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Protector, The
The Weinstein Company

Protector, The reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 52 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.7 out of 10
based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for pervasive strong violence and some sexual content

Starring Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Bongkoj Khongmalai, Xing Jing, Nathan Jones, Johnny Nguyen, Lateef Crowder, and Jon Foo

The Protector is the highly anticipated full bodied martial arts epic starring international superstar Tony Jaa. His world shaped by ancient traditions, a young Thai fighter (Jaa) is called upon to defend his people and their honor after outsiders invade their home and destroy all that is sacred. Fueled by desire to protect a way of life and avenge the wrong done to his family, he will bring fight to their city. (The Weinstein Company)


GENRE(S): Action  |  Comedy  |  Crime  |  Foreign  |  Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Napalee,
Piyaros Thongdee,
Joe Wannapin and
Prachya Pinkaew (story)
 
DIRECTED BY: Prachya Pinkaew  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: January 16, 2007 
Theatrical: September 8, 2006 
RUNNING TIME: 84 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Thailand 
LANGUAGE(S): Thai / English / Mandarin / Vietnamese (with English subtitles) 

Original title "Tom Yum Goong"; Previously known as "Warrior King" and "Ong Bak 2"

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
A furiously choreographed martial-arts spectacle wrapped in a fumbling narrative.
Read Full Review
75
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The Protector is about 84 minutes long, and only four of those minutes are devoted to plot.
Read Full Review
75
Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
The Protector is the nuttiest movie I've seen all year, and I've seen the last 20 minutes of "The Wicker Man."
Read Full Review
70
The New York Times Nathan Lee
The Protector supersizes the formula of "Ong Bak."
Read Full Review
67
Entertainment Weekly Marc Bernardin
It's silly, at times laughable, sure, but Jaa has a reckless, bone-cracking grace that transcends the film's triviality.
Read Full Review
67
Austin Chronicle Brian Clark
But while every expertly choreographed Muy Thai bout delivers, the film suffers from haphazard editing. Entire sequences of explanation are missing, as if Pinkaew made a 2 1/2 hour martial-arts film and then cut everything but the fighting scenes.
Read Full Review
67
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Delivers a steady stream of cheap B-movie thrills, plus two positive messages for young people: Be nice to animals, and when in doubt, always aim for the tendons.
Read Full Review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
The movie is a series of ever more elaborate fight sequences and increasingly more and larger opponents.
Read Full Review
63
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
While the story's silly, the stunts, choreographed by Jaa and popular Thai filmmaker Panna Rittikrai, are spectacular.
Read Full Review
60
Variety Derek Elley
Boasting the same refreshing avoidance of CGI and wire work as "Warrior," slickly made production (largely by the same team) is more consciously aimed at the international market, with its Australian setting and multilingual dialogue.
Read Full Review
58
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Even a superstar needs to surround himself with better material than this.
Read Full Review
50
Slate Dana Stevens
In truth, only hard-core martial-arts fans will be able to keep from squirming in their seats with boredom through at least some parts of this 82-minute kablammo-fest.
Read Full Review
50
San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson
A bad film with a great star and some truly amazing action sequences.
Read Full Review
50
LA Weekly Luke Y. Thompson
Jaa has the skills for the job, and shows them off in numerous fight scenes; it's just a shame that the movie he's in is barely acceptable in any other respect.
Read Full Review
50
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Lives up to Tarantino's imprimatur, both in its cheesy grind house aesthetic and its occasional forays into brilliant, bravura filmmaking.
Read Full Review
50
The Hollywood Reporter Richard James Havis
A relentless focus on action over character and story will leave more mainstream viewers cold.
Read Full Review
50
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It's little more than a disjointed succession of kick-ass action scenes.
Read Full Review
40
Chicago Reader Reece Pendleton
A general lack of charm make this pretty tough to sit through.
Read Full Review
38
Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
Anytime Jaa isn't on screen, The Protector sputters.
Read Full Review
38
Miami Herald Peter Debruge
The movie is basically a love story between a man and his elephant, and if viewed as such, it's not nearly as ridiculous as the movie it first appears to be.
Read Full Review
30
Film Threat Michael Ferraro
Sadly, the greatness of Jaa's movements are drowned by an ocean of bad editing, terrible dubbing, disorienting action sequences, and repetitive fight sequences that feel as if they were copied straight from a side-scrolling videogame like "Streets of Rage."
Read Full Review
25
New York Post Kyle Smith
This ludicrous Quentin Tarantino-chosen low-budget movie features choppy editing and an amateurish script, and it switches strangely back and forth between dubbing and subtitles.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Matt W. gave it a10:
Forget the plot. You don't watch a martial arts movie for the gripping storyline or subtly nuanced character acting. You watch it for the ass kickery. This movie has it in spades. The fights are both amazingly choreographed and enjoyably brutal. Tony Jaa is the master of the flying knee!

Riren gave it an8:
Tony Jaa returns to the American screen in another wildly entertaining martial arts flick. Like a Kung Fu movie, this Muay Thai movie doesn't ask for much thought as to its plot. It's emotions are worn on its sleeve as it runs towards the next fight scene. And like Ong Bak, the fight scenes are some of the most eyepopping you could ask for.

Sean P. gave it a9:
Absolutely fantastic! Muay thai martial arts are demonstrated here in such fluency that even the hard-hitting nature of the art could almost pass as wushu. Jaa is fantastic throughout the film, and has obviously learnt from his mediocre acting in Ong Bak. Although the plot is limited, people watch films like this for the martial arts involved, and in that specific area this film excels. An absolute masterpiece!

Danny H. gave it an8:
I don't think I've ever cringed that much in a martial arts movie. Tony Jaa is such an amazing and ruthless fighter, half of this movie is spent clutching your seat and going "ooohhhhh, that would hurt SO much!" Plot and acting is practically nonexistent, but since when do you ever watch a martial arts movie for the storyline?

Jorge C. gave it a10:
Best.Movie.Ever. For anyone who loves martial arts movies, martial arts, or just plain ass-kickery in general... this movie is a must see.

Mort S. gave it a10:
No other fight scene compares to his limb breaking rampage.

Colin B. gave it a7:
A disappointing followup to ONG BAK. The story line was terrible and the cinemaphotography was bluish and washed out. As one person already stated, the fight scenes were repetative. That said, it was still a pleasure to see some very unique martial art moves from a genre that is practically dead. My favorite part was the main character's fight with martial artists of different styles. Bruce Lee still did it best in his last film, but Tony Jaa comes close in giving us a refreshing twist with his art. If you're hungry for a martial arts film, then by all means see this one. If you're picky for a great martial arts movie, then pass this one up.

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