BKO: Bangkok Knockout

The story is dubious although it has a twist or two. The acting is horrible from beginning to end. Yet, the action is jaw-dropping like a dropped kick that connects.

I actually saw this movie by mistake at the FantAsia Film Festival. Apparently the usher did not care to verify the name of the movie on my ticket. I think she was too busy eyeing me, or at least that is what I tell myself. So as the movie opened, I thought maybe this is a short film before the feature. When I realized I was in the wrong movie and that this one seemed to be shallow and pointless, I almost left, but my girlfriend said that we already missed the other movie's beginning and that we should tough it out with this Bangkok Knockout.

As painful as the beginning of the movie is, once the action got started, we were both glad we stayed. The scenes kept displaying some of the most stunning stunts and choreography in the industry. Then, there is a bit of comedy, some good editing, hot girls who can do a few moves too and a fitting ending. By that time, we were cheering with the enthused FantAsia crowd and easily put the poor plot and bad acting in the back of our mind.

There are some amazing scenes with cage fighting, blunt or sharp weapons, car, spectacular falls, masked assailants, Terminator-style superhuman, martial arts mastery and then... just when you thought you had seen it all, they bring the fight to the real world and bring in guns, motorcycles, trucks for the grand finale.

This is the martial arts Matrix in a warehouse with no story. Wachowski brothers, watch out. Less guns, more skills, guts and glory.

"Bangkok Knockout" is action from the start to the very end. And you would think that to fill a plot out like this with something meaningful to make it interesting, but that wasn't to be. There is a very weak storyline to this movie. Actually the story is so ridiculous that it is almost painful to witness. However, the lack of story is more than made up for in sheer action, well-choreographed fighting scenes and violence.

The story is about a group of friends being drugged and forced into a twisted game of survival sports to entertain a handful of rich gamblers. And that is basically it. Oh, and there is a little attempt at spicing up the story by someone being kidnapped and held hostage! "Bangkok Knockout" has a lot of really nice fighting scenes, and the Thai really do make nice movies in the fighting-action genre. The scenes are well-choreographed and you often see how the hands, feet, knees and elbows connect with the targets, so you sit there in sympathy pain, wondering just how bad that had to hurt the guy (or girl) getting hit.

Three things did amuse me in this movie. The first thing was how did that white guy, Mr. Snead, manage to make that video montage that was showing behind him on the screens? I mean, he drugged these people to get them into the game, but then how did he make them all walk on one line, looking happy about it? And how did he manage to get portraits of each competitor and show it on the screen as the random fights were starting? That was just lame.

The second thing that had me amused was the way the black car crumbled as people were punched and kicked against its surface. Come on, was the car made from cardboard? I have never seen metal buckle and cave that easily, especially not on a car made for stock-car racing. That was just epic fail!

And thirdly, the sheer amount of beating each person took in this movie was just beyond mortal comprehension. No one would be able to get on their feet after such a thrashing. The beating these people took put even Jean Claude Van Damme to shame. So seeing them walk or limp away from beating upon severe beating was a bit too much in the end.

"Bangkok Knockout" is the type of movie you would watch on a day where you have bad hang-overs, and just want to lay on the couch doing. There is nothing to think about in this movie at all, it is all just one big fight scene. "Bangkok Knockout" is well worth watching a single time for the action and fighting scenes itself, but I doubt that anyone will be making a second trip back to watching this movie.

Before, i rarely watch Thai Movies, but since Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong, i became interested in some. Tony Jaa is a man of a new way of martial art in movies for me. Different than American typical fighting movies, or even Asian Kung Fu Movies, the Thai 'modern' martial art movies are fresher on the eyes.

Bangkok Knockout is surely a promising martial art movie if you watched the trailer. The moves and the arts are amazing for me. But...after I watch the whole movie (no skipping or fast-forwarding) I was kinda disappointed. The idea of the story is not so bad, but it's brought kinda poorly. Well, maybe it's intended just for domestic (not international), so there might only be limited budget on it.

The actors, i think, are some martial artists, with little to no acting experience, since it's not an easy task to find people which experts on both. Even the main star is not good at acting, and also not so good looking (sometimes I think the main star doesn't have to be handsome, but has to bee good looking, at least for the good-view for the audience). Luckily, there are two cute and pretty awesome girls. They are good-looking and can do some moves.

Okay, at first, the flow of the movie is kinda slow n little bit boring, there're almost no fighting or action scene, just some drama. But after, maybe about thirty minutes, the fighting begins. Since then, the fighting almost never stop till the end. And those fighting scenes are GREAT because of the choreography and also the skill of the actors performing jumping, kicking, punching, somersaulting, acrobats stunts and moves, and also in a matrix-bullet time-style. Sometimes, after one or two rounds of fighting, there's some stories we need to know about the background of some event etc, kinda lame for me because the foreign actors are also not good at acting, and even bad at speaking English. Btw, some scenes sometimes don't make sense, just enjoy it.

So, if you want to watch fighting a lot, with some new styles and moves and also in slow-mo, this is the right movie. But don't (ever) expect a good story and good acting.

Just my stupid review.... ^^

BKO: Bangkok Knockout (2010) is a movie I recently rewatched on Tubi. The storyline follows a group of friends who has a mutual friend kidnapped by a gangster. Each friend has his won unique fighting style and martial arts specialty. They will have to band together to infiltrate the gang and fight their way to their friend who is being held hostage. This movie is directed by Panna Rittikrai (Ong-Bak) and stars Pimchanok Leuwisetpaiboon (Friend Zone), Sorapong Chatree (Ong-Bak 2), Krittiya Lardphanna (City of Ghosts) and Chatchapol Kulsiriwuthichai (The Man with the Iron Fists 2). The storyline for this is mediocre to bad but the action scenes are outstanding. I loved the choreography throughout. The villain was actually pretty good too and had some good zingers. The random guy speaking English was also...well, random, Overall there are a lot of inconsistencies in this film; however, if you're looking for a fun martial arts film, this may be worth your time. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend giving it a shot.

I've seen there seems to be a lot of hate for this film and I have no idea why. Its a martial arts films. When has the plot ever been the key element? If you watch martial arts movies then you must have an interest in martial arts. If this is the case then surely it is the fighting that is the key element to it being a good film. For that reason I am rating the story out of 4 and the fight sequences out of 6.

Story: 2/4 Firstly the story isn't as dire as everyone seems to make out. Having said that, it isn't good at all. It's a very weak plot indeed but to be honest with the amount of action there isn't really room for any form of developed plot. the acting is pretty awful especially from the more minor characters but the lead roles managed to come forth with at least passable performances.

Fighting: 6/6 Perfect, best i've seen in a long time. many would say the fights are unrealistic but i disagree. Sure they don't have the "realism" of mma or what ever but this is a FILM, the fighting is varied as hell and to be honest seems pretty convincing to me. I loved the mix of arts, it produced truly engaging and interesting fights. I feel that if the choreographers went to much for realism it'd make for a truly dull experience. The sheer variety and inventiveness of the choreography makes this a standout modern martial arts outing.

Overall however I feel with so little story and so many up and coming martial artists this seemed more like a showcase than an actual film. I personally am not bothered by this but if you are looking for anything with any depth, look else were. The perfect choreography made me completely overlook the weaknesses in the plot and acting and see this film as a triumpth.

My rating: 8/10