SYNOPSIS:
Khamlao
is a special agent working at the Secret Service Agency of
the People’s Republic of Nongwaileum. He is sent to
Thailand after the agency came to know of a group of terrorists
using a record label as a guise for its evil agenda, and is
devising a plot to undermine the People’s Republic of
Nongwaileum.
Khamlao has to keep his special agent identity secret from
everyone, even his own wife Keaw. Keaw suspects that Khamlao
has ulterior motives for traveling to Thailand.
Khamlao introduces himself as luk thung singer from the north
and becomes an overnight sensation selling over 100 million
copies of his debut CD. Khamlao comes into contact with Paula,
an undercover detective assigned to the same mission as he
is.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The
Bodyguard 2 is actually a prequel to The Bodyguard (not the
Kevin Costner-Whitney Houston movie), written, directed by
and starring one of Thailand's
top comedians, Petchtai Wongkamiao, who keeps a very straight
face as Captain Khamiao Maknim, special agent of the anti-terrorism
task force of Nongwaileum. On the outside, he's the man with
the plan, but back home, he's the dutiful, henpecked husband
to his loud-mouthed wife Khiew (Janet Khiew), who doesn't
know that her husband is a secret agent.
In
his latest mission, he's given the task of infiltrating a
record label, which of course is a front for crime, being
in the business of high end
weaponry trafficking. So it's a fish out of water
situation for our Captain as he gets trained on his
showmanship in a bid to become a top selling artiste,
thus giving him longevity to snoop around his
employer's office, with help from CIA agent Paula
(Jacqueline Apitananaon).
Before
you cast that doubtful eye on this production,
I'd have to admit that scenes and set pieces are
rather disjointed, with sub plots introduced with some
potential, before being totally forgotten just to
proceed to the next gag. In fact, it's rather
outrageous from the get-go, with a 20 minute action
sequence that had packed in kung fu, gun battles, car
chases involving motorcycles, a monster truck, s
sports car and a mini. This sequence alone will
probably justify the high price tag in the making of
the movie, but unfortunately doesn't translate to very
high production values,
The movie
doesn't take itself too seriously, and hams
it up with numerous references from Wongkamiao's
earlier movies and plenty of sight and slapstick
humour, some bordering on the bawdy, but never really
revealing anything naughty. I thought that this
effort, as with some of the other similar action
movies coming out of Thailand currently, puts them on
par with the action productions out of Hong Kong in
the late 70s and 80s - where cops and robbers usually
junk their weapons to trade punches, and this happen
very frequently in warehouses stocked full of empty
boxes for villainous foot-soldiers to crash into. And
there's always the complimentary Caucasian beefcake to
challenge our hero, except for this one, the outcome's
hilarious on the cheap for the most parts.
And for
those who miss the hard-hitting action of Tony
Jaa's, you can catch a glimpse of the Thai action hero
in a cameo here, with direct references (for laughs
though) at his earlier film Tom Yum Goong. And while
you're keeping your eyes peeled for his appearance,
you can count the number of familiar spoofs /
references, my favourite of which is one deliberately
mimicking John Woo's signature style involving certain
birds, which has to be seen to be believed Wongkamiao
actually opted for that quirky slant, ha!
Don't
expect a highly polished action movie, but do look forward
to something that will tickle your funny bone, if you're in
the mood for something fluffy and light to pass the time on
rainy weekends.
MOVIE RATING:
 
Review
by Stefan Shih
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