Elephant White

Although it a common action/thriller movie with lots of shootings its the actual theme of the movie that makes it worth watching. Child prostitution! A theme that is very very rarely covered and yet makes, according to the end of the movie billions of dollars each year.

Taken is the only movie I can remember that also had this theme. Elephant White is not as good as Taken, its missing some elements, but the story goes a bit deeper. Bacon plays Bacon, as usual, just his English accent its kinda funny.

Altogether, like I said, worth watching, for those who like action movies and for those who won't be shocked or disturbed to see how harsh real life really can be and obviously is, for some children!

Was this the best movie I have ever seen? Absolutely not. Was it the worst movie I have ever seen? No again. This movie served one purpose, to showcase a martial arts, action and explosions. And to that effect, I think it hit its mark. I do have to say that the award for worst accent of 2010 goes to Kevin Bacon, but all in all I was entertained with the movie and have seen far more futile attempts in the past. I think the premise of the movie has entertaining, though done before. If you have the time to kill, I say give it a watch, but don't go sleepless at night because you haven't seen it yet. I say a solid 5 out of 10.

In Bangkok, the assassin Curtie Church (Djimon Hounsou) is hired by a businessman to kill six men. Job done, the employer proposes another contract to Curtie to kill the lord of the traffickers that had addicted, prostituted and murdered his daughter.

Curtie seeks out the Englishman Jimmy (Kevin Bacon) that is an arm dealer and he rents heavy weapons. Then Curtie provokes a war between gangs to eliminate the greatest number of white slave traders. Meanwhile, the young prostitute Mae (Jirantanin Pitakporntrakul) meets Church and helps him to release other girls. When Mae vanishes, Curtie seeks her out and finds the truth about Mae.

"Elephant White" is a messy action flick with great action scenes but a confused screenplay that blends mystery, thriller and action. Kevin Bacon is weird with his British accent and I do not understand why the production didn't hire a British actor for the role of Jimmy. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Olho por Olho" ("Eye for an Eye")

Elephant White is a B Grade movie. But does that necessarily mean it's bad? NO it doesn't! Djimon Hounsou really impressed me - or should I say, his character did. I get really sick of movies where the hero only disables bad guys so that, after a remarkably fast recovery, they come back to give him more aggravation. Not so Curtie. He is a professional killer who eliminated low-lives very effectively and permanently! Of course, as is so typical with films like this, the bad guys are always terrible shots and probably couldn't hit a barn door at ten paces which is always annoying. Nevertheless, in this movie Curtie (Djimon) does get hit. Fortunately, of course, it wasn't fatal but it certainly gave the film a bit more credibility.

Kevin Bacon really suited playing an Englishman. I have never been much of a KB fan but, for some reason that I can't pinpoint, as a "pom" he was excellent. Someone else (an American) has written that Kevin's English accent was terrible and I would like to ask him how he knows. Kevin's English accent was great and really suited the part! Jason Statham eat your heart out!!

Since I didn't read the IMDb page about this movie, I didn't know that there was a fantasy element - which may or may not have been a good thing depending how you look at it. So when some weird things started happening I was quite taken by surprise. I'm not sure that the film actually needed that either.

Viewers should also bear in mind that this is a Thai film. The director Pracha Pinkaew is Thai and had six previous exploits as a director (half of those with Thai titles) and so they should remember that cultural differences are bound to be evident. He is obviously respected among his peers enough to have been elected president of the Thai Film Directors' Association.

So watch Elephant White with an open mind and enjoy it for what it is. The messages at the beginning of the end credits make it obvious that a statement was being made as well as presented in an entertaining manner. And next time you go to Thailand for a holiday, just think about it.

Can you save someone by using a gun? When mercenary Curtie Church (Hounsou) is hired to take out the head of a human trafficking ring he finds himself not sure who's side he is on. When a girl named Meg finds him, he has another reason to stop the ring. This is a great action movie. Guy hires guy to kill someone, guy gets guns, starts killing...for an hour and a half. If you like movies with intricate plot lines and in-depth character development, this is not it. If you like non stop action, guns and fighting, this is the movie for you. The acting is actually pretty good, led by Djimon Hounsou and Kevin Bacon, but the action is what drives the movie. Very few action movies have a twist at the end that makes you want to re-watch right away to see if you can catch the moments that lead up to the twist, this is one of them. I'd be surprised if anyone can predict the twist to this. Very entertaining action movie that is worth watching. I give it a B+.

Would I watch again? - Yes I would to see if I can catch the twist moments I missed.

*Also try - Out Of Reach & Takedown