Protect Harder

The last movie we saw with Tony Jaa in it had a big problem: Not enough Tony Jaa. But it also had a trailer for The Protector 2 (2012),which we hadn't seen. So, problem solved. 

It starts with Jaa in small village with his elephant, Khon. They've been living there quietly (as quiet as an elephant can be) since the last movie. Some big time slimeball tries to buy the elephant, but Jaa refuses. So the slimeball takes the elephant while Jaa is eating. He tracks him down, but finds him dead - and his nieces think Jaa killed him. The nieces are Jeeja Yannin and Theerada Kittiseriprasert, who get into a good two-on-one fight with Jaa.

Jaa gets away and runs into his old partner Sgt. Mark, who is working for Interpol to protect the peace talks between East and West Katana. And it turns out the whole thing has been masterminded by ... The RZA! He is running an underground fight club, as well as sundry other nefarious activities, and uses Khon as a hostage so that Jaa will fight for him.

The plot is very complicated and never made much sense to me. But the incredible fights and stunts sure did. I don't think there was a lot that was groundbreaking, although one stunt was filmed POV, like with a GoPro. Jaa jumps off a roof to a grab the balcony railing of the building across the way, then pulls himself up to the roof. 

The boss fight is vs. The RZA, which is pretty incredible - I don't think RZA is a master martial artist, but he knows enough to fake it. His style is very formal: He stands ramrod straight and kicks head-high. Unless they used a stand-in, he's been working.

So, good fights and stunts, especially from Jeeja and The RZA. I'll skip the ending with the exploding elephant - don't worry, unlike the original, the elephant lives in this one.