Lack of good storyline.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Elephant White is a B Grade movie. But does that necessarily mean it's bad? NO it doesn't! Djimon Hounsou really impressed me - or should I say, his character did. I get really sick of movies where the hero only disables bad guys so that, after a remarkably fast recovery, they come back to give him more aggravation. Not so Curtie. He is a professional killer who eliminated low-lives very effectively and permanently! Of course, as is so typical with films like this, the bad guys are always terrible shots and probably couldn't hit a barn door at ten paces which is always annoying. Nevertheless, in this movie Curtie (Djimon) does get hit. Fortunately, of course, it wasn't fatal but it certainly gave the film a bit more credibility.Kevin Bacon really suited playing an Englishman. I have never been much of a KB fan but, for some reason that I can't pinpoint, as a "pom" he was excellent. Someone else (an American) has written that Kevin's English accent was terrible and I would like to ask him how he knows. Kevin's English accent was great and really suited the part! Jason Statham eat your heart out!!Since I didn't read the IMDb page about this movie, I didn't know that there was a fantasy element - which may or may not have been a good thing depending how you look at it. So when some weird things started happening I was quite taken by surprise. I'm not sure that the film actually needed that either.Viewers should also bear in mind that this is a Thai film. The director Pracha Pinkaew is Thai and had six previous exploits as a director (half of those with Thai titles) and so they should remember that cultural differences are bound to be evident. He is obviously respected among his peers enough to have been elected president of the Thai Film Directors' Association.So watch Elephant White with an open mind and enjoy it for what it is. The messages at the beginning of the end credits make it obvious that a statement was being made as well as presented in an entertaining manner. And next time you go to Thailand for a holiday, just think about it.

Human trafficking and child prostitution are the focal points of this very dark, noisy, brutally frank film, and if those preliminary adjectives don't deter then there are a few reasons to watch this direct to DVD film, mainly the contribution of producer/star Djimon Hounsou. Thai director Prachya Pinkaew holds this slaughter of the bad guys together fairly well and the minimal script by Kevin Bernhardt attempts to infuse the bitter story with a dollop of mysticism (the title is the clue). The acting by a very large cast of Thai actors is basically relegated to shooting and getting shot so there isn't a lot of character development possible.The setting is Bangkok where Curtie Church (Djimon Hounsou) who is a prolific professional assassin who has accumulating a sizable cash reserve from his trade. His impressive store of weapons (a larger cash of bizarre guns has never been so visible!) is provided by his English arms dealer Jimmy (Kevin Bacon). Curtie wishes to retire from his sordid role and is on his last assignment when he is joined by a strange and beautiful young girl name Mae (Jirantanin Pitakporntrakul). During the completion of his final score, Curtie is annoyed by Mae who wonders why the assassin is killing in the first place. Curtie admits it is for the money, but the somewhat ethereal Mae informs him that other evil men need his expertise and brand of justice: Curtie becomes involved in a mission to stop the trafficking of child prostitutes by eliminating those who deal in human flesh.For the most part the film is about killing and is a constant stream of assassinations by a variety to weapons and chases. Hounsou is solid, manages to capture some tenderness in his relationship with Pitakporntrakul, and the efforts to make the film have mystical effects almost works at times. Kevin Bacon does his best in a thankless role but is bogged down with a twitchy British accent. This is definitely not a film for the easily disturbed, but for proponents of action and mounting killings the film should satisfy. And it does address the ongoing global problem of sex trafficking. Maybe someone will notice this problem soon. Grady Harp

Sometimes a straight to DVD release can slip under the radar and become a highly under-rated and cult hit. 'Elephant White' does not fall under this category. Djimon Hounsou stars as professional hit man Church who is contracted to avenge the murder of his client's daughter. Alongside is Kevin Bacon, an arms dealer known as Jimmy who assists Church while he tracks down the men who committed this terrible act.The horrific abomination that this movie is seeps through from the very start where subject matters are introduced and dealt in truly sleazy ways. One being the a side story revolving around teenage prostitution that puts no effort into showing how revolting it truly is but merely using the dark subject and trivializing it to push the plot forward. The character development barely changes from what they all originally were. Church remains a destructive force, merely dispersing people feeling no remorse or consequence for his actions. It would be understandable if the film was trying to remain a bland action film but it feels as though it's constantly trying to push out some awareness to something but failing in every sense due to terrible direction from director Prachya Pinkaew.All these points are nothing compared to the absolutely stale performances that are woven within this destructively vile film. Notably the worst performancethat Kevin Bacon has done in his career. He brings across his own take of a British accent, which teeters between that of a southern Englishman and an Australian. Accompanied with this is his Keith Richards impersonation he adds to the mix, which brings it to the point that you actually want to avert your eyes. Jirantanin Pitakporntrakul stars in her first role as Mae, a 14-year-old teenage prostitute and after this performance it wouldn't be surprising if it was her last role. She comes across and whiny, annoying and self centered, which could all be down to poor direction but that would not change the fact her character was not believable or easy to relate to.There is absolutely nothing to take from Elephant White, aside from a semi-enjoyable sniper segment but even after that you'll have a sour taste in your mouth just for even thinking there was something enjoyable to take away from this film. It's dripping in filth, un-moral subject matters and bland, annoying characters. Truly one of the worst films in recent memory that nobody should have to endure.

An offbeat, but muddled and unsatisfying hit-man / revenge fare by film-maker Prachya Pinkaew (Ong-bak) in the mould of Liam Neeson's "Taken", but with a surreal spiritual take on things and a forced message (on human trafficking and child prostitution). The seedy narrative is an odd one, so are some of the performances with out-of-place Kevin Bacon using a strong cockney accent as a larger-than-life British arms dealer and Djimon Hounsou sleep-walking through it as the sleuth assassin. An American hired gun in Thailand takes on a job from a Thai businessman, whose daughter was abducted and murdered, but then finds himself caught up in an underworld war while also encountering a young prostitute (Jirantanin Pitakporntrakul) who he tries to help. At times there seems to be too much going on in the bombastic plot, but even with that factor it feels like its going through the motions. All dressed up, but no where to go but obviously something to say. Exotic Thailand locations add atmosphere, but the action while packing a brutal punch (the night time forest onslaught) and flashy imagery doesn't have much rhythm in its choreography and the talky nature often makes it meander. Fascinating in parts, but mainly an instinctively unfocused action thriller."Feels like I'm losing my mind."