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Released by: Magnolia Films
Released on: 9/14/2010
Director: Rashane Limtrakulc
Cast: JeeJa Yanin, David Bueno, Marc Nghi Hoang, Roongtawan Jindasing
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
When Chocolate made adorable Thai ass kicker JeeJa Yanin a bit of an action movie superstar, at least in her homeland and in certain circles abroad, you just knew you were going to see more of her - and why not? She's fun to look at and has got moves that rival the big man on the Thai action movie campus, Tony Jaa. She's fast, she's cute, and she's absolutely fearless up there on the screen.
Enter Raging Phoenix, a 2009 film from Rashane Limtrakulcthat gives Jeeja an opportunity to actually act in terms of dialogue and line delivery. In Chocolate, her autistic character said very little and instead relied on a physicality and body language to communicate - a trait in which Jeeja proved she could excel. Unfortunately, if this film is any indication, she's not really up for a more challenging role in that regard.
The film casts Jeeja as a young girl name Neu who, after jumping off stage from behind her drum kit (look for some of the most unconvincing drumming ever committed to film in this scene) to attack her philandering boyfriend, winds up being targeted by a gang intent on selling her into prostitution. Thankfully a young man named Sanim comes to her aid and whisks her away just in the nick of time and he takes her back to his hideout, which is some sort of cool looking but very impractical rundown circus, and trains her to fight while bad guys periodically bounce around with weird pogo razor boots.
Sanim's fighting style is essentially the Thai equivalent of drunken boxing. Called Mayraiyuth, it looks pretty formidable on screen and evidently those who master it go on to kick much ass, which is essentially what Neu and her new friends do once she's up to speed. Those pesky would be kidnappers are in for a world of hurt!
So the plot is pretty simple, even dopey in spots, and Jeeja Yanin's character is, quite frankly, an obnoxious brat who is easy to dislike. Almost every time she opens her mouth, something obnoxious comes out and as such, it's pretty hard to get behind her character. While she certainly doesn't deserve to be kidnapped and sold into whatever nefarious occupation the kidnappers would sell her into, you can't help but wish she's shut up. Thankfully, when she does shut up and start kicking bad guys in the face, she's pretty great. She's very watchable in the action scenes and through the help of some incredible fight choreography is able to pull off some stunts that will leave you impressed no matter how many martial arts movies you may have sat through. This young woman is a very talented combatant and she looks great on screen.
So make sure you know what you're going into with this one. It's a strange mix of Drunken Boxer and your standard revenge movie complete with training sequences and a disposable supporting cast. High brow intellectual cinema this film is not, but it's nicely shot and worth watching for the stunts alone, even if the story isn't very good and Jeeja Yanin's performance is irritating.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer has nice color reproduction and decent black levels and it looks pretty good though be forewarned that there is some serious color tinkering going on in certain scenes (intentional on the part of the filmmakers and not a flaw with the transfer). Skin tones look lifelike and realistic and there aren't any problems with edge enhancement or compression artifacts to report on. Print damage is pretty much non-existent, you might notice a speck or two but that's about it, and generally the picture is clean and stable.
Audio options are provided in the film's original Thai language in a strong Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track with optional subtitles provided in English and Spanish. An English language 5.1 dubbed mix is also included, but the Thai track is the way to go. This mix delivers pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a movie of this type - surrounds are used well in the action scenes and your subwoofer will punctuate the hits quite effectively. Levels are well balanced and there are no problems with hiss or distortion to complain about. Dialogue is clean and clear and directional effects are handled nicely, helping to fill in the various martial arts set pieces nicely.
Extras kick off with The Making Of Raging Phoenix, which is twelve minutes of interviews with the cast and crew in which they relay their various duties on the film and talk about their experiences on set. Behind The Scenes Of Raging Phoenix is a ten minute piece that a random assortment of fly on the wall footage showing how a few of the key scenes in the film were shot. Rounding out the extras is a trailer for the feature, trailers for other Magnolia DVD releases, menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Let's be honest, the story really isn't very good here and so it's up to the action sequences to save this picture. Thankfully, as far as those sequences are concerned, the picture delivers. The plot and characters are ridiculous but the hand to hand combat scenes and stunt work that the picture showcases do go a long way towards making up for that. Magnolai's DVD looks quite good and sounds even better and it contains an okay selection of extras as well. If you dug Chocolate and consider yourself a fan of Jija Yanin, check this one out as it gives her ample opportunity to strut her stuff.