movie. Fight were not as good as I thought they would be. Gun stuff was better. The long take shootouts took me by surprise. I liked the that the first one was shot at a particular angle throughout. Nice touch. Some of the stunts were crazy ouch.

Have to admit, the hit, hit, hit, hit style didn't do it for me. I love B Knockout. Didn't love this. For as long as they have been in the game, you would think they would know how and where to tighten up the chor. and editing. Some stuff is still sloppy.

[odioustrident]

Parts of this production felt rushed... Could have been Panna's health issues which he had apparently known about for a while.

[kami]

This last movie of Thai action maestro Panna Rittikai is another mess typical for the country, albeit an entertaining one that has quite a few merits. The story is crap, as usual, completely devoid of suspense, drama or logic. Fortunately there is action to fill the void, and there is a lot of it. Fights, gunplay, stunts and big explosions deliver the much needed entertainment value the story can't offer. The choreography for both fights and shootouts is mostly great with the exception of the train fight which has some nice moments but at a whole is a bit of a letdown. At least I liked how it was ended, the train-helicopter-collision might not be a highlight of effect wizardry but it looks cool.

Very cool is the showdown with its HARD BOILED-references an some of the juiciest blood squibs in years. Great slo-mo destruction, great make up effects for the final bullet.

[robbie]

i am looking forward to this hopefully it lives upto the hype as the action looks good

[One Armed Boxer]

I got through watching this one today. First up, for those wanting to know what type of Panna flick this is, it's more 'Born to Fight' than it is 'Bangkok Knockout'. Gone are the intricately choreographed fight scenes of 'BKO', and welcome back are the high impact wince worthy falls and stuntwork of 'Born to Fight'. For me personally, 'BKO' was a watch-once affair, but I find myself able to repeatedly go back to 'Born to Fight', so this was fine for me.

The wince worthy falls aren't the only things that are back though...so is that dodgy CGI soccer ball, and in the opening scene it's safe to say that the CGI effects in 'Vengeance of an Assassin' are considerably worse than they were in 'Born to Fight' a whole decade earlier. That said, 'Vengeance of an Assassin' is a strange movie, in that it incorporates completely crap CGI into amazingly brutal and genuine action scenes, so much so that the crappiness of the former almost brings a certain kind of charm to proceedings.

Some of those action scenes are the most original I've seen for quite some time. The arrival of an assassin on a motorbike, who enters a restaurant to find his target which ends up becoming a blood bath, is shot entirely from ground level so you never see his face. The whole scene is done in a single take, like the famous one-take stairwell fight from 'Tom Yum Goong' mixed with 'Hard Boiled' but with its own unique flavor. The action mixed with the unusual perspective is a great combination, and it works exactly as intended.

The story itself is far from original but competent enough to serve its purpose. Unfortunately the execution is shoddy and uninvolving - rarely 10 minutes go by without an action scene popping up, but the 10 minutes often feel like a lot longer. Luckily though, the action scenes are always substantial and lengthy, there's no brief scuffles or flashes of what's to come here, when an action scene comes, expect it to deliver, and deliver frequently.

'Vengeance of an Assassin' also gives us a scene involving the most random appearance of an owl I've ever seen in a movie, a Chinese doctor whose name is Si Foo (get it?), & probably the most casual conversation you'll ever witness about using an RPG, which I still can't tell was intended to be humorous, or was just horrendously acted.

As for the action though, it does exactly what you want it to do. At the end of my review for 'Tom Yum Goong 2' I wrote - "All I want and have come to expect from Thai action cinema is a paper thin plot compensated with bone crunching action which comes thick and fast." - & I'm happy to report that 'Vengeance of an Assassin' does everything that 'TYG2' failed so miserably at. It must be noted that the action is also remarkably brutal and bloody, perhaps thanks in part to 'The Raid', but this in no way feels like a copy. One scenes has characters going at each other with wrenches, windscreen wipers, hammers, and anything else they can get their hands on....and as expected it's painful viewing.

