You know you’re in for a tough ride when a message flashes
up at the start of the movie stating that suicide is a sin and the filmmakers
don’t condone it. Then we’re asked to look on as a man takes his life in
gruesome fashion. There is a good reason for this, but lets make
one thing clear, director Thanakorn Pongsuwan likes his action bloody.
A man learns a powerful lesson about the price of immortality
in Demon Warriors, a supernatural action thriller from Thailand. The Opapatikas
are a special breed of people who have died, only to be resurrected and given
special powers. Invincible in combat, they gain unique superhuman skills
in return for killing themselves. Sounds great on paper, but there is a flipside. Detective Techit (Putthipong Sriwat) is a police
investigator who has learnt the secrets of the Opapatika and wants to join
their underground fraternity, so he approaches master Mr. Sadok
(Nirut Sirichanya), and it’s downhill from there.
In return for gaining the ability of foresight he gradually loses the use of
his five senses. He didn’t read that in the brochure now, did he? Sadok
pairs Techit with Thuvathit (Pongpat Wachirabunjong), the human leader of a
vast army devoted to capturing Opapatika and bringing them down. But Sadok needs to
consume the flesh of the other Opapatika because he’s dying. Their targets are
Paison (Chakrit Yamnam), Jirat (Somchai Kemglad), Aroot (Ray MacDonald), and
Ramil (Atip Nana) - the coolest of the bunch because he projects a fierce ghost
that looks awesome. They might have superhuman powers but they also have
a fair share of weaknesses. Turns out there’s a lot of cake going uneaten.
Lost beneath the violent action and moody exterior is a plot dynamic worth
sinking your teeth into. The concept is cool, there's no arguments on that
front, but the execution is muddled and confused. Pongsuwan injects neither
warmth nor humanity into his characters and as a result they are hard to
connect with. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the performances but
without depth, without a little something to invest in, Demon Warriors comes on
like a collection of set pieces linked only by moody exposition.
The action is exciting and well staged for the most part but
it fast becomes monotonous without interesting character dynamics. It’s a dark
and sombre affair that explodes into life every few minutes as we’re forced to
endure another wave of bad guys being dispensed with. The armed forces that
hunt down the Opapatika are relentless in their quest. They’re also pretty
stupid. What kind of fool would sign up to track down a bunch of dead guys that
can’t be killed, especially when they witness the slaughter of their companions
time and time again? Still, they keep on coming, and the threadbare plot
unravels under a cloud of confusion and misplaced sentiment.
Action junkies might get a kick out of the relentless
violence – Pongsuwan pulls no punches when it comes to bloody carnage and
deadly warfare – but he misses a trick or three when it comes to character,
storyline and consistency. Demon Warriors looks great in places, but beneath
the surface sheen is a mess of a movie that makes little sense and lacks
emotional punch. If you’re looking for a shallow action fix then you might get
a kick out of it – there’s certainly lots of eye candy and flair – but there’s
precious little to recommend beyond death, destruction and decent production
values.
Whatever message the makers of Demon Warriors were trying to
make is made clear at the start of the movie, so there’s no need to watch the
rest of the picture. Suicide is bad, but choosing to watch this movie again in
the near future is a much scarier proposition. AW
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