Skip to main content


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.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rating: 3.4/5 Review: "The Spirit of Ramayana" (103 minutes) "A passable Thai horror movie with an interesting concept but weak execution." As a low-budget horror movie, it has enough entertainment values. In the recent years, there are a few strong Thai horror movies with decent production values and there are many mediocre low-budget horror movies. The Spirit of Ramayana is somewhat in the middle. It may not look that polished but its themes and concept are intriguing enough. The story: The narrative is straight forward however its editing made the movie look messy and disjointed. It is a simple story about Mintra, a young dancer who is rejected for the main role because she cannot pull off an evil and sensual side. However, a spirit helps her to unleash her dark side. On paper, it sounds like a supernatural Black Swan. It lacks the emotional depth of Black Swan as the director seems only interested in churning out cheap scares. As the plot develops fur...
Post a Comment
Read more
Rating: 4.3/5 Review: "American Made film review" "An entertaining and fun well-made film boosted by great direction and acting." Doug Liman and Tom Cruise paired up together again for a fast-paced and colorful biography on Barry Seal. American Made may not have the blockbuster action but it holds up on its own firmly with the help of a great direction by Doug. Tom Cruise is definitely the main highlight of the film and he is what made it so entertaining. The story: The pace is brisk; it takes the audience on a crazy ride from the start and never slows down. Though it never felt boring, sometimes I felt that it could have slowed down for some development. After the film ended, it seems that Doug and Tom had a clear mind on just keeping the audience as entertained as they can be. It cuts to the chase and never dwells on anything such as emotions. It moves quickly from event to event. Advantage is that I was not bored at all. Disadvantage is that it felt li...
Post a Comment
Read more
Best and Worst movies of 2011 2011 is over! It sees many good movies so it was kind of tricky to list the best 4 movies of 2011. It had been a good year for movies. Let's see if 2012 is any better. 1.Transformers: Dark of the Moon Rating: 4.5/5 It is one of the best 3D movie ever. It has cool action, great 3D and robots. It may be the final Transformers for Michael Bay. Only thing that can be improved is that rushed out ending. Other than that, it could be 2011 best action movie. 2.Sucker Punch Rating: 4.5/5 It is sad to see the critics slamming this movie. I find its presentation kind of cool and unique. The action is not bad too. Zack Synder really has a sense of cool visual which the movie a more interesting view. 3.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Rating: 4.5/5 The end is finally here. Although it is the most action-packed movie in the franchise, I can't help but feel a little disappointed with the climax. I wanted a longer and more epic battle between Harry and Voldemo...
Post a Comment
Read more