The final is also full of single-take goodness, which includes Dan Chupong, here again displaying why he should be leading the Thai action cinema charge in Tony Jaa's absence, assaulting the bad guys base armed with a pair of automatic rifles and sunglasses. Sometimes the timing is slightly off, such as when he's firing his rifle but the impacts seem to be in a different area than where he's aiming, but it's all forgivable thanks to the number of people having explosions go off right next to them, being thrown from one floor down to another to land on top of railings, and several other high impact stunt work.

Oh, & the chubby cheeks Donnie Yen guy who was the main character from 'BKO' also plays the head henchman here. I still can't take him seriously, but he has the moves. Throw in nods to plenty of Hong Kong classics, and the first scene I've witnessed that actually attempts to better 'The Matrix' lobby shootout (and might just have done so), and all in all you have a very entertaining slice of Thai action cinema. Enjoy it, as with the passing of an action legend like Panna, it may also be the last time we see 90 minutes as good as this from Thailand.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Boss review, OAB!!!!! Can't wait to get me a copy of this.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I got through watching this one today. First up, for those wanting to know what type of Panna flick this is, it's more 'Born to Fight' than it is 'Bangkok Knockout'. Gone are the intricately choreographed fight scenes of 'BKO', and welcome back are the high impact wince worthy falls and stuntwork of 'Born to Fight'. For me personally, 'BKO' was a watch-once affair, but I find myself able to repeatedly go back to 'Born to Fight', so this was fine for me...

...Enjoy it, as with the passing of an action legend like Panna, it may also be the last time we see 90 minutes as good as this from Thailand.

Loved your review! Basically got the same thoughts on it from Karlos, and I'm psyched.

Your last sentence is certainly a sobering one though. It's the end of a golden era in Thai cinema with his passing.

Boss review, OAB!!!!! Can't wait to get me a copy of this.

You and me both!

[blue_skies]

Loved your review OAB, sounds a lot of fun.

I'm just wondering whether to wait for a UK release or not.

[Drunken Monk]

Aside from a few great action moments, this film is really bad. While some might forgive it because it does have plenty of action, I don't think I can. Partly because, even though the fights and shootouts are great, they often look very amateurish. Grenades explode and stunt men simply jump in the air, many of the harder falls look like they were filmed separately from the rest of the action and OAB was too kind to that final shootout. Dan Chupong wasn't looking anywhere close to where his bullets were going.

Honestly, this only makes "Bangkok Knockout" look better in my eyes. I don't think "Vengeance of an Assassin" is a terrible watch, but it really isn't a good film. The action is a mix of solid fight sequences and capable shootouts but too often they're marred by dodgy CGI or what I can only call "cheapness".

You'd be better off watching the good parts on You Tube and saving your money. It's really not worth spending cash on.

[massa_yoda]

It's really not worth spending cash on.

Good thing I won a copy on COF. Still excited to give it a watch. I'll share my thoughts as soon as I see it.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Good thing I won a copy on COF.

Lucky dog.

[David Rees]

I enjoyed it. Its a mixed bag, certainly miles better than Bangkok Knockout which was like watching a show-reel. In some ways it seems like an unfinished project with the dodgy CGI and jumps in the plot. But the fights are great, gunfights less so but overall definitely worth a watch. Just a shame Panna could not have made a film with his breathtaking action and a decent script. May he rest in peace.

[One Armed Boxer]

Partly because, even though the fights and shootouts are great, they often look very amateurish. Grenades explode and stunt men simply jump in the air, many of the harder falls look like they were filmed separately from the rest of the action and OAB was too kind to that final shootout. Dan Chupong wasn't looking anywhere close to where his bullets were going.

I agree it's a movie which is far from perfect, however it's clearly low budget, and coming from a country whose action movie industry has never really found its feet since the success of 'Ong Bak'. However the very fact that it's a Panna flick is pretty much a guarantee that you're never going to get less than 100% effort in the action department, and while that doesn't always equate to 100% perfection, for me that's enough.

This is purely speculation, but it seems like Panna could have gone the 'Bangkok Knockout' route and just do a series of fight sequences which can be easily re-shot if something goes wrong, or do what he did here, and go for something more large scale, perhaps at the sacrifice of being able to do multiple-takes.

