Vanquisher

Madman

R4 DVD

Thai with English overdubs and subtitles.

Thailand is not a country known for its film industry so this one was a surprise. For sheer action it’s as good as anything from Japan or the U.S. Its only drawback is a rather confused plot that is hard to follow with its multiple threads, doublecrossing characters and a strange mixture of terrorists, cops and ninjas.

Attractive new actress Sophita Sriban stars as a Thai police officer code named Gunja, seconded to the CIA Vanquisher project whose mission is to hunt Al Qaeda terrorists. When they invade a remote island looking for a terrorist leader she is the only survivor – almost. The team leader, Claire, has been told to leave no witnesses behind. They are, after all, invading a friendly foreign country. Puzzled but unable to share her concerns with other officers because of the secrecy required, Gunja returns to her work in the Special Operations squad of the Thai police.

The police are having their own problems with a Moslem terrorism group. They are hunting an extremist who is going to plant a large bomb in Bangkok. If it goes off it will kill thousands.

There follows a desperate hunt for the terrorists and their supporters. During the hunt they find the U.S. Vice President’s computer has been hacked and they have details of CIA agents. The terrorists have also enlisted the help of a group of ninjas as an execution squad. Gunja is horrified to learn that Claire is also running another Vanquisher project in Thailand, and Gunja herself is marked for death.

I don’t know what else you could put into this film. It has gunfights, martial arts and betrayals. There is much running around leaping from building to building. Gunja spends a lot of time posing with a gun, but I confess I didn’t mind these bits at all. The whole film seems to be made with skill and enthusiasm and is well worth watching.

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