Reuniting with his ONG-BAK and THE PROTECTOR director, Prachya Pinkaew, martial arts star Tony Jaa jumps back into sequel territory with THE PROTECTOR 2, a follow-up to the 2005 hit, also known as TOM YUM GOONG. The first film featured Jaa as a rural fighter named Pham who travels to the city in order to retrieve his prized elephant from some nasty villains. The sequel puts Pham back in the city, but he's no longer trying to save an elephant as he's on the run for suspected murder and ends up on a top secret mission that leads to an underground fighting ring. Duh. Of course.
Take a look:
Here's the synopsis:
Boss Suchart is the owner of an elephant camp. When he is murdered, all evidence points to Kham (Tony Jaa), who was seen with the victim before he died. Kham is forced to run as the police launch a pursuit. Meanwhile, the twin nieces of Boss Suchart (Jija Yanin Wismitanan and Teerada Kittisiriprasert) are out for revenge. But luck is on Kham's side when he runs into Sergeant Mark (Mum Jokmok), an agent sent to Thailand on a secret mission. In another twist, Kham is drawn into an underground fighting ring run by LC (RZA), a crime lord who's obsessed with collecting top-class martial artists. LC's fighters are branded by numbers, such as the lethal, beautiful Twenty (Ratha Pho-ngam) and the diabolical No. 2 (Marrese Crump). These fighters are ordered to capture Kham for a special mission.
I dig Tony Jaa. He's a fun martial artist to watch and has a lot of charisma doing what he does. I loved the first THE PROTECTOR and this looks like a fine, cheesy time as well. The story is whatever, but I'm not really into it for that. I just want to see Tony Jaa jump around and use his knees and elbows in creative ways. It looks like this will fill that order.
THE PROTECTOR 2 hits iTunes on March 27, 2014 and will have a limited theaterical run on May 9, 2014.