This Tony Jaa martial arts film follows Kham; a Thai villager whose father's elephants have been stolen with the help of corrupt local officials. He learns that the two elephants have been taken to Sydney so he heads to Australia to search for them. Here he soon getting into trouble as he confronts a variety of unsavoury characters. He also meets up with Thai-born Australian policeman Sergeant Mark as he finds himself confronting a senior officer who is in league with the criminals.The story here is pretty basic but that doesn't matter; I doubt many people will be watching for a complex plot and subtle twists... this is all about martial arts action and here it really delivered. There are numerous fights; each seems more exciting than the one before. This action is brilliantly choreographed and at times fairly wince-inducing as our protagonist snaps limbs and severs tendons! Tony Jaa is great in these scenes. Petchtai Wongkamlao brings some humour as Sergeant Mark; a likeably character is funny without being silly. As well as the numerous fights there are a couple of fine chases; this includes a short car chase in Sydney and a thrilling boat chase in Thailand. Overall I'd say this is definitely one to watch if you are a fan of martial arts films.

This review is for the uncut International version Forget the plot, seriously. Who in their right mind is looking for a good plot when they decide to watch this anyway? Chances are, you've come here for the action and boy do you ever get it. I have seen tons of action movies, I guess you can call me an adrenaline junkie. I can honestly say that nobody can compare to Tony Jaa when it comes to fight scenes. You think you can define intensity? think again! When you think you've seen it all, trust me; you haven't. There is always something new when it comes to Tony Jaa. Ever seen bones being broken in rapid succession? You will in this movie. If that doesn't entice you, how about Tony Jaa literally leaping up in the air to kick a guy in the face, off a helicopter? The scariest thing is, those scenes pale in comparison to some of the other things in this movie. The warehouse fight scene and the restaurant fight scene are both incredible, but the end fights blew me away. Wait until you see Tony Jaa take on gargantuan human beings. I don't wanna spoil anymore, but let me just say the groundbreaking action won't disappoint you. I didn't mind the "Elephant kidnapping" storyline. It is obvious Tony Jaa is passionate about it, others may not feel as impassioned as Jaa does, but I felt it was beautiful at times. Tony Jaa isn't great acting wise, but he does have a good emotional scene at the end. He is riveting with his intensity, it knows bounds. He comes across like a man possessed to get back something he admires. Jaa must be privy to being tired because his conditioning is ridiculously good. He is a freak of nature and makes Jackie Chan look tame at times. Ironically enough, there is a cameo from Jackie Chan in the beginning. Sadly, it's a Jackie Chan lookalike. How's that for a dream team? Somebody should make it happen.Final Thoughts: I know I am praising the action like it is groundbreaking, but it really did blow me away with how exhilarating it was. The plot is nothing special, but with the non-stop action, you won't have time to think about that. The Protector features some of the most incredible fight scenes that have ever been filmed. If you're craving action, give Tony Jaa a call. Buckle up and hang on!9/10

He wants his elephant back, and I want my 2 hours back. This movie sucked. Quentin... buddy... what happened??? I'm sure you watched this trash before you said go ahead and use my name, so why... just, why??? The only thing good that I came away from this was: It is a martial arts movie and it had martial arts in it. Everything else that happens between fight scenes is tragic. I hope, for Tony Jaa's sake, that somebody will provide him with a script and offer that will be fleshed out properly. He seems like a good kid. The director of this... this, cannot possibly be in his right mind. Neither can the editor, producer, etc...

Tony Jaa and Prachya Pinkaew know how to butter their bread, and make it extra toasty for anyone interested in martial arts movies let alone die-hards. After the success of Ong-Bak, they went on to make another film that had a slightly sillier story - Tony Jaa's character is a 'protector' of a baby elephant and its parent or uncle or whatever, and after the two elephants are kidnapped he goes on a rampage to find the people who did it. Of course, this means Pinkaew and the writers have to concoct one of those plots in martial arts movies loaded with bad guys and some cops too, and other side characters of some value like a guy who sticks up convenience stores, badly, or that other guy who, frankly, is one of the only real matches to Jaa.These 'plot' scenes aren't too bad, and keep the story rolling and contain some decent performances. But we didn't go into the Protector to see an actual story, did we? It's actually kind of superfluous, and if it weren't for the significance of elephants in Thailand, it could be a MacGuffin. The story is, frankly, second to what the Protector really shines at: showing off Tony Jaa kicking ass and not having the time to take names since he kicks ass every other second. Jaa here more than proves his worth; like Jackie Chan he had the 'no stunt-double' thing going on, as happened in Ong-Bak, but here unlike in Ong-Bak there isn't super fast cutting in the action and fight scenes. Indeed there's a scene that reminds one of Oldboy, where a five minute long take shows Jaa going up a stair-case (all in stedi-cam, not hand-held thank goodness) and mercilessly beating the crap out of any henchman that gets in his way. It's so powerful because we know already Jaa can do it, and because the mis-en-scene is so relentless. In terms of grace and skill, if not service to the story, it even tops Oldboy.Oh, and that's not all. Some scenes seem to go forever with Jaa fighting off the ridiculous onslaught of henchman and thugs, which include a pack of wild skaters. And when it comes to that last showdown- where we see how a tragedy knocks up Jaa's "I'll kill you all!" meter a thousand points- it's breathtaking. It's hard to recommend The Protector for any other reason than for Tony Jaa and his meticulous, daunting, eye-popping array of technique and skills with his body as a martial artists. He's at the top of the crop of people who have ever appeared on celluloid doing this, up there with Bruce Lee and Chan. If the movie itself doesn't quite live up to it (albeit still relatively well-made and with its touches of humor), it's fine. 7.5/10