I guess this movie was supposed to be the one where stunt-man turned action star, Mike B broke out and achieved the same amount of international fame as Tony Jaa. It's not quite that kind of movie as where Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong succeed, Brave fails. However, where Brave succeeds, Ong-Bank and Tom Yum Goong fail. Miserably.
Thai action directors are under the naive assumption that movie-goers don't really give a s**t about story. They want to see vicious thai boxing mixed with copious amounts of extremely dangerous stunts. Plot is strictly secondary. Brave attempts to bridge the gap and give you the adrenaline that Panna Rittikrai and his stunt crew are accustomed to delivering while entertaining you with some light humor and a story that is more than a place to drape heavily with stunts and fighting. Unfortunately, for Brave, it lands somewhere between the two and never fully connects the two pieces, entirely.
Brave is a lot of fun but it suffers from some pacing issues and the usual set 'em up and knock 'em down fight scenes that Thailand is somewhat known for. Two or more capable martial artists are rarely matched up against star, Mike B, and when they are, the fighting looks rehearsed with a lot of mechanical looking bocks and set-ups for the next move. It's not a total bust and has a few wild fights and stunts but the quantity is scaled back to make room for the plot and the quality is never up to par. In its place is a movie that is strictly middle of the road. By no means a dud but not deserving of the sort of standing ovations that I give Ong-Bak and Born To Fight.
Read the full review and synopsis at Cinema Suicide
