The Great Challenge (2004)

Six parkour adepts open a gym in Bangkok. When the new gym starts to attract the area's kids, a local gang feels challenged. Their Eurasian leader Kien attacks the foreigners while they are training on a scaffold.

Director:

Julien Seri

Writers:

Bruno Guiblet (dialogue), Philippe Lyon (scenario & dialogue)

Stars:

Williams Belle, Châu Belle Dinh, Malik Diouf

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Williams Belle	...	Williams
Châu Belle Dinh	...	Kien (as Chau Belle)
Malik Diouf	...	Kenjee
Yann Hnautra	...	Yann
Guylain N'Guba-Boyeke	...	Yaguy (as Guylain)
Charles Perrière	...	Logan
Laurent Piemontesi	...	Léo
Elodie Yung	...	Tsu
Santi Sudaros	...	Kitano
Burt Kwouk	...	Wong
Ian Kay	...	Terry (as Ian Kay)
Charles Jarman	...	Johnny
Gary Stoner	...	Ned
Jason Hunjan	...	Un sportif anglais
Tony Christian	...	Un sportif anglais

Storyline

Six parkour adepts open a gym in Bangkok. When the new gym starts to attract the area's kids, a local gang feels challenged. Their Eurasian leader Kien attacks the foreigners while they are training on a scaffold.

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Plot Keywords:

parkour | yakuza | triads | tattoo | sword | 

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Taglines:

A Mortal Fighter. An Eternal Combat.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site [France]

Country:

UK France Spain

Language:

French Japanese English

Release Date:

23 June 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

The Great Challenge

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$903,038 (France), 25 June 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dan Films, TF1 Films Production, UGC YM

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)

User Reviews

Messy and poorly directed Parkour flick

BANGKOK NINJAS: SONS OF THE WIND is a messy, plot-goes-all-over-the-place type action film designed to show off the talents of a group of Parkour practitioners who spend the entire running time showing off their skills in jumping across, up, and down buildings without causing serious injury. And there are no ninjas in it.

For an obviously low budget production, this has a surprisingly intentional feel; it's a French film set partly in London and mostly in Bangkok. A group of Parkour enthusiasts head to Thailand to set up their own school for the young and underprivileged, but this soon gets forgotten in favour of helping a brother and sister to tackle Yakuza and Triad gangs.

The storyline is slim in the extreme and merely serves to link a series of Parkour scenes which are a little disappointing if I'm honest. The opening sequence is lively, but subsequent shots are badly directed, with the director over-editing them to remove genuine spectacle from the shots. In one scene, a guy jumps out of a high window, we see him sailing through the air, only for the camera to cut and shoot another angle as he lands. It makes the whole thing feel false, even if the stunt was done for real.

The acting is very limited, which you'd expect from a film of this type, although there's a small role for old-timer Burt Kwouk as a gangster chief. There are plenty of plot twists which are a little annoying rather than intriguing, along with a supposed large-scale climax which feels completely pointless and tame. However, there are a few fight scenes scattered throughout the running time which are pretty good; a shame there weren't more to distract us from the problems elsewhere.