Jan 03, 2014 12:27 PM
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Review of Tom Yum Goong 2(TYG-2)-
Most people must not have heard of this film or its origin but action lovers couldn’t have forgotten Ong Bak and TYG-1. These films are of Thai origin and co-directed by martial artist Tony Jaa, who plays the lead character in all these films.
The endearing aspect of Ong Bak was its crude production value and superlative stunts. TYG-1, while improving of the scale and production values, retained some of the quaint touch and shock and awe element of Ong Bak. TYG-2 follows where TYG-1 left off. The pet elephant is now grown up and a rich American wants it for an assassination plot set in Phuket, Thailand.
The story is about how the mafia rob the pet elephant from countryside home of the hero and how the protagonist goes about saving him from certain death. The subtle moral questions that TYG-1 raised against all meat eaters and empathy for the protagonist that one felt in Ong Bak are clearly missing in this edition.
The film owing to the commercial success of TYG-1 chooses the wrong path to make the plot grander and hence resorts CGI and cable assisted stunts and loses much of the elements that in the first place made it an unforgettable franchise.
Let’s not forget that Tony Jaa is six years older now and stunts that he did in the first part won’t be easy to replicate. But the unnecessary addition of needless characters and the addition of stunts unachievable without cables have robbed this film of its charm.
2.5 Stars.
