One of the fun things about watching movies is seeing the evolution of other culture’s entertainment. Watching the new Thai film THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! feels much more like an anthropology experiment rather than an entertaining experience. Partly because THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! feels very much like BREAKIN’ 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO (1984); if you’ve never had the pleasure (wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, say no more) it’s a bit of a rough ride. Very dated, very ‘80s, they portray themselves as action flicks without putting any real effort into the action. Instead it’s cheese and poor acting from beginning to end. Still, it’s interesting to me just how much this movie reminds me of those early ‘80s flicks.
THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! follows the dual stories of Jukkalan (our “bad-ass” girl) and her Uncle Sawang, who has raised her since her father was killed. Jukkalan doesn’t respect her Uncle and spends her time as a bicycle courier, primarily delivering smuggled items for local rival gangs. All of her deliveries are now causing her problems, though, as both gangs are blaming her for their problems. Uncle Sawang, in the meantime, is struggling with his oppositional niece, trying to take care of a beautiful local laundry woman and her daughter, and being hunted by someone who wants to kill him. None of this is very well explained, making the movie extremely hard to follow. Instead of involving us in the film, someone made the decision to have the characters just SAY everything, which results in more boredom than should be necessary.
With a title like THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! I really assumed there would be some great martial arts action. Sadly that isn’t the case, with even the most choreographed fight scenes looking incredibly staged and poorly executed. Honestly, there just isn’t much exciting about a bicycle carrier. Thankfully the woman who plays Jukkalan (JeeJa Yanin) is reasonably interesting to watch on screen, giving the film it’s only redeemable quality. The other actors spend most of their time being as weird as possible, including the crime bosses ‘quirky’ voices and women issues, and Jukkalan’s employer, who has huge fake eyebrows and facial hair and never wears more than two scraps of clothing.
I’m not sure I understand this movie, though I promise you I really tried. I’m sure there is a target American audience for this flick, but I don’t know who they are and for some reason I just can’t identify with them at all. There really aren’t any surprises to be found in the entire film, except for just how cheesy and bad it is. The gouda-level hits unbelievable heights with each new scene, but it isn’t really even funny. I pride myself in enjoying all different types of movies, but this one just doesn’t work. Unless you are incredibly into Thai cinema I would steer clear of this one.
Video: (1080p, 2.40:1 Widescreen) The video is decently but the HD doesn’t do the terrible fight sequences any favors in THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!!
Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The audio is probably the most professional presentation on the Blu-ray release of THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! Nicely done.
The Making of THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! (07:03) A little bit of explanation from director Petchtai Wongkamiao doesn’t elevate this special feature at all. Primarily it is behind the scenes footage from THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! with loud (really, REALLY loud) music playing over it.
Behind the Scenes (01:57) Another quick view at the making of THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!! I suggest avoiding this one, especially if you watched the above “Making of” feature.
International Trailer (02:36) The trailer is just about as weird as THIS GIRL IS BAD-ASS!!, but far more interesting. I would rather have watched the trailer 10 times than the movie once.