Bangkok Dog: Prachya Pinkaew “Presents” D.Y. Sao

LS-75 is such a super-secret law enforcement agency, it apparently operates out of a Chatsworth office park. Somehow, they scrape enough money to send agent Andrew Kang to Thailand, where he assumes the identity of a drug ring’s American point-man. Despite the constant brawling, Kang’s handler fears he might be succeeding a little too well in Chaya Supannarat’s Bangkok Dog, executive-produced by Ong-Bak action auteur Prachya Pinkaew, which releases Tuesday on VOD.

After Kang and his partner Kaitlyn Liu bust Benz Wu for his shipping container full of dead trafficked people, with stomachs stuffed with illegal narcotics, they are highly motivated to take down the rest of the operation. The top man is Dominic Mesias—and he is one bad apple.

However, in his new role in the Bangkok agency, Kang masquerading in the guise of Wu, works closely under jaded Charn Chai Yoodee, who quickly becomes a fast-friend. Kang even harbors illusions of flipping Yoodee, which worries Liu, who now serves as his in-country LS-75 handler. Regardless, Kang has no such affection for Mesias, especially after a particularly brutal debt-collection. Obviously, the worst thing that could happen for Kang would be Wu escaping from LS-75 to blow his cover, so that is exactly what will happen.

Everything about Bangkok Dog looks cheap, except the considerable blood and sweat equity co-stars and co-fight choreographers D.Y. Sao and Brian Le put into the bone-crushing marital arts beatdowns, which are priceless. They bleed for this movie.

Clearly, Bangkok Dog was conceived as a no-frills showcase to determine whether Sao and/or Le leave a sufficient impression on viewers to warrant a comparatively bigger budgeted follow-up. They both should pass the test, provided the film attracts enough eyeballs.

Sao plays Kang with impressive intensity and his physicality is off the charts. However, the breakout discovery could turn out to be Le, who struts through the picture with the flamboyance of a pro wrestler. Yet, he matches Sao, step for step. As a considerable bonus, martial arts fan favorite and journeyman stuntman Ron Smoorenberg also appears as Vega, tangling with Sao in what might be the film’s most brutal fight scene.

Prachya Pinkaew’s Elephant White

In Thailand, you might just find a monastery next to a sex club. That will be handy for Curtie Church, a former “Agency” assassin who has gone freelance. He basically lives like a monk and he has taken on one of Thailand’s nastiest human trafficking gangs as his latest target. It starts out as a job, but it quickly turns personal in Prachya Pinkaew’s Elephant White, which airs on Bounce TV.

A grieving father, whose daughter was abducted and ultimately killed by the Chang Cao gang has hired Church to kill some of the gang and frame their rival Jong Ang gang, in retribution. Church might not fully believe him, but the more he learns about both gangs, the more intent he is on destroying them. He also finds an unexpected source of intel when Mae follows him back to the monastery belltower, where he has been hiding out.

It turns out Mae was once one the women held in slavery by the Chang Cao. After somehow escaping their brothels, she has led a devout, Zen-like life, which gives her an affinity for Church’s hosts. Of course, she does not approve of his guns-blazing approach to problem-solving. Fortunately, Church also knows “Jimmy the Brit,” an old Agency colleagues who is now making a killing as an arms dealer. Jimmy is a sleazy horndog, but when push comes to shove, the crimes of the Chang Caos and Jong Angs do not sit well with him either (and Church will push and shove him plenty).

Somehow, Elephant White initially flew under the radar with fans, even though it was helmed by Pinkaew, the action auteur who helmed the first Ong Bak and The Protector films. It also features Kevin Bacon shamelessly chewing the scenery and doing the weirdest Scott Adkins accent. Yet, it all works perfectly, especially when he is paired up with the strong, silent, and physically imposing Djimon Housou as Hunter.

Magnolia at MoMA: Ong-Bak

The message of this action film is “don’t lose your head.” Unfortunately, that is what happens to Ting’s village when big city antiquity thieves steal the head of their Buddha statue. Ting learned the ancient Muay Boran discipline, a forerunner of Muay Thai, from the village priest. He has only practiced and sparred, but it turns out he really is a formidable in-real-life fighter when he sets off in search of the missing head in Prachya Pinkaew’s Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (Ong-Bak #1), which screens as part of MoMA’s 20^th Anniversary celebration of Magnolia Pictures.

The Ong-Bak statue is far from the most imposing in Thailand, but without, the village is sure to suffer ill-fate, so they take up a collection and send Ting on his way. Once in the big city, he looks up his cousin Humlae, the village’s prodigal son. Humlae happens to be a gambling addict, who regularly loses money in the underground fights hosted by the nefarious crime-lord Komluan, whose most profitable business is the illicit trade of traditional Buddhist artifacts.

Right, so you can probably see where this all is headed. The path to recovering the Ong-Bak will definitely run through Komluan’s bare-knuckle matches. There is also one of the most over-the-top tuk tuk chases ever filmed. Of course, the narrative itself is pretty grungy and straightforward: country boy takes on slimy city slickers. However, Panna Rittikrai’s fight choreography and Tony Jaa’s stunt work will still impress the heck out of fans.