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Rating: 3.5/5
Review: "The Exchange" (90 minutes)

"A decent fast-paced Thai heist thriller that is marred by weak action choreography and shoddy editing" 

It's a low-key movie. You can hardly find information about this online when you type in its English title. Perhaps you will have better luck finding information in Thai. My curiosity piqued when I couldn't find any English review on it. Should I take the risk in watching an unknown movie? I finally decided that it wouldn't hurt buying a cheap ticket (US$2.50) to experience it.

I actually enjoyed the movie but not the experience. Sure the movie has its own flaws but it is not as distracting as the badly dubbed Khmer language. The dub is emotionless and does not fit the tone of the characters. I know Thai and Khmer are two different languages but I couldn't help by being distracted with the bad lip sync throughout the whole movie.

On the other hand, the movie is fast-paced enough to hold my attention. There are tense moments slapped with some actually-funny humor. The characters' motives are sometimes questionable and act as a plot convenience. There are some smart small twists. The biggest flaw is the action choreography. It is very weak compared to the other Thai action thrillers. There is a fair share of action however none of those scenes are convincing and marred by shaky camera and shoddy editing. The impact is weak and it shows that the director is not experienced in directing action at all. The only saving grace for the action scenes is the usage of slo-mo.  

Overall: Is it worth to watch this in a cinema in Cambodia? Only if you have some extra money to spend. The movie is entertaining enough to watch on big screen. The biggest downside is watching it in a badly dubbed Khmer language. It would be great to catch it in its original language, Thai to be immersed in the movie. It comes with English subtitles.   

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