The King Maker

THE KING MAKER will doubtless be a success in Thailand where the similar (but superior) 'The Legend of Suriyothai' set box office records. The film directed by Lek Kitaparaporn after a screenplay by Sean Casey based on historical fact in 1547 Siam has some amazingly beautiful visual elements but is disarmed by one of the corniest, pedestrian scripts and story development on film.

The event the picture relates is the arrival of the Portuguese soldier of fortune Fernando de Gamma (Gary Stretch) whose vengeance for this father's murderer drives him to shipwrecked, captured and thrown into slavery and put on the bloc in Ayutthaya in the kingdom of Siam where he is purchased by the beautiful Maria (Cindy Burbridge) with the consent of her father Phillipe (John Rhys-Davies), a man with a name and a past that are revealed as the story progresses. There is a plot to overthrown the King and Fernando and his new Siamese sidekick Tong (Dom Hetrakul), after some gratuitous CGI enhanced choreographed martial arts silliness, are first rewarded by the King to become his bodyguards, only to be imprisoned together once Queen Sudachan (Yoe Hassadeevichit) reveals her plot to kill the king and son to allow her lover Lord Chakkraphat (Oliver Pupart) to take over the rule of Siam. Yet of course Fernando and Tong escape and are condemned to fight each other to save the lives of their families (Tong's wife and children and Fernando's now firm love affair with Maria) with the expected consequences.

The acting (with the exception of John Rhys-Davies) is so weak that the film occasionally seems as though it were meant to be camp. The predominantly Thai cast struggle with the poorly written dialog, making us wish they had used their native Thai with subtitles. The musical score by Ian Livingstone sounds as though exhumed form old TV soap operas. But if it is visual splendor you're after there is plenty of that and that alone makes the movie worth watching. It is a film that has obvious high financial backing for all the special effects and masses of cast and sets and shows its good intentions. It is just the basics that are missing. Grady Harp, April 07

`The King Maker' released in '05 is a Thai film possessing a grandiose vision burdened with an immensely uneven and convoluted delivery. There's definitely a lot of noticeable shortcomings to this movie yet it still works fairly well as an exotic period piece on 16th century Siam.

Negatives:
- The film labors over one of the worst scripts ever written, it's stiff, unnatural and highly predictable.
- The inclusion of flying ninjas, battling samurai, Thai kickboxing and European sword fighting exudes a comic book effect and erodes whatever semblance of realism the movie is trying to maintain.
- The soundtrack is boring and quite forgettable. Most of it sounds like bad opera.
- Yoe Hassadeevichit in the role of the evil Queen Sudachan brings to the screen one of the most laughable, melodramatic, over-the-top performances I've ever witnessed. I'm not sure what was worse, the way she heartlessly ordered the death of countless innocent people to gain sole possession of the throne of Siam, or the manner in which she continuously butchered the English language.

Positives:
- The cinematography is at times alluring and Cindy Burbridge is not only lovely to behold but provides the most honest, heartfelt performance of the film.

If you're looking for a poor man's `The Curse of the Golden Flower' here it is. My rating: 2  Stars.

I usually do not review products that I don't like... but sometimes I do.
This is one of them.

A pedestrian script set the pace of the whole film; poor acting and grandiloquent music sink it definitely.

The story is as follows, a Portuguese fortune soldier survives to a shipwreck, only to be captured and sold as slave in Siam (modern Thailand).
A beautiful European lady rescues him and gives him work in her father working team.
A war between the king of Siam and a rebellious neighbor king break up allowing young Fernando to show his aptitudes as warrior. He is rewarded and posted in the king's guard.
Meanwhile the queen is plotting to murder the king and sit her lover on the throne.
Both opposite interests collide ... and that's it!

Playacting is poor with the only exceptions of John Rhys-Davies, fleshing once more a Portuguese adventurer in Far East as in "Shogun" and Cindy Burbrige as his daughter Maria.

The only positive feature of the film is its visual richness.
Watch it at your own risk!

Reviewed by Max Yofre.