Skin Trade

"There is no such thing as a bad Tony Jaa movie." Well this could be the exception.

On paper this was a "dream team" movie and I was anxious to see it.

Lundgrin both produced and wrote. That sounded very promising.

Not only is Tony Jaa in the film but he speaks English and his character is named "Tony." Also very promising.

Also starring Michael Jai White. In my review of Falcon Rising I called him "the most under-used action hero" in the business. Very very promising.

But here the total is less than the sum of its parts:

1. Lundgren wrote himself into a part meant for a 40 year old and he himself is pushing 60. Not cool.

2. Jai White is completely wasted (again!) and wears a suit all the time...?

3. The script is weak and the direction is terrible. Even the action scenes seem "off" by a few seconds here and a few seconds there.

Could have been so much more. The opening is the best part and is downhill from there. Perlman is great. but he never gives less than a great performance anyway.

Obviously just going through the list of names should and will get people excited (who are into the action genre that is and know their favorites). Having Dolph "team up" with Tony Jaa is a great move. Though it doesn't really matter which side of the law people are, based on the decisions they make during the course of the movie. Which also means, there is quite a bit of fighting ahead of you.

Ron Pearlman does a good job with his accent (playing a Serbian) and there is one particular fight scene (about 20 minutes before the movie ends) that is really good. But there are also cuts in the movie that seem to take note on the "jump cut" book, but don't really work. The overall story is easy to tell, the core of it is something that unfortunately is happening all over the world.

Also Tony Jaas English performance was captured a lot better in Fast 7, there are some weird lines he has to deliver here (not convincingly then). Decently made then, but could've been better

Great casting, cinematography and choreography, but the directing and/or editing wasn't that great, and the screenplay certainly needed some fine-tuning. The score was annoying and too evident. The runtime and pacing were decent. Nevertheless, it was actually better than I expected.

Expectations are admittedly low for many direct to DVD action titles to star many of the former action heroes from the 80's/90's like Steven Seagal, JCVD and Dolph Lundgren. Skin Trade proves to be one of Dolph's best films to have come out in years and a gem amongst the many B action films you can find at your local Wal Mart bin. Although Dolph kicks ass in the film, the main reason to watch is Tony Jaa. It's good to see him back in action in something worth watching after the atrocious Ong Bak 3. His Acting is surprisingly good and he gets a fair amount of dialogue to practice his English skills and crack one liners. I hope to see him in many more movies like this in the future. Another surprise is the supporting cast of the film. Michael Jai White , Peter Weller and Ron Perlman definitely elevate the film above the typical mediocre status these movies have. Although the story is a bit cliché and familiar, what group of people deserve there comeuppance in an action film more than human traffickers. The movie definitely provides on the hard hitting bloody action that fans will expect. The intense fight sequences pack a solid adrenaline rush. Overall, exceeded my expectations and is a movie that action buffs will enjoy .

7/10

"How do you sleep at night. How can you do this?" Nick Cassidy's (Lundgren) family has just been killed by an international criminal syndicate. His quest for revenge leads him to Thailand where he teams up with Tony (Jaa) a Thai detective who is investigating a human trafficking network. When they realize they are looking for the same group they join forces and try to put an end to the all of it. I have said before these are hard movies to review. Movies with Segal, Van Damme or Lundgren are essentially all the same. Same plot, same idea, same acting. This one is no different, either you like these movies or you don't. That holds true for this one. The biggest problem with this one is that is seemed like the middle part of a 3 part series. The movie opens to what feels like halfway through the actual story. There is really no intro to what is going on and you are trying to play catch up throughout. The way the movie ends felt like, we are out of money, if we can't get more funding we will end it here. There is still more that could have happened to tie it all up but it left you hanging. All that said, most people don't watch these movies for the story or acting and the action is decent enough to keep them interested. As for me, this is just another Lundgren movie. Overall, fans of Dolph will like this, otherwise I would avoid it. I give it a C.