It's all ridiculous, of course, but it's meant to be.
11 Reviews
For one moment, just one moment -- it works.
punch878 December 2018
Thai Action comedy!!!!
sauravjoshi857 April 2019
Killer Tattoo is an action comedy Thai movie. The problem with the movie is that it has too many plots and the director failed to keep it intact. The movie has surely few good moments of its own and has some funny comic timing.
The action is just ok, acting is good. Direction is immature and the film diverts from it's plot many times.
Screenplay is ok so as background music. The movie is ok but could've been better.
The action is just ok, acting is good. Direction is immature and the film diverts from it's plot many times.
Screenplay is ok so as background music. The movie is ok but could've been better.
A wild, hypkinetic, unpredictable action/comedy/drama hybrid
chowyunpat28 November 2002
I recently saw this action comedy from Thailand at the St. Louis International Film Festival and It knocked on me on my rear end, this film was one wild, unpredictable movie, take John Woo, Wong Kar Wai, Wong Jing and throw them all in the blender at full speed to blend them for a movie that will hit you like a swallow of beer after a shot of sake.
To simply slap this film with the action comedy label is doing it a great injustice because this is not a by the numbers Hollywood cookie style "action comedy" that would ever be made in Tinseltown and probably would be consumed by the mainstrea m moviegoer, it it just too complex for such a simple pigeonhole categorization. This has to be one of the more unpredictable films to come around in a long time and it reminds of the movies that Hong Kong used to make back in their "golden age" in the late 80's to the mid 90's that was my antidote to the Hollywood actioners that just simply rehashed cliche after cliche without much style or imagination. It even the evil foreigner cannon villian just like the Hong Kong action films so a Hong Kong action buff should feel at home. This film has a frantic pace that never lets up and like some of John Woo's best work, will you leave exhausted when it's over. I was just amazed at how the film would change tone so seamlessly, mixing off the comedy, violent action, and touching drama and sometimes one scene would juggle all three going at once, never dropping the ball once.
The film is basically about a hitman, Kit Silencer looking searching for the man who killed his mother when he was a child, who had a pitch forked shaped tattoo on his wrist and what happens when he crosses paths with a group of four other bumbling hitmen at a botched hit on a police chief. One of the four losers is an Elvis impersonator who carries an M-16 in his guitar case and that character alone made it worth the price of admission.
Even though this isnt a pure action movie per say, it still has a high body count, higher than some of the so-called action movies and takes chances where say a Hong Kong lite Hollywood homogenized product like Charile's Angels wouldnt in switching genres, allowing some of its main characters to get killed off.
The only problem with this movie, is unless you see it at a film festival you will probably not see it with English subtitles although it is available on DVD and VCD it doesn't have English subtitles which is a shame because I saw a lesser thai action comedy which didnt deserve an English subtitled release in my opinion. I hope Thailand will continue making movies like this and Dang Bireley, Im just glad that there are more world class films available from a country that I and many others alike thought never made movies.
To simply slap this film with the action comedy label is doing it a great injustice because this is not a by the numbers Hollywood cookie style "action comedy" that would ever be made in Tinseltown and probably would be consumed by the mainstrea m moviegoer, it it just too complex for such a simple pigeonhole categorization. This has to be one of the more unpredictable films to come around in a long time and it reminds of the movies that Hong Kong used to make back in their "golden age" in the late 80's to the mid 90's that was my antidote to the Hollywood actioners that just simply rehashed cliche after cliche without much style or imagination. It even the evil foreigner cannon villian just like the Hong Kong action films so a Hong Kong action buff should feel at home. This film has a frantic pace that never lets up and like some of John Woo's best work, will you leave exhausted when it's over. I was just amazed at how the film would change tone so seamlessly, mixing off the comedy, violent action, and touching drama and sometimes one scene would juggle all three going at once, never dropping the ball once.
The film is basically about a hitman, Kit Silencer looking searching for the man who killed his mother when he was a child, who had a pitch forked shaped tattoo on his wrist and what happens when he crosses paths with a group of four other bumbling hitmen at a botched hit on a police chief. One of the four losers is an Elvis impersonator who carries an M-16 in his guitar case and that character alone made it worth the price of admission.
Even though this isnt a pure action movie per say, it still has a high body count, higher than some of the so-called action movies and takes chances where say a Hong Kong lite Hollywood homogenized product like Charile's Angels wouldnt in switching genres, allowing some of its main characters to get killed off.
