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Released by: Magnolia Pictures
Released on: August 25th, 2015.
Director: Ekachai Uekrongtham
Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, Michael Jai White, Peter Weller
Year: 2014
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The Movie:
There isn't really a lot to SKIN TRADE despite the hype that's surrounded this project as some sort of "message" action picture. Though it ostensibly deals with the horrors of the sex slave trade, that message, admirable as it is, tends to get overshadowed by what the fans paid to see: kick ass martial arts action.
In New Jersey, cop Nick Cassidy (Dolph Lundgren) is hot on the trail of a white slavery ring headed by Serbian national Viktor (Ron Perlman). His Thai counterpart, another cop named Tony (Tony Jaa) is after the same ring in Thailand. Viktor runs the family business with his sons and is an iron tyrant. When Viktor's latest cargo full of female victims arrives in a New Jersey port, he's ambushed by Cassidy and a massive police operation. One of his sons is killed in the ensuing shootout. Holding Cassidy responsible for the death, he vows revenge.
Structurally, there's nothing new here. Bad ass cop goes up against Eastern European crime cartel, cops family members get fucked with, cop goes rogue to get revenge. Aside from the slightly novel sex trade plot angle, there's nothing unusual here. So where films like this succeed is on two factors: solid action choreography and tight pacing. SKIN TRADE has them both in spades along with a terrific cast.
Jaa is quite a bit younger than Lundgren and he represents the physical opposite of the tall bruising swede. The two are pitted against each other initially and that leads to some great fight scenes with Dolph charging like a bull while Jaa bounces off walls like a cat. Jaa is lithe and cat-quick, but Lundgren is no slouch. The lack of obvious body doubles amps up the excitement here too and the fact that a third great fighter - Michael Jai White as a shifty fellow officer is thrown in adds to the mayhem fun factor. All the fights look great, and when the film has to switch to the more traditional gunplay and explosions, things stay strong.
As far as the casting goes, you have Peter Weller (ROBOCOP) as a a superior officer on the force and the always reliable Perlman (HELLBOY) as the main baddie. White is also a welcome addition and even the smaller parts are given enough to do to make them interesting. The more dramatic material - with Dolph and his family and Jaa and his girlfriend/informant who has suffered terrible childhood trauma works better than most of these types of subplots in action films usually do. The scenes with the girls being abused are a little hard to watch but the film does not seem to be interested in exploiting that angle for the wrong reasons.
There's a basic tenet one should deal with when arguing the merits - or lack thereof - on films like SKIN TRADE. Does it deliver? Yes.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 2.39.1 framed AVC encoded 1080p image here shows no problems. This is a finely made modern all digital production and as such looks excellent in all key areas. There is some "blooming" in the color field once in a while but that seems intentional. Sound is taken care of by a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that's beautifully balanced with some great LFE presence when called for. This is an aggressive track with plenty of wow factor. Subtitles are also included in English.
The extras start with a scene specific audio commentary with Dolph Lundgren which Is filled with his thoughts on working with director Ekachai Uekrongtham, his co-stars and his attraction to the project initially. Dolph appears to have a bit of a social conscience which is nice. Anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of filmmaking should also enjoy this track as Dolph breaks that stuff down for this film. Next up is an approximately fifteen minute making of featurette that covers the basics with some interviews with cast and crew thrown into the mix. It's a decent piece and better than most EPKs. The next piece - an eight minute bit on choreographing the fight sequences is more interesting. The main draw here is that we get to hear Jaa talk about his methods and approach to this work and he's quite well spoken. There are also two shorter pieces clocking in around the three minute to five minute mark. The first, with Dolph - who speaks eloquently about human trafficking and the film in general - doesn't cover much that isn't elsewhere on the extras but it is always nice to see the big guy on camera. The second one is an appreciation piece for the director by the producers and cast and crew. It's heartfelt enough and runs a bit longer than Dolph's at five minutes. Finally some Magnolia trailers and eight minutes of deleted and extended scenes are included.
The Final Word:
As a nuts and bolts action flick with some great martial arts and gunplay this is a top tier genre effort. It also has a little bit of a social conscience - a pleasant bonus. Recommended.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
