Released: April 2015
Director: Ekachai Uekrongtham
Run Time: 95 Minutes
Rated R for Strong Violence, Disturbing Sexual Content, Nudity, Drug Use and Language
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing
Cast:
Dolph Lundgren: Nick Cassidy
Tony Jaa: Tony Vitayakul
Michael Jai White: Reed
Ron Perlman: Viktor
Peter Weller: Costello
Celina Jade: Min
When Tony Jaa appeared on the international scene a little over a decade ago, he took the world by storm. His first big break was in the film, Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior. He was hailed as the next Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. While I personally wouldn’t go that far in praising the man, there was no doubt in my mind that he had something to offer. He was extraordinarily talented, being trained in Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Wushu and other styles of martial arts and being highly athletic. When I first saw Ong-Bak, my mind was blown. I haven’t seen anybody do these kinds of crazy-ass stunts since Jackie Chan, and even then, Tony Jaa was doing stuff that I had never seen before. This is coming from someone who is a HUGE fan of martial arts films. While you could say that Tony Jaa isn’t a particularly good actor, there is no questioning that he’s got some serious screen presence. While Ong-Bak’s story and acting were highly dubious, the stunt-work and action sequences were second-to-none. They were brutal, spectacular and done without wires. Jaa’s follow-up film, Tom Yum Goong, or, The Protector, as it is known in the States, was even crazier, and featured a more brutal side to Muay Thai, than we had seen in Jaa’s previous effort. Again, off-the-wall stunts and action made The Protector a very memorable film. Sadly, with Ong-Bak 2, things started going downhill fast for Tony Jaa. He apparently bit off more than he could chew with Ong-Bak 2 and 3, and had a break-down. While Ong-Bak 2 was still decent in the action department, the third film was a complete disaster. One of the things I really loved about Tony Jaa was that he didn’t need wires to pull off some really crazy stuff. So, when The Protector 2 came out, I was highly disappointed that one of the most promising martial arts superstars was using wires in a movie that was actually even worse than Ong-Bak 3. But it seems redemption was in Jaa’s future, when he was cast in Dolph Lundgren’s action film, Skin Trade.
Skin Trade opens as police detective Nick Cassidy is chasing down a criminal who is working for a notorious Serbian gangster, Viktor. At the same time in Thailand, undercover cop Tony Vitayakul is preparing to offer some money to a gangster in exchange for a young girl who had been kidnapped and sold. Both cops are on the trail for the same man, Viktor, who is suspected of being the leader in a major human trafficking organization in Southeast Asia. After tracking Viktor to a nearby dock in New Jersey, one of Viktor’s children is killed in a gun battle with Nick, before Viktor is arrested. In retaliation for his son’s death, Nick’s family is attacked and killed, leaving Nick near-death. Seeking revenge, Nick travels to Thailand to hunt down and kill Viktor, but ends up crossing Tony at the same time. The story of the film is set around human trafficking, which makes the whole situation all the more personal not just for the characters, but for Dolph Lundgren as well. He had written and produced Skin Trade, because he had read about a case in which dozens of women were found dead in a cargo container. So, Dolph is using the film not just as entertainment, but also as a way of helping to expose the insidious practice that is plaguing our world. I mentioned this in my review of Taken: Human trafficking is a very tricky subject to tackle in a wall-to-wall action film. It’s a fairly simple story that has some twists and turns that while some would consider to be predictable, are fairly interesting. There isn’t a whole lot of humor here, because of the subject matter. Lundgren wanted to take this situation seriously, and it’s reflected in the story and action. It’s a decent enough story, but it is one that I’ve seen before.
This is a kind of an ensemble movie. You’ve got some serious fire-power as far action stars go. You’ve got Dolph Lundgren, who is a martial artist himself. You’ve got Tony Jaa from Ong-Bak, Peter Weller from Robocop, Ron Perlman from Hellboy, and Michael Jai White from Spawn. Ron Perlman plays the villainous Viktor. Perlman has always been flexible in the acting and can play both good and bad guys. Hellboy is probably one of his best known roles, because he inhabits every role that he takes on. While he’s not a martial artist, his presence lends a certain degree of credibility to the film. He’s so much fun to watch. Peter Weller always brings his A-game to whatever he does. After Robocop, he’s become a bit of a B-Movie star. He’s got this really deep voice that kind of gives him a kind of a hard edge. He plays Costello, Nick’s boss, and like Nick, hates human trafficking with a burning passion. Sadly, Weller is under-used and just disappears after Nick escapes from the hospital. Michael Jai White plays Agent Reed of the FBI. White is a phenomenal martial artist and a pretty decent actor, which is a rare combination for a martial arts actor. Dolph Lundgren is Nick Cassidy, a family man who is out for revenge after his family is attacked. If there’s one thing that I can really say about Lundgren, is that he’s got screen presence. At 6’5, Lundgren is an incredibly imposing figure. Making his debut as Drago in Rocky IV, Dolph Lundgren is a force to be reckoned with. While he’s not the greatest actor in the world, he’s absolute blast to watch, especially when he’s beating the crap out of people. His performance in Skin Trade is actually pretty believable, as Lundgren has two daughters himself, so he uses that to give Nick Cassidy a solid emotional core.
Tony Jaa makes his English language debut in Skin Trade. While English is clearly not Jaa’s first language, he doesn’t actually do too bad here, as far as speaking the language. There are some inconsistencies that hinder his performance. Because his command of the English language isn’t very strong, it makes his more dramatic scenes with his girlfriend a lot less believable. That being said, I consider Skin Trade to be a much better comeback film for Tony Jaa than his previous film. The action in Skin Trade is pretty damn good. There’s a lot of gun-fire in the first half, but we also get to see Michael Jai White use some of his skills which are formidable. Jaa’s opening action sequence involves him using his belt, which is very reminiscent of Jet Li in Fist of Legend. It’s actually pretty cool. Thankfully, Jaa doesn’t use wires. He does a couple of flips, but overall the fights in this film are more grounded and have a lot less flair. The two fights that are the highlights of Skin Trade happen to involve Jaa in both fights. He goes up against Dolph Lundgren in the first one. This is very much a David-versus-Goliath kind of fight. Lundgren towers over Jaa. Lundgren is definitely more of a slugger and slower than Jaa, but his power makes up for it, and he throws in a few good kicks. It’s a pretty intense fight. The second one involves Tony Jaa going up against Michael Jai White. This one is definitely fun to watch, because White is pretty nimble and puts up a good fight. The rest of the action is pretty much your standard run and gun deal, with explosions, chases and helicopters.
While Skin Trade definitely shows a little bit of what goes on in human trafficking, some of it doesn’t particularly strike me as realistic, with the exception of the opening scene. To be sure, it is a serious topic that needs to be dealt with, and while I think Skin Trade could have been a little darker in terms of showing what happens, there is a balance that must be kept between entertaining the audience and opening their eyes to a very real problem. I feel that the film does a pretty decent job at both. The subject of human trafficking is something that’s near and dear to Dolph Lundgren’s heart. In fact, on September 26, he’s doing a TED talk about human trafficking. Skin Trade was a personal project for Lundgren and the effort that went in to making this movie really shows. While the film isn’t perfect, and no film ever is, it definitely delivers on what is a very solid action-thriller with a message. If you’re a fan of Dolph Lundgren or Tony Jaa, this is one that is definitely worth watching. 9/10 is what I give it.