Tom Yum Goong 2 (2013)

Tom Yum Goong 2 (Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง 2), known in the US as The Protector 2, in the UK as Warrior King 2 and in Germany as Return of the Warrior. It is a 2013 Thai martial arts film directed by Prachya Pinkaew. The film is a sequel to Pinkaew’s Tom-Yum-Goong, with actors Tony Jaa and Petchtai Wongkamlao reprising their roles as Kham and Mark from the first movie.

Plot.

Kham (Tony Jaa) has resumed a quiet village life with his “brother”/elephant, Khon, back in Thailand. Job, an oddball who loves playing with electrical devices, has lived in the village for some time and has earned the trust of the locals. Unknown to Kham, he’s an agent of an arms dealer known as Mr. LC (RZA). A fan of Kham’s exploits, LC had Job keep tabs on Kham without his knowledge. Things change for Kham when a merchant, Suchart Vilawandei (Adinan Buntanaporn), wants to buy Khon, but Kham refuses to sell Khon. Suchart gives his business card to Kham in case he changes his mind. While eating with the local villagers, Kham feels something is wrong and returns home to find that Job has been beaten and Khon has been taken by Suchart. Using the business card that Suchart gave him, Kham goes to Suchart’s home to get answers but only finds that Suchart has been killed moments earlier. Suchart’s two nieces, martial artists Ping-ping (Yanin “Jeeja” Vismitananda) and Sue-sue (Theerada Kittiseriprasert) arrive and believe that Kham must be responsible.

The two attack him, but he evades and escapes; the authorities are alerted and the police give chase. While running from the law, Kham encounters Mark, who fakes being assaulted and allows Kham to escape. Later on, they secretly meet to learn more about the situation. Mark himself is in Thailand on a job for Interpol investigating a recent terrorist plot involving the peace talks between East Katana and West Katana in Bangkok. Kham is attacked by Suchart’s nieces as well as a biker gang. Kham fights through them and faces a small group of LC’s fighters. LC himself is a great admirer of martial arts and has gathered his own personal group of fighters ranked according to their strength. LC has his second-strongest fighter, No. 2, take on Kham, while the girls are also interfering. No. 2 kills Sue-sue, leaving Ping-ping to grieve. Kham loses the fight to No. 2 due to a needle stuck to his neck from the fight with Ping-ping.

Tom-Yum-Goong (2005) Movie Review

No. 2 realizes that he only won the fight because Kham was handicapped, and takes him to LC. At LC’s base, Kham finds his elephant and also discovers that Job is a traitor. Kham’s enemies tie a specially made remote-controlled electrical device to shock Kham as well as Khon at the same time every time Kham disobeys. LC wants Kham to join him and uses the device to force Kham to help him assassinate a political figure related to the peace talks. LC also brands Kham on his chest as his fighter No. 1. Mark is suspected of foul play by other Interpol agents. After he fails to capture Kham, he is told to go home. However, Mark finds Kham and helps him remove the electrical device. Mark also encounters Ping-ping and takes her to examine her uncle’s body at the coroner’s office, where it is explained to her that Suchart was killed by three powerful combo punches, the same method of killing that happened to Sue-sue. Ping-ping realizes that Kham was not the killer but rather No. 2.

Production, Release.

Tom Yum Goong 2 went into production in August 2011. The script was written by Eakasit Thairaat who previously had written scripts of the Thai films 13 Beloved (2006), Body (2007) and Long Weekend (2013). The film is shot in 3-D with action scenes directed by Weerapon Phumatfon and Somjai Janmoontree. The film was released in Thailand on 23 October 2013. The film debuted at number one in the box office in Thailand grossing US$684,406 in its opening weekend. The film grossed a total of US$1,776,546 in Thailand. Worldwide the film grossed US$3,302,463.

Reception.

Film Business Asia gave the film a rating of seven out of ten, stating that “the action coming fast and furious, especially when the script basically gives up any pretence at coherency halfway through. The only differences are that Jaa abandons his usual claim to fame of not using wire-work or visual effects, and the film is lighter on the masochism that has permeated most of his work.” The South China Morning Post gave the film a rating of three out of five, noting that the film “overcomes a clumsy, complicated set-up and unimpressive 3-D to deliver the requisite thrills.” The movie holds an aggregate metascore of 45/100 based on 10 critics at Metacritic. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an aggregated review score of 17% based on 23 critic reviews.

Cast:

Tony Jaa as Kham
Petchtai Wongkamlao as Sergeant Mark
Marrese Crump as No. 2
Yanin “Jeeja” Vismistananda as Ping-ping
Rhatha Phongam as No. 20
RZA as Mr. LC/No. 00
Kazu Patrick Tang as No. 18
David Ismalone as No. 24
Theerada Kittisiriprasert as Sue Sue
Jawed El Berni as The Spy/No. 85
Trian Vicky Wijaya as GearsBoy