Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Protector 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Kick, punch, it's all in the mind!

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown July 29, 2014

If you haven't seen Thai martial artist Tony Jaa in action, you won't have to wait much longer. The upstart stuntman-turned-elbow-cracking-superstar is following a path to Hollywood forged by the likes of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, having first starred in a string of lesser known, hard-hitting flicks -- the Ong Bak trilogy, The Protector and other Muay Thai actioners -- and more recently landing roles in several upcoming U.S. blockbusters, among them Fast & Furious 7. (An Expendables sequel won't be far behind, mark my words.) But no need to wait. There's plenty of time to get in on the ground floor before Jaa takes his first real stab at becoming an American household name. If not Ong Bak, Prachya Pinkaew's The Protector 2 will certainly suffice. It may merely be a serviceable film and a predictably barebones sequel, but the martial artistry... the wild stunts, dazzling fights and bone-splitting blows... oh, what a joy it is to embrace a dicey action spectacle like The Protector 2 on its own terms. It isn't a very good movie, in case I haven't been clear enough. There's an abundance of low-budget CG and gravity-defying wirework, the story is a dreadfully silly rescue/revenge adventure involving yet another kidnapped elephant (a Tony Jaa staple), and Wu Tang Clan's Rza will stop at nothing to overact, over-snarl and over-mug his way into genre infamy. Tune out the worst of the Big! and Dumb!, though, and you'll be left with just enough Fun! to maybe, maybe have a decent time.

Tony Jaa is Kham, the last in a long line of guards who once watched over the King of Thailand's war elephants. Traditionally, only the perfect elephants could successfully help defend the throne and, after his harrowing quest to retrieve such elephants in Prachya Pinkaew's The Protector (2005), Kham returns to his village to live in peace. But for someone so skilled, peace is but a wishful thought. When gangster Suchart Vilawandei (Adinan Buntanaporn) kidnaps Kham's prized elephant, Khon, then turns up dead, the brave warrior finds himself accused of murder, in search of answers with the help of his friend Sergeant Mark (Petchtai Wongkamlao), and going fist to fist and knee to knee with an endless array of fierce fighters in the employ of the vile LC (Rza).

Try not to figure out why gangsters obsessed with their fighting rank are also obsessed with swiping elephants and disrupting Bangkok peace talks. Why dozens of motorcycle-riding thugs decide a rooftop is the best place to capture Kham. Or for that matter why so few of them dismount their bikes when trying to take him down. Never mind the long-honored tradition of attacking the fist-flinging hero one by one by one. (Except when the tables are turned. The good guys are allowed to gang up on the villains.) The fire kicks, the lightning kicks, the more ludicrous battles, which might border on Looney Tunes hilarity if the film didn't take itself so seriously. Never mind the loosely strung plot that somehow crams in too many storylines without ever managing to give any one of them a chance to develop. Never mind the never-ending chases, the improbably stacked showdowns, the sprawling sequence doused in hideous CG flames, or the fact that Kham, desperate to prove he isn't a murderer, leaves piles of dead baddies in his wake. (Henchmen don't leap in front of a train on a motorcycle and survive the bloody smear that follows.) The Protector 2, like nearly every martial arts action extravaganza before it, is concerned with one thing and one thing alone: showcasing its star and the talented martial artists who dutifully line up to be beaten to a pulp on screen. To that end, Pinkaew's sequel delivers I suppose, leaving little doubt that Jaa deserves to be in the international spotlight.

It's a shame the script is so thin. Jaa and many of his co-stars -- Wongkamlao, Only God Forgives' Rhatha Phongam, Yanin Vismistananda, Marrese Crump and others -- throw themselves into their roles, providing more memorable character beats and lasting screen presence than writer Eakisit Thairaat commits to the page or Pinkaew manages on set. Jaa is particularly likeable and, here again, proves himself a capable dramatic lead. Khon may as well be a beloved child; the depth of feeling Jaa invests into his performance makes his death-wish quest to recover a kidnapped animal resonate on a far more profound level than it really should. And therein lies the film's saving grace. Jaa isn't just a master of "the art of eight limbs." He's more than a pair of skull-cracking elbows and knees. He's a blood, sweat and tears actor, and exudes an actor's control of his craft and audience. It's this small but crucial distinction that elevates the otherwise tiresome exercise in rote plotting and flying fisticuffs to a brainless but mildly entertaining endeavor. Just brace yourself whenever Rza rears his head. He seems intent on dragging things in the opposite direction Jaa is so nobly pulling.

The Protector 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Protector 2 features a solid but slightly erratic 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that's prone to a few nagging issues. Those issues are mostly inherent to the film's photography, and even then largely concentrated in scenes involving CG and green screen effects. Minor banding, macroblocking, crush, uneven noise, contrast inconsistencies and at-times muted black levels aren't entirely uncommon; the bulk of the blame simply lies at the doorstep of the production, not Magnolia's transfer. Outside of these unavoidable eyesores, though, there isn't a whole lot to complain about. Colors are typically strong, primaries boast decent kick, skintones are beautifully saturated, and detail is excellent on the whole, particularly when fights settle and the cameras push in on dramatic moments. Edges are cleanly defined, fine textures are generally well-resolved and, again, the only major exceptions crop up when visual effects are out in force. All in all, it's a reasonably strong showing free of too many unfortunate surprises.

The Protector 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Magnolia's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track hits hard before spinning around and hitting harder. It isn't necessarily a remarkably refined experience, truth be told, but it certainly gets the job done. LFE output is bold and brawny, with enough weight, punch and all-around oomph to please genre junkies hoping to feel every meaty blow, crunching bone, throaty engine and devastating finishing move. Rear speaker activity is less reliable, banking on busyness over more convincing directional effects and ambient prowess, but the soundfield is engaging and immersive enough to make the fights suitably exciting and the action quite enveloping. Dialogue is intelligible and smartly prioritized as well, which can't exactly be said of every martial arts import. The Protector 2 could probably sound better, but only if its sound design was the stuff of $200 million Hollywood summer blockbusters. For a modestly budgeted Thai action flick, though, it's rather impressive.

The Protector 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes Featurettes (HD, 23 minutes): Four behind-the-scenes featurettes are available, which combine to create a solid production documentary centered around (largely subtitled) interviews with Tony Jaa and other key members of the cast and crew. Segments include "Cast and Characters," "Speaking with the Director," "Action and Stunts" and "Working in 3D."
• A Look at The Protector 2 (HD, 3 minutes): An extended AXS TV promo.
• Trailers (HD, 5 minutes): Three Protector 2 trailers.

The Protector 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Protector 2 doesn't reinvent the roundhouse, nor is it able to rise above all its shortcomings. Tony Jaa is a magnetic lead, though, and the fights are a spectacle worth the price of admission. It's not Jaa's best film, or even that good a movie, but it has spirit and ferocity, and sometimes that's enough. Magnolia's Blu-ray release thankfully doesn't disappoint nearly as much, thanks to a solid AV presentation. (Although more supplemental content would have been appreciated.) Ultimately, I've seen much better martial arts flicks, but I've also seen much worse. If nothing else, The Protector 2 kinda, sorta entertains. Give it a shot if you're itching for a few wild fights, especially if you're already a fan of all things Jaa.