After Kham's (Tony Jaa) family elephants are stolen, he becomes embroiled in an international crime syndicate trying to get them back. Unfortunately for his opponents, Kham is a Muay Thai master who isn't shy about snapping tendons. Jaa's abilities as a martial artist are absolutely mind boggling. He is known for using minimal wirework and cgi, and the same holds true in this movie except for an oddly out of place computer animated dream sequence. Pinkaew's directing is the other thing that will draw oohs and ahhs from the audience. His steady-cam is almost as aggressively choreographed as the fighters, lacing the action sequences with an additional layer of kinetic energy. Beyond the supremely kick-ass fighting, there are insights into the importance of elephants in Thai culture. The Protector is pretty much everything you could hope for in a union between martial arts and pachyderms.
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