After having watched Tony Jaa in Ong Bak about a week ago on TV, I was waiting for the day when Tom-Yum-Goog finally made its way here. There was a film in between these two, called The Bodyguard, which wasn't released in the theatres here, so I guess I gotta hit the shops to look for it.

My friend has likened the introduction of Tom-Yum-Goong to watching National Geographic, and he's right. It's an idyllic Thai village scene where Kham (Tony Jaa) grows up and bonds together with herds of elephants, and it might even looked as if it came right out of Kipling's The Jungle Book.

It's a picture of calm before the storm, and the first 10 minutes set the scene, as the elephants will play an important aspect in this movie as it gets elevated into mythical status (check out the CGI scene, looks like Jackie Chan's The Myth, with its historical fights). You'll know right away that this is a Thai movie, with its excellent fusion of Thai elements into the storyline - the elephants, the rivers, the rituals, Buddhism, "Tom-Yum-Goong", and of course, Muay Thai.

With elephants, the natural baddies are first and foremost, the poachers, who kidnap our hero's pets (wrong move). Of course these baddies belong to a larger crime family and syndicate operating out of Sydney, Australia, which deals with drugs, human and animal trafficking, prostitution, all with the blessings of corrupt cops, and led by a transvestite (yes, you heard me right).

Tom-Yum-Goong may refer to a shrimp dish in Thailand, but in this movie, it refers to a restaurant which serves as a front for illegal activities. Action fans need not wait too long for Tony Jaa action, as he plunges head on into fights with the Thai gangsters first, in their bungalow hideout. And that's just to whet your appetite for more mayhem! Bridging the fights from Thailand to Australia is a short boat chase scene that looked right out from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but that's the only weak action sequence in Tom-Yum-Goong.

There are plenty of fights in Sydney to keep all action fans happy - like the massive battle with the Aussie streetgangs (on roller blades and bikes) in an abandoned warehouse, which also showcased Jaa's agility and acrobatic ability. I thought that somehow the cinematography during this sequence let Jaa down at times, especially when he weaved in and out of the trains, the camera just couldn't keep up, and was positioned at a bad angle.

But that aside, it made up for itself in a beautifully filmed, one-motion tracking shot of Jaa making his way through a four-storey restaurant, kicking major rear, without seemingly any cuts (I said seemingly, as there was a part where water droplets stained the camera, but somehow disappeared abruptly). Doom has its gimmicky first-person shooter perspective, this one here has its classic third-person perspective, as if you're controlling Jaa in a coin-operated fight console, taking on the baddies with various swift moves.

If you've known by now, I kinda likened Jaa's movies so far to Bruce Lee's (some see shades of Matrix in this movie),and there was another action sequence in which Jaa was up against hordes of gangsters in an enclosed room (think Lee in the Japanese dojo in Fists of Fury),and he floored them all with bone-crushing, limb-breaking kicks and punches. Move aside Steven Seagal, Jaa's doing it faster, and more lethal! The fights with the huge wrestlers too was a highlight (ala Lee in Game of Death with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar),as was the final fight with the final "boss".

Perhaps my favourite in the movie is the scene at the temple. Water, Fire, and a looming Buddha, Jaa takes on three distinct exponents one-on-one - the hip hop breakdancer, the Chinese wushu sword expert, and the Western wrestler. While this movie has done away with Ong-Bak's repetitive sequences (yes, we know what Jaa is capable of already),the slow-mo in this particular set is pure poetry in motion. It's different from Ong-Bak, in that Jaa, like Lee in Enter The Dragon, gets beaten up and injured. You can inflict pain and injure Jaa, but like Lee, he bounces back with a vengeance, sans shirt too.

Jaa has let his action do the talking instead of his acting abilities (no stunt double, no wire-work, no special effects),and I have no qualms with that, given after all, this is an out and out action movie. Petchtai Wongkamlao, who plays Inspector Mark, and has been featured in all of Jaa's movies, returns to add his comedic touch to the film as a Thai-immigrant policeman in Sydney, and fans of Ong Bak will also be pleased that this movie is helmed by the same director Prachya Pinkaew.

While Hollywood struggles to find worthy successors to its 80s and 90s action heroes like Stallone, Van Damme, and Schwarzeneggar, Asia has already found one to takeover the mantle from Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li (as the latter two seemed to have drifted and indicated a preference for dramas). He's Thai, and his name is Tony Jaa. You heard it here first, he's gonna be setting the bar for action movies to come. He can only get better, and I'm already a huge fan!