The only problem with this movie, is unless you see it at a film festival you will probably not see it with English subtitles although it is available on DVD and VCD it doesn't have English subtitles which is a shame because I saw a lesser thai action comedy which didnt deserve an English subtitled release in my opinion. I hope Thailand will continue making movies like this and Dang Bireley, Im just glad that there are more world class films available from a country that I and many others alike thought never made movies.
Disappointing Thai actioner
gridoon20248 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I didn't like this film. I guess I was looking for some simple action fun, but what I got instead was a pretentious mess. The plot is impossible to follow. The tone is all over the place, swinging from broad comedy to overwrought melodrama. Hong Kong films are also famous for such tone shifts, but this Thai production cannot pull it off: the amnesiac killer who thinks he's Elvis and speaks only in (monosyllabic) English does not belong in the same movie as a reprehensible, to say the least, scene of threatened little girl molestation. The action sequences are also a mess - most of the time it's hard to figure out who's shooting at whom or why. The character I liked best was a stylish, Lara Croft - like female assassin, and when she got killed off halfway through, my heart sunk. There is another effective scene near the end, when a man sees his own dead body being dragged away and realizes he has become a ghost. On the whole, however, "Killer Tattoo" is an overlong misfire. (*)
Thai actioner with wonderful characters...see it if you can!!
BA_Harrison23 January 2006
Pae Buffgun, Er M16, Dog and Ghost Rifle are a shambolic group of offbeat assassins who botch a hit on tough Chief of Police, Iron Man. Kit Silencer is the top hit-man who finishes the job, but whose main concern is finding the tattooed killer of his mother 15 years previously.
This great comedy actioner is pure entertainment from start to finish; what other film do you know that features a Thai Elvis-impersonating killer packing a gun in a guitar case, a hippy killer who sees the ghost of his dead wife when making a hit and a sexy female assassin who could shoot the wings off a gnat at 100 yards, AND still have the balls to kill off a few of the main characters before the end credits roll.
Yes... Killer Tattoo is one weird film, mixing as it does extreme violence and light comedy in equal doses – but it works, and it works well.
And it stars Petchtai Wongkamlao, Humlae from Ong-Bak - reason enough to check this one out!!!
This great comedy actioner is pure entertainment from start to finish; what other film do you know that features a Thai Elvis-impersonating killer packing a gun in a guitar case, a hippy killer who sees the ghost of his dead wife when making a hit and a sexy female assassin who could shoot the wings off a gnat at 100 yards, AND still have the balls to kill off a few of the main characters before the end credits roll.
Yes... Killer Tattoo is one weird film, mixing as it does extreme violence and light comedy in equal doses – but it works, and it works well.
And it stars Petchtai Wongkamlao, Humlae from Ong-Bak - reason enough to check this one out!!!
Disappointing cult comedy
poikkeus15 August 2003
Killer Tattoo comes burdened with extravagant praise, but this Thai film often seems just a few steps behind the goofy HK actioners it attempts to emulate.
When a career criminal is released from prison, he's asked to orchestrate the killing of a high ranking politico. He pulls together a strange crew to help him out: a pill-popping druggie, a droopy- eyed longhair, and a guy who thinks he's Elvis, and refuses to speak Thai. It's a promising setup, but most of the intentional jokes fall flat, while the unintentional ones (including some pointed jibes at the U.S.) pack more bite. There are gunfights galore, but they're orchestrated without much snap or style, and the frequent John Woo--like intrusions of melodrama tend to slow down the action.
Killer Tattoo is certainly offbeat, but being offbeat isn't enough to inject spunk into this poorly paced actioner.
When a career criminal is released from prison, he's asked to orchestrate the killing of a high ranking politico. He pulls together a strange crew to help him out: a pill-popping druggie, a droopy- eyed longhair, and a guy who thinks he's Elvis, and refuses to speak Thai. It's a promising setup, but most of the intentional jokes fall flat, while the unintentional ones (including some pointed jibes at the U.S.) pack more bite. There are gunfights galore, but they're orchestrated without much snap or style, and the frequent John Woo--like intrusions of melodrama tend to slow down the action.
Killer Tattoo is certainly offbeat, but being offbeat isn't enough to inject spunk into this poorly paced actioner.
Very Off-Beat Action Comedy
dbborroughs19 October 2004
This movie is not what I expected. I thought it was going to be funnier than it was, still I found its wildly off kilter nature refreshing.
