There are a few things you need to keep in mind before you watch this move. First, this is a Thai film, so you're going to have to read subtitles. In fact, the film is spoken in both Japanese and Thai, and then in English when the Japanese and Thai characters talk to one another (and yeah, there are subtitles for that too, which is kind of weird). The second thing you have to keep in mind is that despite what I consider an interesting plot and capable acting, this is, at its core, a martial arts movie. If you don't like martial arts movies, you won't like this one either.
The movie centers around the life of a young autistic girl, Ken; her mother, Kin; and Ken's pseudo-adopted brother, Moom. This is an odd family unit, and there are some fairly heart-wrenching scenes as Kin learns to cope with raising Ken under some pretty difficult living conditions in a poor urban setting. The relationships between the characters are well constructed, and it is easy to care about what happens to them -- this is an oddity for a martial arts movie, in my past experience.
Interestingly, Ken turns out to be a savant. By watching martial arts movies, she is able to absorb the fighting skills she observes -- or more properly, she is able to mimic the physical motions with the same kind of quick and amazing precision in the same way that some savants can learn to play a song on the piano having only heard it once. Yeah, it's far fetched, but the actress playing Zen (JeeJa Yanin) does a convincing job nonetheless. Yanin is both a talented actress, pulling off the autism extremely well, and is a precision fighter. Some of the acrobatic moves she pulls off are simply amazing. The 'plot' thrust of this movie is then watching Moom and Ken collect on debts owed to Kin (the ex-girlfriend of a mafia thug) utilizing Ken's fighting skills. Silly? Yeah, but it's still fun to watch.
Although the autism and difficult family life element of this movie is touching and well done, this movie ultimately comes down to the martial arts, which are very impressive. There are a lot of good stunts in this film, and more than a little bit of humor as well. In fact, just the sight of a 90lbs girl kicking the snot out of a room full of grown men is just good fun. But unlike similar flicks I've seen (e.g. High Kick Girl), there is a human element to this movie that really makes you feel for the characters involved. In fact, it gives it just a little bit of emotional grit that most martial arts movies really lack. Overall, an enjoyable film, and a movie that I recommend to all fans of martial arts films.
Movie to Skip: Red Sands
From the box cover, this movie is about a unit of soldiers in Iraq that stumble across an ancient evil that 'wreaks havoc' on the unit while they are on patrol. Frankly I thought the plot sounded fairly formulaic, but I gave it a chance anyway. Unfortunately, the movie spends so much effort and time trying to be mysterious that it's hard to feel any actual tension. Most of the 'scary' sequences take place in obvious dream states, and it's hard to know at what point the 'bad' stuff actually starts happening. The characters are so isolated, that the introduction of strangers late in the movie seems just too obvious a threat. And the reactions of the military leadership, as always happens in this kind of film, are full of unrealistic denial. Ultimately, the tension is just missing, which makes for a pretty lame thriller. At least the special effects are interesting, but they really don't boost the film beyond 'blah.' Definitely a film you can skip.