The final shootout is a nice single-take sequence, and one which probably couldn't afford for a second run due to containing several pyrotechnics, so as Drunken Monk points out there are some moments when the timing is off....the bullet aiming issue, and there's also an amusing part when Chupong rolls and is clearly supposed to land behind a crate of boxes, but just stops short. As a result, in the shot he's completely exposed, with a gunman in another part of the room firing off rounds which are obviously meant to be hitting the crates, but instead look like he's firing straight at Chupong's head with invisible bullets.

However there's enough falls and solid impacts to appreciate the epic scope that was being aimed for, and to almost reach it for me is enough.

[robbie]

This is easily the best action film so far this year. . Even story, acting directing are descent and a step up on bangkok knockout. Story is simple which works well for me in these type of films. Action is at least on a par with raid films and maaybe better as more imaginative..

If a few minutes of CGI train derails it for you it is a shame (as only lasts a few minutes) As this movie is mainly about real dangerous stunts and action ( which you do not get of this quality in many hollywood films) and not about top notch fake cgi. Its not too big a deal for me .This film as been massively underrated by critics in my opinion.

[robbie]

watched it .... great movie,lots of action and very brutal if not gory.

But it cant touch movies like the raid but it doesnt have to... there are tons of fights and shootouts, awesome stunts...story and logic was a bit neglected but who cares....

i enjoyed it bit more than raid. Raid is good film though. Panna rittakrai was probably my favourite action director of rescent times and for me a better action director than evans in my opinion.

[One Armed Boxer]

72 posts & I'm still the only guy who feels that the owl was worth mentioning!?

[KUNG FU BOB]

72 posts & I'm still the only guy who feels that the owl was worth mentioning!?

It's so bizarre, so out-of-left-field, that I burst into laughter during that scene, I didn't want to mention it because I wanted people to be as surprised as I was. But it could be that those that have seen it aren't mentioning it because they literally couldn't believe what they saw, and as soon as it was over there mind's repressed the total oddness of the scene.

It's absurd, and I loved it. Ha- kind of like the whole film!

[massa_yoda]

Finally watched it and liked it. An important movie that every action fan should see. But it's also a mess. It's too bad that we have to keep using words like "forgive" and "excuse" so much when talking about these movies. I'd like to see this industry grow and evolve a little bit more. The story actually wasn't bad, though. I liked that it was about two brothers instead of the typical 'one man out for revenge'. But it jumped around pretty quickly and I was never quite clear about how Thee and Than became such good assassins, Thee in particular. But whatever, the framework was there for good action scenes. My favorite action moment was probably the old man/doctor character verses the group of baddies. This scene is perfect, I loved every moment. Some great stunts in the movie too. Very hard falls and great impacts. Some negatives for me were some random bits that didn't make sense, like that owl (seriously, WTF was that all about??), things that should kill characters, not killing characters and that stupid CGI train. Though making it fly was still awesome. Great finishing move.

The final shootout is a nice single-take sequence, and one which probably couldn't afford for a second run due to containing several pyrotechnics, so as Drunken Monk points out there are some moments when the timing is off....

As much as I appreciated what they were going for, I think I spotted some epic fails during these long take shoot outs. In the one at the restaurant, one of the guys that was up on a ledge just jumps off (full wind up and everything) instead of falling like he got shot. Unfortunately, in this day and age where things can be so scrutinized, you need to get this stuff right, so it's too bad that they couldn't.

If a few minutes of CGI train derails it for you it is a shame (as only lasts a few minutes) As this movie is mainly about real dangerous stunts and action ( which you do not get of this quality in many hollywood films) and not about top notch fake cgi. Its not too big a deal for me.

If something doesn't look good, you shouldn't do it or you figure out a way around it. In Hollywood, at least a train will always look like a train. The problem with bad CGI is that it completely takes me out of a movie. I couldn't even concentrate on the action because the crappy background was too distracting. Even if Panna couldn't oversee this in post production because of his health, what idiot producer would look at that and say "welp, that looks good. We'll really compete in the market with these effects." Someone needed to step up and they didn't.

If I'm being too negative, I apologize. Like I said, this is an important action film and I liked it. I just wish I didn't have to "forgive" so much...