The plot has a band of assassins hired to kill a police chief. Once the hit goes down, badly, the group of killer find themselves hunted by the men who hired them. There's infinitely more to whats going on, I haven't touched on the killers, their baggage and the numerous complications that arise.
To call this film off-beat is an understatement. Nothing goes in a conventional way and what starts off as quite funny becomes quite grim by the end. Its far from the best film ever made but there is something about its quirky (god I hate that word) nature that makes it worth seeing. I think that the raves by some critics are do more to the uniqueness of the film rather than to its actual quality.
I give it an 8 out of 10, with a point or two coming from the off-beat nature of the film. I would recommend it. I can't say you'll love it but it will keep you watching to the end.
The plot has a band of assassins hired to kill a police chief. Once the hit goes down, badly, the group of killer find themselves hunted by the men who hired them. There's infinitely more to whats going on, I haven't touched on the killers, their baggage and the numerous complications that arise.
To call this film off-beat is an understatement. Nothing goes in a conventional way and what starts off as quite funny becomes quite grim by the end. Its far from the best film ever made but there is something about its quirky (god I hate that word) nature that makes it worth seeing. I think that the raves by some critics are do more to the uniqueness of the film rather than to its actual quality.
I give it an 8 out of 10, with a point or two coming from the off-beat nature of the film. I would recommend it. I can't say you'll love it but it will keep you watching to the end.
Action movie without proper storyline or interesting characters...
paul_haakonsen28 July 2021
Twenty years after this Thai action comedy was released I had the chance to sit down and watch it. I found the movie by random luck, and opted to give it a go, since I hadn't already seen it. And I figured as the movie had
Petchtai Wongkamla on the cast list, it couldn't be all bad.
But it was.
It was just so difficult to get into the groove of this movie. The storyline just failed to connect with me and I found very little enjoyment or entertainment in this movie.
The characters in the movie just felt random and very chaotic, and again it was hard to connect with these characters as they were essentially as interesting as wet cardboard.
Sure, there were a fair amount of action in the movie, but with the lack of a properly interesting and pseudo-coherent storyline, then the action could do only so much for the movie.
"Killer Tattoo" was a swing and a miss from director Yuthlert Sippapak, and it was by no means a glorious or memorable moment in Thai action cinema.
I am rating "Killer Tattoo" a generous two out of ten stars.
But it was.
It was just so difficult to get into the groove of this movie. The storyline just failed to connect with me and I found very little enjoyment or entertainment in this movie.
The characters in the movie just felt random and very chaotic, and again it was hard to connect with these characters as they were essentially as interesting as wet cardboard.
Sure, there were a fair amount of action in the movie, but with the lack of a properly interesting and pseudo-coherent storyline, then the action could do only so much for the movie.
"Killer Tattoo" was a swing and a miss from director Yuthlert Sippapak, and it was by no means a glorious or memorable moment in Thai action cinema.
I am rating "Killer Tattoo" a generous two out of ten stars.
Probably the coolest movie of all time.
Bolsjevik17 November 2002
I just this film at the Stockholm International Film Festival. And it was a life-changing experience. This is one of them films that's all about cool, and it delivers. Big time. The story is blah, and involves a group of twisted hit men(with even more twisted names)led by Pae Buffgun in a future Thailand who are contracted to kill a police chief, called "Iron Cop". Little do they know that rock hard assassin Kit Silencer also is contracted for the same hit.
This is just the beginning folks, it goes on from then with insane twists, awesomely hilarious dialogue and crazy pacing. I'll take this one with me for the afterlife...
This is just the beginning folks, it goes on from then with insane twists, awesomely hilarious dialogue and crazy pacing. I'll take this one with me for the afterlife...
Amazing funny action movie.
pinkfish12 June 2003
This movie is quite a classic. I saw it last year the Seattle international film festival and it was just brilliant. It was one of the best comedy action movies I have ever seen.
I really enjoyed the weird Thai humour all through this movie and even through the plot was relatively predictable the characters in the movie and the acting made it trully worth seeing.
I really enjoyed the weird Thai humour all through this movie and even through the plot was relatively predictable the characters in the movie and the acting made it trully worth seeing.
good laughs
jozwicki14 January 2002
This Thai movie has a weak plot but is tons of fun. You follow several crazy characters on their hit-man escapades. A working knowledge of Thai culture is helpful. One of the most hilarious points if the awful "Falang" (foreigner) actors found to play Americans. IF you can find this movie, definitely watch it. The best line "This is a book". I will never forget that line.
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