(2002)
Reviewed By-Paul Cooke Director-Sakchai Sribonnam Starring-Watchara Tangkaprasert , Suppakorn Kitsuwan & Archariya BuaSuwan
Throw caution to the Apocalyptic wind that carries this insane Thai futuristic Action flick to your personal safe home haven , care of the international availability of digital versatile disc , to partake of a ‘Mad Max’ mixture of whacked up proportions. Kicking off with an intro that pummels your attentive state with an on screen barrage of diversity from fire power to Monty Python-esque clay-mation , as a seemingly punk ass guy attempts a hold up only to be confronted by an onslaught of gun totting citizens looking for a reason to let fire with everything from automatic weapons to bazookas !.
Invite yourself in to the community known as ‘Goodman Town’. A post nuke residence who’s citadel insignia carries a red line struck through its entrance sign like a bloodied blot on the landscape. Tiger Yai is the despotic ruler of Goodman Town having expelled founding residents , the Dark Commune.
Legend has it that beneath the town itself lies buried a hoard of gold , placed there by a hero of the people as told in a fable to their children. This post save the forests Robin Hood was part of a band of robbers who stole from a bank on the brink of societies collapse. The raid was just for the rich reward but this master criminal known curiously as Mister Climax and aided by his wife named Paad were double crossed by the rest of the gang , a band of four desperados out only for themselves. Known as Water , Earth , Wind and Fire this quartet of assassins stand out like 21st century bad ass rock icons with a reputation for trashing at any stage they appear. Mister Climax outwits the pernicious entourage but falls foul of an explosive trap , care of an unlucky pick and mix at a munitions store , leaving him in an apparent state of no more. When the smoke clears the gang have moved on and his wife has fled , but he is left in a state of amnesia. Oblivious to what has happened to him he wonders off upon a lone trek of survival , roaming from town to town unaware that he leaves behind him such rich pickings in a place that will later become known as Goodman Town !.
Rebels of the forcefully exiled Dark Commune on the outskirts of Goodman Town begin digging a tunnel to set explosives under Tiger Yai’s throne. They require three days to complete the task and one brave volunteer to provide a distraction. One diversion comes in the unexpected form of Mister Climax as his nomadic journey brings him full circle and reunites him with his bride Paad , who once convinced he is the man she thought dead tries to revive his memory. Whilst a crazy ritual of re-emergent relationship unravels the Dark Commune’s joker in the pack plays out in the guise of an old man , fortune telling Tiger Yai’s need to marry a girl with a tattoo on her chest in just four days to reap the rich rewards foretold of or die !. An hilarious ritual follows that hysterically sees the old man die before revealing the full details , only to have a henchman punch his departing spirit back into the lifeless body to complete the ceremony. You wouldn’t want this guy in your corner raising your spirit whilst boxing Mike Tyson !.
With his men sent out to search for his love to be Tiger Yai hires the four horseless men of this Apocalypse in the form of Water , Earth , Wind and Fire to aid in getting the job done swiftly. The oddball characters with an aptitude for killing go out on a rampage of bone breaking and killing as they search the local camps in a show reel of slick gunplay. Bloody squibs spurt from head and chest shots all led by the self elected new leader of this band of new world gunslingers who has got to be the campest cowboy to step out of a closet in self sewn sequins ever. Resplendent with sideburns that require a holster all their own along with a ‘Gone With The Wind’ moustache that frankly this queer does give a damn. He shoots with a limp wrist but is the first to appreciate an opponent cocking his own weapon at him as he promiscuously flaunts a feminine bodice at them.
Such oddball zaniness is plentiful from the energetic movie makers of Thailand and here the frame scoops are served up with an infectiously abundant topping of hundreds and thousands. Even the out of the blue short moment of song tiptoes across the xylophone of your humour sprockets just as you recoil from another outburst of explosive violence as a blazing car rolls over the underpaid extras.
Things race along towards the expected showdown as Mr. Climax reunites with Mrs. Climax in the ultimate climax up against the double crossing gang and Tiger Yai. Make sure to catch a quite exceptional slice of comic book split screen framing
The movie is extremely well shot and looks vibrant as the cinematography gets to shine amidst the sun kissed locations , making for a very watch able play of acutely shot angles and many other well realized complimentary visual tricks. Dressed with the ‘Mad Max’ Australian outback hue , engendered with the quirkiness of ‘Hell Comes To Frog Town’ along with all the camp dressage and spirit of Director Enzo G. Castellari’s Euro Cult Classic ‘The New Barbarians’ , this is a candy flossed curiosity waiting to be unwrapped.
‘Goodman Town’ is as wild and wacky a journey you can undertake but is most likely to appeal to a minority group with a warped sense for the enjoyably unusual. Suspend all preconceptions and attune to the mindset of stepping into a waking fantasy that stars the Banana Splits in a Sergio Leone Western and it may just make sense.
Presentation : Wide Screen Ratio Approx 1:77:1 Coding : PAL All Region Sound : Dolby Digital 5.1 Extras : English Language Subtitles / Trailer / Behind The Scenes
Film: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS Picture: 4.0 BITCH SLAPS Sound: 4.0 BITCH SLAPS Extras: 2.5 BITCH SLAPS Overall: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS
