The Protector is all spectacle and invention. Jaa is Fred Astaire strutting atop throngs of clueless enemies with grace and vigor. The film falls short not because they story is weak, but because the story is there at all.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 13, 2023

The premise is hopelessly silly and pointlessly convoluted, as well as stuffed with laughable dialogue, but it purposefully tries not to interfere with the sensational stunts.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Nov 21, 2020

Truly, the best martial arts film about elephants yet made.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Apr 25, 2011

In the realm of fresh martial arts movie stars, no one holds a candle to Tony Jaa.

| Original Score: B- | Apr 22, 2009

You have to wonder why they even bothered with the subtitles. It's not like they make much difference.

| Mar 20, 2009

Bone-crunching action triumphs over story and, uh, character development.

| Jan 13, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 7, 2008

If you like you martial arts action tough, gritty and fast, Tony Jaa is your artist, as he proved on his debut with Ong Bak (2003). This is Muay Thai, a form of aggressive martial arts that makes the others look tame.

Full Review | Aug 11, 2007

If a video game allowed you to do what Tony Jaa does, it would be the bestselling video game in history.

| Original Score: B | Aug 3, 2007

It's tremendously refreshing to see a film that relies solely on the choreography of its athletic star to make the action work.

Full Review | Mar 24, 2007

Resurrects the bad acting and absurd plotting of old-fashioned kung fu movies, as well as their exhilarating stunts and action choreography.

| Mar 1, 2007

Pretty tough to sit through.

| Dec 15, 2006

Exactly like an elephant, mostly slow and lumbering -- but with great menacing charges of excitement.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 15, 2006

The Protector's plot is as sturdy as a piece of balsa wood, which wouldn't have mattered so much if the film had showcased Jaa's talents better.

| Original Score: C- | Oct 12, 2006

Four screenwriters get credit for the bottom-feeder script.

Full Review | Original Score: 0.5/4 | Sep 30, 2006

It plays like a bad B-movie where we suddenly leave an ongoing conversation to join a fight in progress.

| Sep 27, 2006

Jaa's ingratiatingly ridiculous Protector delivers a steady stream of cheap B-movie thrills, plus two positive messages for young people: Be nice to animals, and when in doubt, always aim for the tendons.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 23, 2006

By the end you're so invigorated that narrative issues seem like an afterthought.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 23, 2006

It's silly, at times laughable, sure, but Jaa has a reckless, bone-cracking grace that transcends the film's triviality. For fight fans, he's worth the price of admission.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 23, 2006

The story is incoherent (possibly due to Weinstein cuts in the Thai original), but if you enjoy fight scenes, this is an eye-popping amazement...

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 15, 2006