Nathan Jones is great as, Barney Emerald, the "Gentle Giant". I've actually known a few of those in the Martial Arts world. Thank goodness not all males are Alpha types.
And Dan Chupong, the Police Chief, reminds me of Tony Jaa in "Ong Bak".
In addition to all that, it's so delightful to break the tradition of martial arts movie equals drug smugglers, thieves, and gangsters... oops. I lied. But at least the girls with the gentle (Aussie?) giant make it CUTE enough to qualify as FAMILY FUN.
Okay, it gets a little silly. But haven't we all felt that way with a little too much wasabi?
There's even a male vs. female Muay Thai match. How could you miss that?! You gotta love the "flying" elbows, upper-cuts, and knees of Muay Thai... but where are the blocks? Oh, yeah, I did see some inside the thigh knee blocks! Nice.
And then there's the Papaya Girl. Mmm.There's nothing better than TOUGH and SEXY!
SPOILER: Inside the ring she beats him but they call it a draw (being a male-dominated culture and all). That's one of the things we, as women, have to face in this patriarchal world culture. I once took down an 8th Degree Black Belt as a 6th Degree myself... did I get the same respect a man would have? No. Instead of saying, "Good job!", he said... "Here's what you did wrong."
Sub-titled. But well worth it.
