Dynamite Warrior

Don't expect another "Ong-Bak or Tom Yum Goong"...
DYNAMITE WARRIOR (original title: Tabun Fire) is from the makers of ONG-Bak, Born to Fight, stars Dan Chupong(Born to Fight). After the major success of ONG-BAK Thai Warrior overseas, the U.S. became flooded with movies from Thailand. Some are very good (like Ong-Bak, Tom Yum Goong), most are watchable, majority are mediocre. This latest installment though, I've been reluctant to review, but what the hey, I'll give it a shot. Any movie that includes a scene wherein the hero has to use " virgin-menstrual blood" tipped rockets to defeat an evil magician consider me motivated.

An evil nobleman called Lord Waeng is in the business of importing farming tractors. He enlists his thugs to rid the land of water Buffalo to convince the townsfolk in buying his product. A " so-called self proclaimed" protector called Jone Bang Fai(Dan Chupong) will step in to save the day. However, Bang Fai is more motivated in finding his parents' murderer, which leaves him vulnerable to manipulation...

The title says it all
Dynamite Warrior... the title says it all. Well, obviously not really, but it comes pretty darn close. From director Chalerm Wongpim and the creators of The Protector, Born to Fight, and the popular Ong-Bak, comes a reinvention of the western, Thai style. Khon fai bin, or Dynamite Warrior on this side of the world is a surrealistic combination of old west cowboys and hardcore barefooted martial artistry set in the 1850s.

The plot is simple: Lord Wang is a corrupt harelipped businessman trying to sell the newfangled invention of the tractor to farmers and make the water buffalo obsolete. Jone Bang Fai is a masked warrior who employs a mixture of rockets and knee-kicks to steal water buffalo from wealthy cattle rustlers and gives them back to the poor farmers they were taken from, Robinhood-style. Thrown into the mix is a near-invincible rancher who has the ability to turn his bumbling sidekicks into superhero-worthy fighters, an evil dark wizard, a brawny but brainless...

Muay Thai action + menstration magic = MUST SEE!
Where to begin? Dynamite Warrior is the story of a young man on a quest for vengeance against the man that killed his parents... sounds pretty unoriginal right? Well let me assure you that everything beyond the basic premise is quite fresh. Our hero Zieng is played by Dan Chupong is his second starring role after the action film Born to Fight. Here he is given a more interesting character to work with and is likeable as the "man of few words" vigilante type. His main weapon is his fantastic Muay Thai moves that have him rolling and somersaulting into bone crunching knee and elbow blows... but that's not all! You see he also utilizes rockets (in fact he even rides on one for a scene or two?!)... this is one of THOSE movies. The kind where each character you meet is a little more bizarre than the last (Takashi Miike would be proud of this eclectic group)and the situations aren't far behind. It uses these characters and the aforementioned plot to jump from one action setpiece to...

Click to Editorial Reviews