B.K.O.: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT Review

If we're talking about the action showcased in B.K.O.: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT, the 'B.K.O.' in the title may well stand for 'Bold', 'Kick-ass' and 'Oh my goodness! Did you see what they just did?' But then, you would not expect anything less from legendary Thai action director Panna Rittikrai, would you? To put simply, B.K.O.: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT is a 100% pure action extravaganza.

The story is simple: a group of fighters win the chance to join a Hollywood production, but find that they have instead become the subjects of a game of death, where all their moves are observed and their fates are betted upon. Now if this sounds familiar to you, please understand it is not much more than a way to justify all the action, which the film has loads of.

The cast consists of a group of impressive young fighters, who really get to show off their skills in the film. Besides getting to beat the crap out of each other, they are involved in all kinds of stunts, such as falling from great heights, being hit by cars, and even fighting underneath a moving truck. The scenes are excitingly choreographed, and many of them look so incredibly dangerous that one wonders how many of the actors and actresses got injured while filming (and whether any of them was actually covered by insurance).

It is obvious their acting skills do not quite match their fighting skills, but it is unfair to expect them to carry out the stunts, avoid getting hurt and act at the same time. Perhaps one can be a bit more critical of the actors who play the wealthy people gambling on the lives of the fighters, however, as they lack both acting and fighting abilities. The scenes that show them betting are just awfully boring.

B.K.O.: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT is the kind of crazy action flicks that Hong Kong used to make. The action is fast, daring and comes with an apparent disregard for safety. It is easy to forget the poor acting and lack of a good or original story, because you will be too busy staring at the action and trying to pick your jaw up from off the floor at the same time.

B.K.O.: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT is distributed in Oz by Madman Entertainment, Australia's leading distributor of anime, independent film, Asian cinema, National Geographic, Cartoon Network and other special interest genres.

RELATED LINK
Madman