Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Don't Believe the Hype

Better Late Then Never

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

At last a film with depth , non stop action, brilliant acting and a plausible plot with real meaning.I rarely give a film top marks but this beats most films.This explores the seedy side of Bangkok yet also shows the strength of the human spirit to show kindness to others.This film is deep, not for the superficial minded, but for those who want action with meaning.Spiritual, inspiring, exciting, gripping,what more can any intelligent film viewer want ?.In a word Brilliant.

Sometimes a straight to DVD release can slip under the radar and become a highly under-rated and cult hit. 'Elephant White' does not fall under this category. Djimon Hounsou stars as professional hit man Church who is contracted to avenge the murder of his client's daughter. Alongside is Kevin Bacon, an arms dealer known as Jimmy who assists Church while he tracks down the men who committed this terrible act.The horrific abomination that this movie is seeps through from the very start where subject matters are introduced and dealt in truly sleazy ways. One being the a side story revolving around teenage prostitution that puts no effort into showing how revolting it truly is but merely using the dark subject and trivializing it to push the plot forward. The character development barely changes from what they all originally were. Church remains a destructive force, merely dispersing people feeling no remorse or consequence for his actions. It would be understandable if the film was trying to remain a bland action film but it feels as though it's constantly trying to push out some awareness to something but failing in every sense due to terrible direction from director Prachya Pinkaew.All these points are nothing compared to the absolutely stale performances that are woven within this destructively vile film. Notably the worst performancethat Kevin Bacon has done in his career. He brings across his own take of a British accent, which teeters between that of a southern Englishman and an Australian. Accompanied with this is his Keith Richards impersonation he adds to the mix, which brings it to the point that you actually want to avert your eyes. Jirantanin Pitakporntrakul stars in her first role as Mae, a 14-year-old teenage prostitute and after this performance it wouldn't be surprising if it was her last role. She comes across and whiny, annoying and self centered, which could all be down to poor direction but that would not change the fact her character was not believable or easy to relate to.There is absolutely nothing to take from Elephant White, aside from a semi-enjoyable sniper segment but even after that you'll have a sour taste in your mouth just for even thinking there was something enjoyable to take away from this film. It's dripping in filth, un-moral subject matters and bland, annoying characters. Truly one of the worst films in recent memory that nobody should have to endure.

There are some good things one can say about "Elephant White". As is the trademark with movies made by Millennium Films, the look of the movie is outstanding. The cinematography has rich colors, and the rest of the movie looks sleek and expensive - this movie could have played in theaters. There are also some decent action sequences, and it's nice to see the lead role being played by someone of African descent, something you usually don't see in a direct-to-video movie.But there are also some parts of the movie not deserving of merit. Kevin Bacon (what's he doing in a direct-to-video movie?) gives a strange performance, speaking his dialogue with a weird accent. The movie's story contains no surprises, even with the supposed twist that comes near the very end. And the events of the movie unfold somewhat slowly - the movie could have been tightened up a bit.In the end, this isn't a movie to seek out. But if it comes on cable during a slow day, you could find worse ways to spend your time.

The director of Ong-Bak, The Protector and Chocolate makes a bid for international audiences with this Taken-like thriller. Djimon Honsou stars as an assassin hired by a man to start a gang war between two rival sex traffickers in Bangkok. After seeing the horrors of the sex trafficking business, the mission becomes more personal for Honsou. He becomes determined to kill every pimp and gangster in town. Kevin Bacon co-stars as a Cockney arms dealer with ambiguous loyalties. Yes, I said Cockney. I don't think I've ever heard Bacon do an accent before, and it sounds a little silly at the beginning. I can't say whether the accent is good or not, but the performance is entertaining. Bacon really gets to ham it up, and he seems like he's having a ball. Super-cute Jirantanin Pitakporntrakul co-stars as an escaped prostitute who befriends Honsou. The girl might think about changing her nine syllable name (although it does contain the word "porn"!) if she wants an international career. Take a look at some of her awesome pics on her IMDb page.Unfortunately, the film isn't very good. Like I said, it's pretty much a rip-off of the Liam Neeson-starring action flick Taken, which was massively popular throughout the world. Pinkaew's supreme talent with martial arts filmmaking doesn't translate very well here, and the action is rather choppy. Most of the action involves Honsou sniping various gangsters from afar (the best sequence in the film has Honsou picking off gangsters as they engage in a street war with a rival gang, and it's entirely filmed from Honsou's point of view). When Honsou has to fight up close, he does use some very basic martial arts, but you can tell that that's not his thing. It's nice to see Honsou get a starring role, but he's kind of bland here. You tend to long for Bacon to show up again whenever he's not around.