quincytheodore Tony Jaa is undeniably one of the best action stars we have today. His stunt is mercilessly violent, delivering each devastating blow with pinpoint accuracy. The main reason The Protector 2 is such a letdown is because the film lacks the usual crisp stunts, then replaces them with a lot of CG and poorly made 3D effect. The plot is abysmal, not that most of his work offer complex story anyway, but with less than stellar action, it's harder to overlook the faults in narrative.Story follows Kham (Tony Jaa) as he tries to rescue his elephant buddy once again, but this time he's involved in illegal fighting ring, a murder investigation and a conspiracy to throw nations into war. There is so much going on without any decent explanation. People are literally popping out of nowhere, it has no start up or careful development of any kind. This is almost like a flash mob, but instead of dancing they just fight randomly.Many sequences are dubious, there is barely any transition between a scene and the next one. Kham might run in rooftops, climbing buildings, and then suddenly fighting thugs in a warehouse of some sort. It's simply not coherent enough to establish foundation for solid storyline. Characters are strictly shallow, an unfortunate misuse of RZA and Yanin "Jeeja" Vismitananda (Chocolate). With them in the cast, the characterization could have had more range, but director Prachya Pinkaew didn't capitalize the actors efficiently.Fight scenes are sadly watered down with CGI. Some wire stunts are acceptable, but there is considerably more special effect in play. Granted, CGI will ensure less injury since they deal with dangerous hardwares, but this is not the direction Tony Jaa movie should go as his main selling point is the brutal unadulterated fist of face contact. Instead the movie goes to unimpressive 3D effect of throwing projectile into the screen, it is the farthest thing from improvement. Some acts are even borderline unintentionally funny.Nevertheless, the fight is still top-notch and better than most action films, however that alone will not be enough to overcome its many horrible flaws.

Leofwine_draca I'll admit from the outset that the first WARRIOR KING is one of my favourite films of all time; a top-notch martial arts epic that you can watch over and over again. It has everything I'd ever want from a movie, so this belated sequel had plenty to live up to. Inevitably, it simply can't hold a candle to the first movie.But wait...everyone's panned this film, saying it's pretty terrible. I say otherwise. It's no WARRIOR KING, but it is better than the horrid ONG BAK sequels, at least. Sure, the power of the first film is diluted here with the needless and rubbish CGI effects, the unnecessary wirework and the greater silliness of the storyline, but at times there are flashes of the old magic.One of the biggest disappointments is Tony Jaa himself. He's noticeably aged and just doesn't cut it like in the early days of ONG BAK. I expected more from him. Still, it's nice to have Thai film regulars like Petchtai Wongkamlao and CHOCOLATE's Jeeja Yanin on board, even if their screen time is limited. Unfortunately, somebody decided that the appalling rapper-wannabe-film-star RZA (THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS) would make a good villain, and boy, were they wrong.Admittedly, WARRIOR KING 2 starts off on a poor footing; the whole look is incredibly cheesy, and that dumb chase seems to go on forever. But then things change, and after a time the plot melts away to leave the whole second half of the film one big action sequence. And this was the part I really enjoyed, laughing at the whole "all black guys are evil" theme, enjoying the unstoppable Marrese Crump, and taking delight in the fight choreography. This movie's no classic, but fans of the genre will probably enjoy it anyway.

kingdio Uh oh. Someone took Tony Jaa's elephant again. Bad assery is sure to ensue. Unfortunately, it was the worst rapper turned actor since 50 Cent, The Rza that took the adorable pachyderm. Lucky for us, their heavily cut and right down awkward fight sequence doesn't come until the very end. There is actually an unintentionally hilarious shot of the Rza giving the audience his evil face as he chokes his own cohort out of anger. But bad acting aside, you have to put it aside or you wouldn't watch this, this film is entertaining. Jaa comes through once again with some awesome martial arts sequences, if only in spurts. The first hour of the movie is nothing but a series of movie stunts put together. Some of them go on a bit too long, particularly a series of stunts where he is fighting guys on motorcycles and motorized scooters. Why they don't get off the the motorcycles is unexplained, but there's a lot of amazing physical stunts in there. There are some stunts that are a bit heavy on cuts and obviously lacking continuity. This is a result of piecing tons of cuts together, including annoying ones where it's just a fist flying at the camera. But when Jaa is going full throttle it's pretty exhilarating. Don't bother with the plot, or figuring out how Jaa's character survives a fall off a sky scraper, because it makes no sense. Just know Tony Jaa really wants that elephant back, and he's going to kick butt to get him. Again.

Charles Goodwin (charliegeeza) There are few redeeming qualities to this film. The action sequences are a pale imitation of the crisp and fluid scenes we have come to expect since Ong Bak and the original Tom Yum Goong. Some of it verges on slap stick and the spectacular stunts we associate with Tony Jaa are replaced by B-movie special effects.This is compounded by a script/story that barely makes sense. Events just occur randomly - the entire bike fight for one - whilst the bad guys are pathetic caricatures. RZA's street pimp style performance is just plain ridiculous.There are only 2 things of any value in this film. The occasional witty interjection by Mark (Petchtai Wongkamlao) with his funny one liners and the beauty of Yayaying Rhatha Phongam. Beyond that, even the most die hard Tony Jaa fan will find it very tough to sit through this one.With an ever increasing global library of action films from which to select, this one should be considered scraping the bottom of the barrel. You are better off watching or re-watching almost anything else - especially one of Tony Jaa's other films. Tom Yum Goong 2 makes Ong Bak 3 look like a master piece by comparison.