Brave

Starring Michael B., Afdlin Shauki, Dean Alexandrou, Vanchart Chunsri

Synopsis:

An ex-con called B is forced by a criminal gang to rob a bank of it’s credit card client list, in order to save his kidnapped brother-in-law. Completing the task and narrowly escaping with he and his brother’s life, B finds himself still in the thick of it as the gang tries to silence him...

There are certain things you come to expect from a Thai action movie: a nonsensical plot, bad and inappropriate humour and some of the most jaw-dropping, wince-inducing, how-the-hell-did-they-do-that stuntwork and bone-crunching fight scenes. Brave ticks all of those boxes, and for once in the right proportions.

The film opens with B undertaking the robbery. We have no idea who he is at this point – we don’t even know he’s being co-erced into the robbery, just that he’s receiving some instructions over his earpiece. The robbery is fun but not too compelling. There’s a certain element of danger, but not much, and the choreography is a bit ordinary. It gets better though as B makes his escape, with some decent camerawork.

The film’s humour comes from the relationship between B and his brother-in-law, Thai (comedian Afdlin Shauki), their bickering at the most inappropriate times such as hanging from a rope trying to disarm a bomb. Thai is a much more palatable comic relief than the camp wedding singer from Bangkok Knockout. A typical Thai-movie script change – at the beginning of the film, Thai can’t fight for toffee, having to run and hide while B gets stuck in. Then, at the end of the film, suddenly Thai is an awesome fighter. Sammo Hung awesome.

Another bizarre bit of scripting sees one character suddenly become the head honcho bad guy in a last minute twist which just...doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Other plot points are dumped on us without any pre-warning, too such as B’s relationship with a kid called Mai who turns up with a big grudge against B.

Luckily the humour and weird plot moments are totally outdone by the fight choreography and incredible stunt-work. Brave’s standout sequence sees B and Thai being chased into a half-completed high-rise, the sort of building site which seems the perfect place to have a huge fight. B uses the environment in perfect old school Jackie Chan style while dishing out some excellent kicks. It’s a great extended sequence which culminates in one of the most insane stunts I’ve ever seen. On the top floor of this high-rise, B does a backward flip off the edge, manages to catch hold of one of the iron bars sticking out of the concrete and swing down to the next floor. Luckily Brave is one of those films which shows replays of it’s best stunts, as if to say, “nope, your eyes aren’t deceiving you – we really did that!”

Verdict:

If you enjoyed the stuntwork but hated the nonsense plotting of Bangkok Knockout, then you should really check this out. A much more coherent storyline (at least until the end), some great fight scenes and the sort of jawdropping stunts we’ve come to expect. Just don't be put off by the awful, awful dvd cover. There are absolutely no ninjas in this movie!

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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