The follow-up to ONG BAK is another film in search of a plot – this time, there's some expository stuff about the search for a pair of stolen elephants, but as in ONG BAK, it's merely some very thin material on which to hang a series of blistering action scenes starring the one and only Tony Jaa. When I saw this film was coming out, I knew I had to see it and my expectations were raging high. I wasn't disappointed. WARRIOR KING improves on ONG BAK and ups the action ante tenfold, making it one of the best martial arts movies I've ever seen. Sitting here right now, I would go and watch it again if I could, and I've already preordered the DVD for when it comes out. It really is that good a film.

Seeing ONG BAK after this film, it appears that Tony Jaa was holding back in that movie, not really showing us what he was capable of. That changes in WARRIOR KING, which contains two of the best-choreographed fight sequences I've ever watched. The first takes place in a burning temple and sees Jaa battling a quick-limbed gangster (the word 'Pray' is aptly carved into his chest),a young swordsman and finally a hulking bald guy, played by Nathan Jones, who you may remember as the giant at the beginning of TROY. Disappointed that he never got to fight in TROY? Well, that all changes in WARRIOR KING, as he gets to battle Jaa in two protracted, amazing fight scenes.

The film as a whole is cheaply made, with all of the budget going into the action. Fine by me. The dialogue, some of it in English due to the Australian setting, is often unintentionally hilarious, and some of the "news reports" that are displayed throughout the film had the audience guffawing at the amateurish acting. No matter. No matter that the acting isn't great throughout. Sure, the bad guys are clichés and couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. Action fans are used to that kind of stuff. Jaa is great, and he gets a chance to flex his acting chops during a crucial twist that almost made me shed a tear. Petchtai Wongkamlao also returns from ONG BAK, and you may remember him as the bald comedian guy; this time he's a policeman, but his role is very much the same. Mention has to be made of the stunning Bongkoj Khongmalai, whose sultry lap dance is another highlight of the film.

One thing I liked about the film was the gritty atmosphere – much of it is really sleazy, with a lady boy as the main villain (ironically, she looks more like Jackie Chan than the Jackie Chan lookalike who appears at the airport) and some of the action taking place in an illegal restaurant where they serve up monkeys and scorpions in equal measure. It reminded me of HOSTEL, and that's in a good way. Still, back to the action, and the rest of the fights in the film are excellent. A massive battle in a warehouse between Jaa and a bunch of bikers, quad bikers, skateboarders, and rollerskaters recalls Jackie Chan at his stunt-tastic best, and the single-camera-shot journey up the floors of the aforementioned restaurant, as the camera watches Jaa beat, break, and batter dozens of opponents into submission, is jaw-droppingly good. I really can't wait to see that one again.

Following in the style of Hong Kong cinema of the 1980s, the best action is saved for the super finale, in which Jaa fights four huge giants and a whip-wielding ladyboy. Yes, it is as entertaining as it sounds, and there's some STREET FIGHTER-style X-ray trickery to add to the violence. However, my money's on the previous battle, where Jaa fights about two hundred suited guys, and BREAKS ALL OF THEIR BONES, as being the action highlight. I've never seen anything this violent in my life and I can't believe the BBFC allowed it – these are the guys who used to cut the one or two arm breaks in a Seagal movie, and suddenly there's two hundred all in the space of ten minutes, and they leave it in. We truly are living in great times.

The Jaturungkabart once were protectors of Thailand's revered Royal war elephants. Kham (Tony Jaa) is from a long line of protectors. He grew up with great elephant Por Yai and his calf Kohrn. Elephants are taken by poachers with the help of corrupt officials. Kham goes to Sydney to confront Vietnamese gangster Johnny to avenge his father and save his elephants.

It's got action, real stunts, Tony Jaa and explosive destruction. The acting is B-level. I don't expect Tony Jaa to be an extraordinary actor and he has good charisma for a stuntman. It's his action that speaks louder. I like policeman Mark but the rest aren't that special. The comedy ranges from cute to cheesy. On that note, there is a Jackie Chan impersonator. For that to truly work, the movie needs the real Jackie Chan who would nail the comic handoff of that scene. The story is functional but this is an excuse to see action stunts. Although Jackie would have done it with better humor.