Der Auftragskiller (2009)

Der Auftragskiller: Directed by Thanapon Maliwan. With Michael B., Russell Wong, Inthira Charoenpura, Patharawarin Timkul. In 1897, the “Poisoned Knife” clan broke into the royal palace of Thailand to steal the Royal Antiques, but the thieves didn’t escape with their lives. Before their deaths, they hid the antiques somewhere close to the palace.Today, Wisa (Winston Omega), the mafia boss whose ancestors masterminded the theft of the antiques wants to find them. He hires Patrick (Russell Wong – Romeo Must Die, Mummy 3: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor), the former Director of the U.S. military National Subterranean Exploration Unit, to search for the lost antiques. Patrick and Selina (Patharawarin Timkul – Bangkok Dangerous) the beautiful and sexy assassin, retrieve the antiques from beneath the Thai temple where Krit (Mike B – Brave, Ong Bak), a gifted martial artist, resides as a temple boy. When they steal the antiques from the temple, it’s down to Krit with the help of Praifa (Intira Charoenpura – Nang Nak, Brokedown Palace, King Naresuan Trilogy), an Archaeology student, to retrieve them. Together they fight against the powerful and greedy group of thugs. Will they be able to rescue Thailand’s national treasure and protect the world from evil?

“Kirk (the amusingly named Michael B.) discovers an ancient Thai vase buried under the ground at a temple he visits. What he doesnu0026#39;t know if that this is one of three stolen national treasures and he is quickly killed after he pawns the vase he found. His twin brother Krit (also B.) then deals with a group of mercenaries led by Patrick (Russell Wong) who are posing as geologists to locate the other two items. Once they do, Krit must stop them from taking the priceless items across the border. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA Thai action film about a guy fighting to save something stolen? No way! Michael B. (sometimes credited as Mike B.) started his career as a stunt man/punching bag for Tony Jaa in ONG BAK. This is his second feature as a lead following BRAVE (2007) and re-teams him that filmu0026#39;s director Thanapon Maliwan. While B. does perform some impressive moves, the movies are just kind of there, sort of like low end Isaac Florentine ripoffs. The fights are plentiful in the short 80-minute running time. On the plus side, this one isnu0026#39;t an editing and wire-work mess like the recent RAGING PHOENIX, JeeJa Yaninu0026#39;s disappointing wire- work laden follow up to CHOCOLATE (2008). I would say the last 15 minutes are worth the view as B. takes on Erik Markus Schuetz (also from Jaau0026#39;s features) and Russel Wong (still looking fit in his 40s).”