大象传媒

Thai martial arts wizard Tony Jaa returns in the crazy and kinetic Warrior King, in which a sweet young man is forced to leave home for Australia to track down the gangsters who kidnapped his family's pet elephants. As daft as that sounds, the journey is undertaken with so much vitality and flair that you can't help but cheer him on, all the time remembering that each of those eye-popping stunts were done for real.

After a sweet 15 minute introduction to Thai village life, the movie snaps up to speed with the elephant-napping and never relents. In a neat little cameo Jackie Chan officiates over the passing of his baton to Tony Jaa. Jaa goes on to take his Muay Thai mastery to ninja skatepunks, wu shu swordsmen, giant wrestlers and, in one single, blistering, four minute take, four floors worth of kung fu assailants in a heaving Sydney brothel. And the Crazy 88s scene in Kill Bill has nothing on the tendon snapping, bone-crushing finale.

"THERE'S A SENSATIONAL MUDBATH STRIPTEASE "

There are deep laughs and tender tears. There's a sensational mudbath striptease and a boat chase which Bond could only dream of. Warrior King has everything. Yes, there are some weak dubs, acting flubs, and one-dimensional thugs - but there's also some quality baby elephant time, which so many films these days overlook. Pure, dazzling, entertainment.