"Jailbreak" is your run-of-the-mill martial arts movie: we get our heroes (instead of just the one, here we have a team of 5),an 'of course things are going to turn sour' set-up (Prison Break!),heaps, but heaps of bad guys bent on destroying the good ones, fighting non-stop and a plot that has been knocked-out by some random flying kick. And while it doesn't bring anything new to the table, it does its job and delivers nicely choreographed fighting scenes, with some nice touches, and some silly humor to keep things chugging along (like one of the good guys not joining a fight because he is trying to light his cigarette).

It won't make you think, but you won't, probably, be bored either.

As this film opens we see reports of the capture of 'Playboy'; he is believed to be the leader of the infamous Butterfly Gang... he claims that he isn't the leader and is more than happy to talk. He is to be held in jail while awaiting questioning. He escorted by three local police officers and by a French officer of Cambodian ancestry. They get him there but before they can leave the jail things go wrong. The Butterfly Gang has arranged for a prisoner to get out of his cell and, after overpowering his guards, free other inmates... there aim is to kill Playboy before he can talk. The four cops, and surviving guards but use all their martial arts (bokator) skills if they are to survive let alone protect their witness.

The plot of this film may be fairly thin and there are a few obvious plot holes but that hardly matters; the plot is just there to provide a reason for the action. Once the prisoners are free in the jail the action is fairly relentless... its intensity reminded me of 'The Raid'. It is impressively choreographed and fairly bone crunching. The prison setting adds a sense of claustrophobia; lots of cell lined corridors and danger at every turn. The action is intense but the mood is occasionally lightened by lightly comedic moments; these provide a good laugh without spoiling the pace of the film. The cast is solid; they clearly had martial arts skills which helped the over-the-top action feel real. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of martial arts action; with this director Jimmy Henderson and his cast have firmly place Cambodia on the martial arts film map.

These comments are based on watching the film in Khmer with English subtitles.

As a huge fan of the two RAID films made by Gareth Evans, I'm always on the look out for similar movies and JAILBREAK is that exactly. It's a Cambodian version of THE RAID, with a negligible plot involving a group of cops who are assigned with transporting a criminal into a dangerous prison. Unfortunately the prisoners, led by a psychotic gang boss, want to see the criminal dead and proceed to bust out of their cells to get him; the cops subsequently have a fight on their hands. This is a film made with limited scripting, uninteresting performances, and a ton of well-choreographed fight scenes which are strong enough to dispel any problems with the film elsewhere. The film lurches from one creative, high-energy fight scene to the next, with a whirling camera adding to the expert choreography. The fights are fluid and exciting, showing off plenty of agility and some fine high kicking; they lack intensity at times but generally make for a highly entertaining movie.